Despite being part of Phase 5, Disney+’s Armor Wars TV show is being transformed into an MCU movie, with Don Cheadle still as War Machine.
Don Cheadle’s armor wars TV show is being transformed into an MCU movie due to creative changes. While most of Marvel Studios’ planned Disney+ shows have landed, armor wars has been in development for a while. Despite being announced in 2020, it wasn’t until 2022 that updates appeared on James Rhodes’ spin-off show. While Terrence Howard brought Rhodes to life in 2008 Iron ManCheadle replaced him as War Machine in Iron Man 2 and has continued to appear in multiple MCU projects.
armor wars follows War Machine in the aftermath of Phase 3, including the death of his best friend, Tony Stark. The Disney+ drama would take place after the events of Secret Invasion, where Cheadle will next appear as the Marvel hero. As Marvel Studios unveiled their slates for Phases 5 and 6 at San Diego Comic-Con, armor wars was not featured in either, despite Disney being committed to producing the series. According to Cheadle in an interview earlier this month, one of the most important armor wars stories would be about Tony’s Stark technology coming out, and it would be up to Rhodey to keep the wrong people from getting their hands on it.
However, armor wars has had a huge uproar at Marvel Studios, with The Hollywood Reporter revealing that it is being transformed into a feature film. The studio was dedicated to “tell the story the right way”, and it led them to realize that a movie would be a better option than a six-episode run. Lead writer Yassir Lester is still attached and will write the screenplay for the film. Production was scheduled for 2023, but has now been delayed due to this latest development. The armor wars news comes just a few days after the Sheet reboot lost its director.
How Armor Wars becomes a movie will affect the MCU
While armor wars getting delayed again is a problem in itself, the decision to make it into a movie could potentially benefit Cheadle’s character. While War Machine has appeared in countless MCU movies, it has never been at the forefront of the various storylines. Despite Rhodes initially getting its own show, a feature film is a bigger platform for Rhodes for obvious reasons. This would also be a way for War Machine to get a real cinematic spotlight after being Iron Man’s partner during his time in the MCU. armor wars is also not the first project where Marvel has converted a product from one medium to another. Before The Inhumans turned into a TV show, the royal family would have their own Phase 3 movie, but instead they got a limited series on ABC that had a negative result.
It remains unclear how much armor wars will be delayed due to the switch from Disney+ to theatrical. Although it takes place after Secret Invasion, armor wars may need to be pushed back to Phase 6 unless Marvel finds a logical window in Phase 5. It’s possible that redevelopment armor wars since a feature film de Secret Invasion tie-ins due to the huge time difference that will be left between Secret invasions finale and when Cheadle’s film hits theaters. Since the slate wasn’t fully unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con, there’s always a chance that armor wars was always a phase 6 project. Until Cheadle, Feige and Marvel Studios make statements, it remains to be seen how armor wars will turn out like a movie.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter