Don Cheadle Talks ‘War Machine’ Spin-Off Movie

Don Cheadle has firmly established himself as part of the Marvel universe after starring as James Rhodes/War Machine in both Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3 and it is now believed that he will get his own spin-off film.

Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard in the role after the Crash star had played the character in the original Iron Man, and the chemistry between himself and Downey Jr. has been a key reason for the film’s success.

Iron Man 3 looks set to be one of the most successful films of the year, and has even toppled The Avenger’s opening after it grossed nearly $200 million overseas.

Dave Hollis, Disney’s president of worldwide distribution, remarked of the film’s success, “To say we are beyond encouraged is an understatement.”

But now Marvel are looking to their future film slate, and it would appear, according to Cheadle, that War Machine is top of that list.

Cheadle told Empire,“When we talked about the [War Machine] spin-off, what the departure point might be for War Machine… [we’ve discussed that] it might be when he goes rogue, so to speak, and takes a mission that he believes he is morally responsible for but is against policy and does it anyway.”

The actor then added, “What happens when he’s out there and he’s been dishonourably discharged but he still has the suit, or Tony makes him another suit?”

Cheadle then concluded, “And now he’s out there on his owns too, but even worse than Tony, because now he’s a fugitive. Because if we wanted to do it, I think the best way to do it would be go darker, to take it and make it even more visceral. Sort of close to the first Iron Man, how it began. Really visceral and really realistic.”

Iron Man 3 is released in the United States on Friday. Do you think Don Cheadle could carry a Hollywood blockbuster?