Actor
Don Cheadle steps into the role of James "Rhodey" Rhodes in
Iron Man 2, a role that his friend,
Terrence Howard, played in the original. And, even as Cheadle is new to the franchise, so to is Rhodey's superpowered alter-ego, War Machine. After Tony refuses to turn over his Iron Man technology to the government and starts to act recklessly while wearing it, Rhodey decides to take matters into his own hands and steals Stark's Mark II suit of armor. Rhodey turns it over to the military and it becomes the War Machine armor that we recognize from the comic books.
Cheadle was the second one to take the stage at the
Iron Man 2 press junket and was probably one of the most relaxed and natural of the actors. Unfortunately, he was only asked one question during the entire 45-minute junket, so we didn't get to learn much more about his experience or his character than what we've already heard him talk about previously. However, he did reveal one key difference between the War Machine and Iron Man suits of armor.
"Well, I don’t know why, but the War Machine suit was actually made of metal and [Robert Downey, Jr.'s] was made of light, fiberglass material, but I think it was just an initiation thing. But, I felt very fortunate to get the opportunity work in a film like this. You know, Terrence is a friend and I've known him for a long time...so it was good to also kind of see him...it wasn't [a problem]. We're cool. And, it's a lot of fun to get to play with the best toys and the best technology, so it's just…like what you do as a kid, but all fleshed out."
After Cheadle's statement, Downey, Jr. interjected:
"The reason Don's suit is heavier is because it's almost impossible to get that mirror-like look of a polished metal with CGI. I would not wish Don that enemy."