First Images Of Iron Man's War Machine Show Up

It's just too bad that the first "Iron Man" movie had to be released in the same year as "The Dark Knight," as its awesomeness was overshadowed by the shadowy Batman that year. But there's still no question that "Iron Man" was pretty cool (if only a bit insubstantial plot-wise), and the recent popping-up of War Machine's images on the Internet has gotten my superhero blood pumping yet again.

If War Machine doesn't ring a bell (seriously, guys?), he's Iron Man's sidekick in the comic book series -- although he's much more to Tony Stark than Robin is to Batman. War Machine can pretty much hold down his own comic book series by himself, but he -- rather, his alter-ego Col. James Rhodes, plays a more important "foil" character for the workaholic, alcoholic, tech genius billionaire Stark.

The funny thing about the "Iron Man 2" movie is that fans will be seeing an unfamiliar face in the lineup. In the first movie, Col. James Rhodes was played (rather blandly) by Terence Howard. But come May 7, 2010, we'll instead be seeing Don Cheadle donning the War Machine suit.

Of course, the original plan was to have Howard play Rhodes in the second movie -- after all, Rhodes did say, "Next time, baby," when he saw the War Machine prototype for the first time in the first movie. But all things aren't right in the world of Iron Man 2's production crew.

Apparently, from the "news" that's been circulating, Howard had given the first movie's cast and crew more than its share of headaches. He was paid even more than Robert Downey, Jr., but he really didn't seem to fit into the rhythm on the set. Worse, rumor has it (yep, and we all know all rumors in Hollywood are true, right?) that he wanted to get paid even more for the second movie, which prompted the movie's writers to shrink Col. James Rhodes's role.

Thankfully, War Machine will still get a good share of the spotlight thanks to the casting change. And let's face it -- Cheadle in the War Machine suit still looks much better than Howard would've been. That is, if the circulating CGI images of Cheadle in the suit is any indication. OK. Not really. The images circulating look like really bad photoshop work. Howard would have looked just as bad. And the idea of Cheadle in the War Machine suit, or any suit for that matter, makes me gag* involuntarily.

But looks aren't everything, of course. Cheadle has been known to play a lot of well-grounded, wise/mature roles in his decorated film career. His "fatherly" image would make a great foil for Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark character -- much better than Howard's more "loose cannon" persona.

Cheadle should be fun to watch, especially with Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson reprising their roles in the second movie. Good news for everyone, except for Howard -- sorry baby, there will be no "next time."


* I meant block. Not joke. Who on earth would joke involuntarily? (...dumbass!).