When asked what the most surprising aspect of making Iron Man 2 was, Cheadle gave a surprising answer:

I didn't expect the "Rhodey CGI" character to work more days than me. I didn't think my stuntman would work as many days as I did. But you know, really it's a combination of your work. You're in this motion capture suit, then stuntmen do some stuff, you get to do some stuff, then they don't need any of you and they draw it themselves.

That doesn't mean that Cheadle wasn't able to bring some actorly questions to the role, however:

I just really had more questions than answers about the relationship. When I looked back over the comic books, all of the different iterations of Iron Man and Rhodey that there have been, the one thing that seemed like it was always there was this friendship. There was a real friendship and underlying kinship. I was always asking, "Where did it come from? What's it based on? How tenuous is it, now that Tony is kind of a free agent and Rhodey is a military man? How does that work?" That's what drove my questions about our relationship for the whole movie... "Why are these guys friends? On what level do they connect and on what level do they miss each other?" So it was constantly tweaking stuff, improv-ing a lot and grinding over scenes to figure out how that worked.

More importantly, perhaps, on what level is Cheadle's James Rhodes able to carry a spin-off movie by himself...? Not that he's offering any hints about that right now:

We haven't discussed that. I have no idea. Maybe. Potentially.

Why do we feel as if, if he'd been given enough time, he would've just come out and said yes eventually?

Don Cheadle Talks "Iron Man 2" [Comic Book Resources]

Talking to MTV, Downey Jr. said,

I had nothing to do with that decision. I love Terrence very very much. That’s all I’ll say because I haven’t talked to him yet... I’ve always admired Don [Cheadle]... It’s one of those situations where I still don’t quite know what happened or why. Here’s what happens too: things happen and you wind up commenting on them before you’ve actually talked to the people and it’s in poor taste.

This would seem to suggest that Downey wasn't one of the people "unhappy" with Howard's performance on the set of the first Iron Man - or just that he knows better than to go about making enemies right now. We're hoping for the latter, if only for the potential gossip that will inevitably spill out when one of the sides decides to go all out in the PR battle.

Robert Downey Jr. On Terrence Howard/Don Cheadle ‘Iron Man 2’ Swap [MTV Splash Page]

Marvel's Tuesday announcement confirmed not only that Downey Jr. and Cheadle would be two of the stars for the Avengers, which tells how Marvel's biggest heroes formed a team, but that Iron Man director Favreau will act as executive producer for the 2011 movie.

No plot details for Avengers or Iron Man 2 have been announced, although we can now add the creation of Rhodey's War Machine armor to the existing "Hulk goes bad" rumors.

As for those rumors about the Hulk going bad, some sites are concluding the Hulk won't actually be the villain in Avengers, because one Marvel press release refers to Hulk as a member of the team. The release also says the heroes, including the Hulk, face the biggest threat they've ever encountered. So does that mean the Hulk isn't the villain of that movie? Or he joins the team but later goes rogue? (Just as long as he pretends to be a robot clown, like in the comics.)

Iron Man 2 is due to be released May 7, 2010, with Avengers following on July 15, 2011.

Downey Jr. extends Marvel deal [Variety]

Marvel has a no comment on the matter to THR but their sources close to the movie said that negotiations with Howard went south over financial reasons.

Although this is a very surprising movie (Howard was a fantastic Rhodey) it's not a huge shocker. Howard is a tough negotiator and my suspicion is he talked himself right out of the role. Sorry man the bottom line is you're not Robert Downey Junior and Marvel can still pretty much do whatever the hell they want.

I love Cheadle but Howard did a great job as super loyal Rhodey and was a great straight man to Downey's antics. Plus he would have been great as the super-armored War Machine, Stark's right-hand-man and occasional stand-in. It will be really sad to see Iron Man 2 without him.

Cheadle to Replace Howard [via Hollywood Reporter]

• Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle) both wrote and directed this movie, although he faded from the limelight once it tanked. He went on to direct a Disney Channel movie called Up, Up and Away, which was also about superheroes.
• The plot follows a fairly straightforward comic book route, having mild mannered Jefferson Reed Jefferson Reed gain powers after he gets hit by a meteor. However, they went a bit overboard with his powers.
• The meteor gave Jefferson the following powers: super strength, super speed, the ability to fly, telekinesis, laser vision, x-ray vision, freezing breath, the ability to heal quickly, the power to talk to animals, and the power to make plants grow quickly. Oh, and he can also absorb everything in a book by touching it, but only for 30 seconds, which is probably one of the lamest powers ever created.
• There's actually a scene where Meteor Man clears out a vacant lot, plants grass seeds, using his meteor powers to make it rain, and grows a field of giant vegetables and tomatoes. All to the tunes of cool, light jazz. Ouch.
• There's also a scene where the lead villain and the Meteor Man both absorb a book about "ladies modeling" and they have a vogue-off. Yes, you can't make this stuff up.
• This was Don Cheadle's fifth movie, and isn't usually listed in his filmographies or bios. He sports a blond hairdo throughout the film, and chews up a fair amount of scenery.
• James Earl Jones stars as Earnest Moses, and is dressed in an oversized baseball jersey for the whole movie, and check out his high fade haircut. It's pretty embarrassing to watch the voice of Darth Vader try and imitate Radio Raheem from Do The Right Thing.
• Not that Bill Cosby was the greatest actor to grace the silver screen, but in this film he stars as a mostly mute homeless man (he barks at dogs near the end) who gets the same powers as Meteor Man, and comes to the triumphant rescue at the end of the flick.
• Robert Guillaume of Benson fame also stars as Jefferson's dad Ted, and Marla Gibbs, better known as Florence from The Jeffersons stars as his mom. In Up, Up, and Away, Marla stars again as his mom, and Sherman Helmsley (Mr. Jefferson) stars as his dad.
• Even LaWanda Page, better known as Aunt Esther from Sanford & Son makes an appearance as a sassy nurse. Townsend really enjoyed mining older TV shows to fill the roles in his projects.
• Eddie Griffin plays Jefferson's best friend Michael, although he actually chews up less scenery than usual. Since it was only his fifth film, he hadn't hit his wisecracking stride yet.
• Frank Gorshin, who played The Riddler on the old Batman tv show and Bele on Star Trek: The Original Series, portrays big baddie Byers, in probably one of the worst roles of his life. Sometimes, there is shame in taking a job for the paycheck.
• Sinbad and Luther Vandross both have small roles in the film, and you can imagine what the combined box office power of a comedian and a classic singer would have done, if only it had been marketed properly.
• Marvel Comics produced a six-issue limited series based on the movie, where Meteor Man encounter Spider-Man. Seriously, Meteor Man meets Spidey.
• Meteor Man could see through walls with his X-Ray vision, but for some reason when he looked at people, he could see through their clothes, but not their underwear. Behold the power of a PG rating! In the scene below, you can watch as Meteor Man battles a crackhouse full of underwear clad workers, unites the Crips and the Bloods, and grows the magic field. Endure it if you can.