Terrence Howard on his 'Iron Man' departure: I was 'pushed' out (original) (raw)

Published on November 15, 2013 06:58PM EST

Photo: Zade Rosenthal

Capping an exciting year of interview oversharing, Terrence Howard went on Watch What Happens Live last night. Although nominally pitching his role in The Best Man Holiday, Howard wound up taking a question about a role from half a decade ago. The actor originated the role of James Rhodes in Iron Man — but he didn’t return for the sequels, which saw Don Cheadle play the character in ever-more-elaborate robo-suits.

Reports at the time indicated that Howard departed over a salary dispute. As reported by EW’s Nicole Sperling, Howard actually made more than Downey on the first Iron Man. (That was then and this is now.) But Howard layered in some juicy new accusations. “The person that I helped become Iron Man, when it was time to re-up for the second one, took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out,” he explains in the video. When the studio offered him a much smaller fee for an Iron Man sequel, Howard claims he called the actor in question — he never names Downey, but connect the dots here people — for help. “He didn’t call me back for three months,” says Howard.

It’s worth taking all this with a grain of salt, since Howard also recently claimed he had a PhD in Chemical Engineering. Still, this would seem to once and for all disprove my theory that Don Cheadle’s Rhodey is secretly a Skrull impersonator, and it’s all a long-con tease for Howard’s return in Avengers 4: Secret Invasion. Watch the full video below: