With the release of Iron Man in 2008, Robert Downey Jr. became an A-list celebrity and launched the most lucrative franchise in Hollywood history. In fact, almost everyone involved with the film has grown to be an essential part of the MCU. Of course, one actor had a negative experience with Marvel Studios and felt totally mistreated.
And there was a ton of drama going on behind the scenes of Iron Man 2, where numerous script revisions, recastings, studio interference, and more were going on.
First things first, the casting decision for Iron Man 2 was a complete nightmare. One of the early dropouts from the second movie’s casting was Terrence Howard, who played James Rhodes in the first film.
Mickey Rourke, best known for his award-winning performance in The Wrestler, was one of the actors who was successfully cast. In retrospect, it might have been better if he had not been in Iron Man 2 because of his list of really strange demands.
How Robert Downey Jr. Tackled Mickey Rourke’s Bizarre Demands?
Not only was Mickey Rourke‘s performance as the terrifying antagonist, Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash in Iron Man 2 a worthy follow-up to the original, but Robert Downey Jr.‘s charismatic presence also contributed to the movie’s success. But after appointing the Oscar nominee for the role, Jon Favreau and Marvel reportedly encountered conflict behind the scenes.
Insiders claimed that for his character Whiplash, Rourke gave Kevin Feige and Favreau a long list of peculiar requirements. Whiplash made a number of demands, such as wearing a Samurai bun, having a bird perch on his shoulder, and choosing the types of tattoos he would prefer to have:
“I’ll do it, but I have to have my hair in a samurai bun. I have to speak in a Russian accent. And I have to have a bird on my shoulder.”
Favreau and Feige agreed to these terms, but Rourke went further by increasing his salary to a large sum. This was ultimately met, thanks to Downey Jr.’s agreement to withhold a portion of his pay.
According to reports, the Sherlock Holmes actor offered a portion of his $10 million salary to help Rourke reach his quota as the insider continued:
“It was a major sum to get Mickey close, and Mickey took the deal.”
Downey Jr. appeared to have avoided yet another Terrence Howard scenario.
Why Was Terrence Howard Fired From Iron Man 2?
With the release of Iron Man in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced a number of enduring characters. Some of them include Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), among others. James Rhodes, played by Terrence Howard, was also featured.
Howard played War Machine for only a brief period of time before Don Cheadle took over in the 2010 sequel, Iron Man 2.
For Iron Man 2, Downey Jr.’s pay was reportedly increased significantly to $10 million, plus a percentage of the film’s back-end profits. As a result, Howard’s pay was significantly reduced by Marvel Studios to just $40,000 per movie, according to the Empire actor.
That infuriated Howard, who insisted that he had helped Downey Jr. land the role. Marvel alleged that Howard had no influence on the Tropic Thunder actor’s casting, though. Additionally, Howard told NPR in 2008 that Marvel did not always have “good-faith negotiations.”
On several occasions, Howard has discussed the circumstances surrounding his recasting as James Rhodes. However, his appearance on Watch What Happens Live in 2013 stood out as the time when he blamed Downey Jr. for the incident:
“It turns out that the person that I helped become Iron Man, when it was time to re-up for the second one took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out.”
In a 2015 Rolling Stone profile, Howard provided more details about his attempts to get in touch with Downey Jr., claiming that he called him numerous times but never received a response:
“And guess who got the millions I was supposed to get? He got the whole franchise, so I’ve actually given him $100 million, which ends up being a $100 million loss for me from me trying to look after somebody, but, you know, to this day I would do the same thing. It’s just my nature.”
Marvel knew right away who they wanted to don the War Machine armor after Terrence Howard’s exit. After making his Iron Man 2 debut as Rhodey, Don Cheadle went on to play War Machine in six more MCU films.
All Iron Man films streaming on Disney Plus.
