i mean i like Don in a multitude of other things, but the chemistry Terrance Howard and RDJ had in 1 is unmatched. Plus dude has a different, funny cool swagger with the about him. Marvel watered down Cheadle and made him just seem corny and soft sounding high voice.
Just read this. Story I always heard was TH was demanding a raise and wanted a lot more money, but...
Why Terrence Howard Was Recast in Iron Man 2
Downey's salary was to increase exponentially for Iron Man 2, to a rumored $10 million, plus a cut of back-end profits. That, in turn, meant Marvel Studios would dramatically slash
Howard's pay, to what the actor said was just $40,000 per film.
May 31, 2021
Speaking on why he
didn't return as Rhodey in Iron Man 2,
Terrence Howard said: "It turns out that the person I helped become Iron Man ... when it
was time to re-up for the second one, (he) took the money that
was supposed to
go to me and pushed me out."
Jun 8, 2021
Howard elaborated after host Andy Cohen commented,
"The word was that you wanted the same money as Downey." According to Howard:
"We did a three-picture deal, so that means that you did the deal ahead of time. It was going to be a certain amount for the first one, a certain amount for the second one, a certain amount for the third. They came to me with the second and said, 'Look, we will pay you one-eighth of what we contractually had for you, because we think the second one will be successful with or without you.' And I called my friend - that I helped get the first job - and he didn't call me back for three months."
A day later, Showbizcafe.com's Tony Rico appeared on NBC's
Today and provided the monetary amounts Howard was referring to. Essentially, rather than pay Howard the $8 million for Iron Man 2 per his contract, Marvel Studios offered him $1 million instead. According to Howard, the money promised to him would go to Robert Downey Jr. instead.