Armor Wars transformed from a Disney+ show to a feature-length movie because of budget constraints. Terence Howard initially played the Avengers hero in 2008’s Iron Man, but then actor Don Cheadle took over the character for all of his following MCU appearances. Don Cheadle debuted as Rhodey for the first time in 2010 in Iron Man 2.
War Machine was the MCU character that has taken long to get a solo movie. And maybe a show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was particularly responsible for delaying the Avengers hero from getting a solo movie for 16 years.
She-Hulk Might be the Reason that Impacted a Solo Movie for Avengers Hero
As per MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, Tatiana Maslany, the lead actress in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, recognized the challenges digital artists face in creating her character’s alter ego. She felt “incredibly deferential to how talented these artists are and how quickly they have to work.”
Creating a show like She-Hulk, where the main character is computer-generated (CG), is a huge task. Jessica Gao, the series creator, pointed out that it’s an “overwhelming and ginormous thing to take on.”
She also expressed concern for artists feeling rushed and facing a heavy workload. The panel supported good working conditions for all workers.
After a few years in television, Marvel Studios recognized the challenge of blending the fast TV production pace and lowered budgets with VFX-heavy stories. And that’s why Armor Wars—initially planned for TV—moved to film status mainly due to VFX concerns.
Nate Moore Revealed Why Armor Wars Shifted from TV to Movie
Nate Moore, a producer on various Marvel projects, including Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Captain America: Civil War, shared in a recent interview on The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast why the choice was made to transform Armor Wars from a TV show to a movie. She said that it “felt too big for that show” and “the budgets are not the same as the features.” Moore continued:
“And when you’re talking about a show that wants to be about seeing all the cool armors and, you know, Don Cheadle interacting with all these armors and sort of the legacy of Tony Stark, that became kind of cost prohibitive to do as a show. And we realized as a feature, not only can we get into some of the beautiful imagery that is from publishing, and there’s certainly an Armor Wars run, but also there’s ways then to leverage the ideas of that movie and affect other movies down the line.”
There’s no doubt that Marvel’s decision to turn Armor Wars into a movie rather than a TV show was influenced mainly because of the limited budgets with Disney+ shows. This move allowed for effectively executing the effects-heavy plans for the project.
