Marvel Is Redeveloping Its Planned ‘Armor Wars’ Series Into A Movie

Don Cheadle will reprise his role as James Rhodes/War Machine in Marvel Studios' 'Armor Wars.'

And here we thought that the big Marvel news was over once Ryan Reynolds was done blowing minds with the big Deadpool/Wolverine reveal.

Yet according to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel as a company has decided on a different direction for its planned Disney+ series ‘Armor Wars,’ which was to star Don Cheadle as James “Rhodey” Rhodes.

Though it had already been in development, the story will instead be used for a movie.

Kevin Feige and team Marvel are, though, remaining true to the people who were already attached to the project – series head writer Yassir Lester, who previously worked on shows including ‘Black Monday’ and ‘Loot’, will remain aboard to write the script. And we’d expect some of the crew to transfer across.

No director had been hired even though the series was in pre-production, headed for a planned 2023 shoot.

‘Armor Wars’ was originally announced as part of Disney+ Day back in 2020, though the news has been relatively quiet since then.

The story will adapt – or, given that this is the MCU, be loosely inspired by – Bob Layton and David Michelinie’s comic book run, which ran between 1987 and 1988. Obviously, since Tony Stark is no longer alive in the MCU continuity, there will be considerable changes.

Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine in Marvel Studios' 'Avengers: Endgame.'

In that original announcement, we learned that the show would feature Rhodes – originally introduced in ‘Iron Man’ (played then by Terrence Howard, before Cheadle took over for ‘Iron Man 2’) – investigating when some baddies exploit the technology developed by his late friend.

Rhodes, who served in the US air force and still has military connections, has being living what he’s described as “that superhero life” for years, ever since he became War Machine, wearing a suit similar to Tony’s.

And in ‘Captain America: Civil War’, he was left paralysed from the waist down – but Stark used technology to help him walk again. While Cheadle’s character has tended to be more of a side character, ‘Armor Wars’ promises to give him a well-deserved spotlight.

This new development may come as a relief to some fans, who were concerned when the show was notable by its absence at either San Diego Comic-Con or D23 this year, when Marvel rolled out a raft of announcements and offered updates on other shows and movies.

And while this has yet to be confirmed by Marvel or Disney, it’s a hopeful sign that ‘Armor Wars’ is fully and firmly on track – and now headed for the big screen.

The biggest question now might be, given that Marvel has a big slate of movies and little room on the schedule right now.

Next up from the studio is ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, which will be in theaters from November 11th.

Iron Man and War Machine in Marvel Studios' 'Iron Man 2.'