Just as Hawkeye was first intended to be a movie before it was reconceived as a series, so can it go the other way at Marvel, where the Don Cheadle series Armor Wars will now be developed as a feature film.
This theoretically removes Armor Wars from under the purview of Disney+, seeing as how Marvel has yet to make any movies exclusively for the streaming service, so as of now, this one will be a theatrical release as well. That means it will likely take a little bit longer to come together.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, writing that Marvel was committed to getting the story told the right way and realized that it was better suited as a movie than a series. Thus, it instantly becomes one of the most coveted directing jobs in town The project was first announced in late 2020 as a six-episode series.
Yassir Lester, who had been acting as head writer on the series, will remain onboard as the film’s screenwriter, and Cheadle remains set to reprise his role as Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, though it’s unclear when the project will actually go before cameras.
Armor Wars takes its name from a celebrated storyline written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, with art by Mark Bright, back in 1987 and 1988. The story examined the idea of what would happen if Iron Man’s highly-advanced technology fell into the wrong hands.
Cheadle will soon be seen as Rhodey in the upcoming MCU series Secret Invasion, which stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, and Olivia Colman.
