Robert Downey Jr. was not Marvel’s first choice when they were looking for someone to play Iron Man. In fact, the actor joined the film after almost everyone else had been hired. This was against the wishes of Marvel bosses, who had famously said that they would not hire the actor because of his history with drugs “at any cost.”
Rhodey in Iron Man was played by Terrence Howard, who, however, was a different case altogether. Reports say that an actor who had been nominated for an Oscar and had just had a string of hits was given a lucrative offer worth between $3.5 million and $4.5 million. Because of this, Howard was the movie’s star and got the most money for his work. He would have received an additional $5 million if the film Iron Man 2, in which he was to play the War Machine, had been made.
The movie Iron Man, which was a huge financial success and led to the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, changed the way things were done in a big way. People welcomed Robert Downey Jr. with open arms, but word started to get out that Howard’s relationship with the MCU was not going as planned.
When Iron Man 2 finally came out, there were rumors that Howard’s role was cut down a lot, which had effects on both the story and the way the money was handled. Even though Howard said he had a three-film deal with Marvel and that they were supposed to pay him $8 million for the sequel, the studio was only willing to give him $1 million, which was a lot less than what they paid for the first film in the series.
Howard called Downey Jr. while talks with Marvel were still going on. The story goes that Howard took a one-million-dollar pay cut for the first Iron Man movie so that Downey could be cast in the role. Now, Howard wanted Downey to play Tony Stark to show his appreciation.
I called Robby and was like, ‘Look, man . . .’ Leaving messages with his assistants, called him at least 17 times that day and 21 the next and finally left a message saying, ‘Look, man, I need the help that I gave you’. Never heard from him,
Howard told in a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone.
He said that the money that was supposed to go to him instead went to the actor who played Tony Stark. Howard added,
And guess who got the millions I was supposed to get? He got the whole franchise, so I’ve actually given him $100 million, which ends up being a $100 million loss for me from me trying to look after somebody, but, you know, to this day I would do the same thing. It’s just my nature.
In an interview with Andy Cohen, he said the same thing,
It turns out that 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. They came to me with the second and said ‘Look, we will pay you one-eighth of what we contractually had for you, because we think the second one will be successful with or without you.’ And I called my friend, that I helped get the first job, and he didn’t call me back for three months.
Downey Jr. has responded to the accusations by saying that he is innocent and that he had nothing to do with the decision to cut Howard’s paycheque.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that some celebrities have a side they don’t show to the public? Let us know in the comments section below.
