Black Panther is set for release next week and has a lot of excitement surrounding it because it’s the first Marvel Studios release to feature a black lead. However, screenwriter Joe Robert Cole has revealed that he pitched a “War Machine” spin-off after the success of Iron Man 2. Marvel Studios considered it, but ultimately scrapped the idea in favor of Shane Black’s plans for James Rhodes in Iron Man 3.
Read his comments below:
At that meeting, they also said they were thinking of doing a “War Machine” movie. I pitched a concept and won that job to write the script but they decided, based on what “Iron Man 3” was going to be, they weren’t going to do War Machine anymore. But they asked if I’d be interested in joining their writer’s program instead.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe could have looked a lot different had Don Cheadle starred in a War Machine movie. Not only would Rhodey have more importance in the films, Iron Man 3 would have changed to accommodate it. War Machine eventually appeared in Captain America: Civil War and will be seen in Avengers: Infinity War.
Who knows, maybe Marvel Studios will revisit the possibility of Iron Man’s sidekick getting his own feature film.
