10 Actors Who Were Cruelly Shafted By Franchise Reboots

2. Terrence Howard - Iron Man

As hard as it is to believe, when Iron Man was released, Robert Downey Jr. was not the biggest name attached to the project. Yes, the superhero film that kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe boosted Downey to new levels of popularity (and helped him eventually become one of Hollywood€™s highest paying actors), but he wasn€™t the first person that signed on. That honor goes to Terrence Howard, who played James Rhodes, a.k.a. Rhodey. While Howard didn€™t get as much screen time as Downey, Gwenyth Paltrow or Jeff Bridges, he still played a decent Rhodey, and his back-and=forth banter with Downey was amusing. Director Jon Favreau even stated that he cast Howard because he could see him playing War Machine in a sequel. Oh irony, thou art so cruel. As we all know, Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle for all subsequent Iron Man films, but the question is why. The primary reason seems to be that Howard was the highest paid actor in Iron Man, earning $4.5 million. Marvel couldn€™t renegotiate his deal for the first film, but they attempted to cut his pay for the second film from the originally agreed upon $8 million to $1 million. Along with his supposed difficulty on the set, Marvel eventually decided to just recast Howard even though he signed a three-picture deal. Howard has since been very vocal about his mistreatment at Marvel€™s hands, and even said that they €œkilled his career.€ He€™s also stated that Downey, who helped him originally get the role, was the one who took the money that was supposed to be his. While Cheadle has played an excellent Rhodey in Iron Man 2 & 3 (and will reprise the role in Avengers: Age of Ultron), Howard€™s dismissal from the role is a bit dubious. While it makes sense that Downey would get paid more for the second film (given the universal critical acclaim of his performance), Howard€™s contract with Marvel did seem more skewed towards the massive corporation. Nevertheless, whether you look at this as Howard€™s fault or Marvel€™s, it doesn€™t make those lines in Iron Man any less tragic. €œNext time, baby.€ Sorry, Terrence. No next time for you.