Unlike his Marvel Cinematic Universe co-stars Mark Ruffalo and Tom Holland, War Machine actor Don Cheadle knows how to keep a secret.
The actor, who has portrayed James Rhodes/War Machine in the MCU since Iron Man 2 (2010), is set to take on his first leading role in the franchise with the upcoming Armor Wars, a movie that was initially conceived as a Disney+ limited series before being redeveloped as a feature. Amid reports that the superhero project may be on the chopping block at Marvel Studios, Cheadle was asked to divulge anything he could have Armor Wars, but like a good Marvel actor, he refused to give up anything.
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During an appearance on The Today Show, Cheadle played dumb when asked for an update on Armor Wars, jokingly asking back, “What’s Armor Wars?” The actor continued to tiptoe around revealing anything substantial, saying, “It’s the line, you know, I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you. And I just met you guys, so I don’t want to do that.”
Watch a clip of Cheadle skirting around The Today Show’s Armor Wars question below:
What will Armor Wars focus on?
While plot details remain under wraps for Armor Wars, the upcoming movie is expected to pull from the seven-issue Iron Man comic book storyline of the same name that focused on Tony Stark dealing with his armor falling into the wrong hands. With Tony Stark dead in the MCU, Cheadle’s James Rhodes is expected to fill the role Stark played in the original comic.
Armor Wars will also be set after the events of the 2023 Disney+ limited series, Secret Invasion, meaning that the show will delve into the aftermath of Rhodey finding out that he was replaced by a Skrull for an undisclosed length of time.
Cheadle is one of the few actors to have popped up in every single phase of the MCU, appearing in Iron Man 2 (Phase 1), Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron (both Phase 2), Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame (all Phase 3), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, What If…? (both Phase 4), and Secret Invasion (Phase 5). If the Armor Wars cancellation reports prove untrue, the movie is expected to be released as part of the Phase 6 slate.
Marvel fans can stream every MCU movie featuring Cheadle’s War Machine on Disney+.
