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October 28, 2008


As part of his four picture deal with Marvel Studios, Robert Downey Jr. is appearing as Tony Stark in The Avengers motion picture, as well as reprising his starring role as the larger-than-life leading character in Iron Man 2.

Jon Favreau will return to direct the sequel to the blockbuster Iron Man, which to date has grossed over $578 million worldwide, as well as executive produce The Avengers.

Marvel Studios is pleased today to confirm that an agreement has been finalized with award-winning actor Don Cheadle to take on the role of Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes in Marvel's Iron Man 2 due in theaters on May 7, 2010.

In casting Cheadle, Marvel replaces Terrence Howard who appeared in the role of Rhodey in Iron Man.

Cheadle is also signed on to perform the same role in The Avengers and subsequent installments of the Iron Man franchise.

"We are very excited about working with the extraordinarily talented Don Cheadle as we expand the role of Rhodey in Iron Man 2. It has already become apparent as we prep the movie for production, that the dynamic between Robert and Don will take Iron Man 2 to new heights," said Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios.

Cheadle is best known for his Oscar nominated lead performance in Hotel Rwanda as well as his role as Basher Tarr in the Ocean's franchise, Crash and Swordfish.

Based on Marvel's iconic super hero, Iron Man 2 continues the story of this summer's box office blockbuster Iron Man, the first feature film produced independently by Marvel Studios. Iron Man 2 will be produced by Marvel Studios' President, Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Louis D'Esposito, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, David Maisel and Denis Stewart.

In a movie event, The Avengers will bring together the super hero team of Marvel Comics characters for the first time ever, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk and more, as they are forced to band together to battle the biggest foe they've ever faced.

The highly anticipated sequel to Iron Man will be released in theatres on May 7, 2010 and The Avengers will be released July 15, 2011. Both films will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.


Director Jon Favreau, who is preparing to helm Iron Man 2 for Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures, recently gave an interview in which he discussed the challenges facing Marvel's live-action film version of The Avengers, which the Web-friendly filmmaker will exec produce.

"I'm going to get a little more involved now with what goes on with the other movies. I'm very excited about Kenneth Branagh, I can't wait to see his take on Thor and we're really looking at the (Captain America) stuff, very closely," Favreau told Ain't it Cool News. "For one because we put the shield in there and Tony's legacy… Howard Stark's legacy somehow is related to… there's some relationship between Tony's father and what was going on in World War II, in the Marvel Universe, and Shield, so we're trying to lay some pipe here so that when it all happens it feels somewhat inevitable."

The greatest challenge facing the filmmakers, Favreau says, is achieving a tonal balance for all the upcoming Marvel movies, and he cites Thor in particular as "the most difficult one to integrate into this reality. And if it can be properly done then you get a great version of Avengers. If not, Avengers is going to seem like Roger Rabbit with different cartoon characters from different worlds, you have Betty Boop next to Daffy Duck next to Donald Duck you know."

The director believes Marvel's decision to shoot Iron Man 2, The First Avenger: Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers at L.A.'s Raleigh Studios will help accomplish that. "I think a really good step in that direction is them getting this facility down at Manhattan Beach so that all the films will be working out of the same studio and shooting on the same stages and they'll be prepping and posting and we'll all be in that one area so we can bounce back and forth and hopefully they'll be a generosity of creative input between all of the filmmakers and writers and producers so that we could come up with something that's much more synergistic than anything that has been seen before. But it's a tall order."