2. Terrence Howard/Don Cheadle - James "Rhodey" Rhodes
Nobody really knows what happened here, nor has anybody acknowledged the fact that we still want to know why or how this little recasting situation occurred. What conspiracies lurk beneath the Terrence Howard/Don Cheadle
Iron Man debacle? None, probably, but we still wanna know. That's to say, Howard played Tony Stark's military-aligned buddy James Rhodes in the original
Iron Man, and then suddenly Don Cheadle was all like, "Now I'm playing Rhodey in the sequel," and everyone was momentarily confused (but in a happy way). Terrence Howard was a little stiff and slightly too serious, in my opinion; Cheadle gave Rhodey a banterific edge that - coupled with the actor's general likeablity - just worked. It felt righter, is what I'm saying (is that a word?). Jon Faverau, director of the first two
Iron Man installments, later admitted that they should have just hired Cheadle from the off. Rather bizarrely, Terrence Howard apparently doesn't know why he got recast. It was rumoured to be because Hill wanted more money, but the actor denied those charges (for a small free). Anyway, this actor replacement was - rather hilariously - of the self-aware kind. Seriously.
Iron Man 2 takes a moment to address the fact that Cheadle had stepped in to replace Howard for the sequel. When Rhodey first appears in the second movie during a courtroom scene, Tony Stark says, "Hey, buddy. I didn't expect to see you here." Rhodey, seen only from behind, turns and replies: "Look, it's me, I am here. Deal with it. Let's move on." Which is presumably Marvel's way of saying: "Get over it, you nerds."