Terrence Howard was seen portraying the role of James Rhodes at the beginning of the MCU in Iron Man (2008). After getting replaced by Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2, Howard made several accusations regarding Robert Downey Jr. and how he wanted to remove him from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After his removal, Terrence Howard also claimed that fellow co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, who he worked alongside in Iron Man was tough to work with. Not rude or having behavioral problems, but Howard revealed that the co-star was simply too distracting and he couldn’t focus.
Terrence Howard Had Difficulties Working With Gwyneth Paltrow
After the whole ordeal was over, Iron Man was hailed as one of the finest superhero movies ever made. The movie kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what would essentially be called the Avengers team and Marvel Studios.
Starring alongside Robert Downey Jr. was Terrence Howard. Portraying the role of his best friend James Rhodes who would later don the suit and be called War Machine, he was later replaced in sequels. But before that, in an interview during the time of 2008, Terrence Howard was asked questions regarding his co-stars and his experience working alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow.
When asked about Paltrow, the American actor revealed that he had difficulties working alongside Gwyneth Paltrow since she was so distractingly beautiful.
“We’ve had a couple scenes but Gwyneth is hard to work with because she’s so beautiful. You try not to flirt with her. You don’t want to flirt but you’re hoping somewhere in your heart, ‘I’m hoping she likes me. I’m hoping that she likes me and that she’ll leave Coldplay to come and hang out with me.’ I’ve got two more pictures to work on her. Let him mess up.”
Following the movie, Terrence Howard did not return for the sequels since he essentially stated that Marvel did not pay him the amount that he was owed.
Marvel Did Not Care For Terrence Howard’s Return
By starring in a role that would essentially be War Machine in the future, Howard would have loved to return for the sequels but Marvel allegedly did not want him. In a show titled Sway in the Morning, the actor opened up about his Marvel deal that went awry.
“The second time, [the studio] said ‘We think the movie will be successful with or without you. So, instead of the $8m that we said we were gonna pay you, we’re going to let you come back for a million dollars. We did a three-picture deal already, [but] I forgot, I didn’t know it wasn’t a mutually binding contract; it was only beneficial for them and they could bring me back or not. They can honor it or not.”
After his removal, Don Cheadle took on the mantle of War Machine and fortunately fit in alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As for Terrence Howard, the actor has 3 projects that are currently in the post-production stage.
Source: YouTube
