10 Times The MCU Completely Transformed Actors' Careers
2. Terrence Howard - From The Guy To Just A Guy
As Edward Norton showed, Disney and Marvel have a dim view of performers who they deem "challenging".
No-one knows this more than Terrence Howard.
Terrence Howard was the original Cody Rhodes and, briefly, the highest paid star in the MCU. However, over the course of filming the original Iron Man both Marvel and Howard fell out, the former feeling like the latter's attitude was more hinderance than help. In response, Marvel slashed his pay dramatically for Iron Man 2, resulting in Howard walking out of the MCU and into...
Not a lot, really.
Most of Howard's post MCU career is impossible to read as anything other than a fall from grace. Howard's biggest movie roles since his acrimonious departure from Marvel were both flops (Winnie Mandela and Red Tails), a far cry from starring in Academy Award winners Crash and Hustle & Flow. He found some success in a recurring role in Empire, before retiring from acting for good last year.
Like Norton, it's hard not to see the reputation Howard acquired on the set of Marvel Studios as detrimental to his career, although Howard's descent from the spotlight hits harder as he never came close to recovering the esteem he was held in before his ill-fated stint in the MCU.
His co-star, however, would have a rather happier ending to his relationship with Marvel...