Terrence Howard is giving us more insight into why his run at Marvel Studios was brief, and it’s not the reason many believed it to be.
When it comes to fumbling the bag, Terrence Howard was considered the poster boy because it was alleged he had too much dip on his chip and asked for more money, leading to him being blipped out of the MCU in its infancy as James Rhodes and subsequently replaced by Don Cheadle.
Speaking on an episode of PBD Podcast, Howard revealed what he believes is the real cause of that “next time, baby !” scene, being the closest he ever got to hopping in an Iron Man suit and becoming War Machine.
According to the Empire star, it was an encounter with director Joel Silver, whom he had worked with on a previous project, The Brave One, that led him to threaten the movie maker and to get the boot from the Iron Man franchise.
While promoting the 2007 movie at the Venice Film Festival, a reporter asked Howard why his name wasn’t next to Foster’s on the film’s poster, which sparked a contentious conversation between Howard and Silver, where he threatened to inflict physical harm on him.
Per Complex:
“So, I started making calls as if that was my right, and it wasn’t. And then Joel Silver came and and had a conversation with me. He’s like, ‘The reason your name isn’t above the titles is because you’re not the star of this thing. It’s Jodie,’” Howard recalled Silver saying (around the 1:21:00 mark in the clip below).
“‘And if you win, if you get nominated for an Oscar, it’s going to be for supporting actor. It’s not going to be for best actor.’” And I was like, ‘Okay, thank you for telling me that. Now I understand. But you have to remember I’m a man just like you. And if you ever talk to me in that way again, I’mma knock your teeth out your mouth.’”
Howard also pointed out that Susan Downey, the wife of Robert Downey Jr., was Silver’s production partner on The Brave One and an executive producer on 2010’s Iron Man 2.
“Then maybe eight months later, I lose Iron Man,” Howard said. “And I’m sure that all of those things played their part.”
Interesting.
Still, next to Jonathan Majors, one of the biggest bag fumbles in Hollywood history.
You can watch the entire interview below.