LOS ANGELES — Only some superheroes can repel bullets. But all of them are actor-proof.
Consider the numerous Batmans, Supermans and Hulks throughout the decades in film and on television. Or the fact new incarnations of Spider-Man, Daredevil, Fantastic Four and The X-Men are currently being developed. Not only are audiences accustomed to seeing multiple faces behind the same mask, they don’t seem to care.
Nevertheless, as interchangeable and elastic as the genre has become, the news Terrence Howard wouldn’t be returning as Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes in Iron Man 2 surprised fans and industry observers alike. The sequel, expected to be among the year’s top-grossers, opens everywhere Friday.
For his part, Howard expressed dismay following the split — reportedly over a salary dispute — while Marvel swiftly moved forward with recasting.
Enter Don Cheadle, who happens to be a friend of Howard’s. Awkward? Not according to Cheadle, who has said he only signed on after he was assured Howard wouldn’t be back — whether or not Cheadle agreed to take the part.
“Terrence is a friend and I’ve known him for a long time. I was one of the producers on Crash and put him in that. It was good to also kind of see him and put to bed anything that people may have been thinking was a problem. It wasn’t. We’re cool.”
Just as important to him? That he wasn’t expected to merely imitate Howard’s work. “There was no idea that that was going to be my job — either to recreate what he’d done or pick up where he left off,” Cheadle says. “Clearly I was taking over the role, but it was a new day with new ideas, so I just kind of took it from there.”
Similarly, the sequel launches from where the last film left off, with various enemies plotting to dismantle weapons-inventor-turned-armoured-peacekeeper Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). They include a vengeful Russian scientist (Mickey Rourke), a scheming arms manufacturer (Sam Rockwell) and even the U.S. government, which wants Stark to surrender his Iron Man technology.
This in turn pits an increasingly reckless Stark against his old friend and military liaison Rhodey. Eventually the two come to blows when the latter dons a battle suit of his own: the War Machine.
“It was the trickiest relationship to manage,” Cheadle says of the Stark-Rhodey dynamic. “He’s got to somehow get the suit. If he takes the suit, do we like Rhodey? He’s justified in taking the suit because Tony is too far gone, but how far does Tony have to be for us to go, ‘Yeah, Rhodey, you should take the suit.’ Every scene was walking that tight rope: ‘I’m your friend, I’m here to support you, but in order to support you, you’re the drunk guy at the party and I’ve got to take the car keys from you.’ It was trying to balance that.”
Character-driven as it may be, Iron Man 2 remains, first and foremost, an effects-laden popcorn movie. That alone makes it a departure for the 45-year-old Cheadle, who, aside from the Ocean’s Eleven capers, is best known for such heady fare as Traffic, Boogie Nights, Traitor and Hotel Rwanda, which earned him an Oscar nomination. So why Iron Man 2 and why now?
“I liked the first film. I liked that it was a little more complex than your run-of-the-mill tentpole movie. And I’m a fan of the cast. I really like Robert a lot. And it’s probably one of the first movies I’ve done that my kids can actually go see,” says the father of two daughters, ages 13 and 15. “They didn’t get to see Traffic or Crash.”
Of course, no actor signs on for only one comic-book adaptation. Samuel L. Jackson, for instance, is reportedly contracted to play Nick Fury in as many as nine Marvel movies. And Cheadle confirms he’s signed to re-appear in future films as the newly-christened War Machine. His one request for any sequel/spinoff? A new suit, like the light fibre-glass material Downey wears.
Because CGI can’t easily replicate the appearance of polished metal, Cheadle’s costume was “stainless steel. You can’t touch your face. You can’t drink. If you have an itch, you’ve got to go, ‘Please, scratch my nose.’ ”
Says Downey, who witnessed Cheadle’s predicament first-hand, “I would not wish that on an enemy.”
kevin.williamson@sunmedia.ca
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