Don Cheadle as Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine:[3] Cheadle is replacing Terrence Howard from the first film. Howard said, "There was no explanation [...] apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren't worth the paper that they're printed on, sometimes. Promises aren't kept, and good faith negotiations aren't always held up."[5] Entertainment Weekly stated Favreau had not enjoyed working with Howard, often reshooting and cutting his scenes; Howard's publicist said he had a good experience playing the part, while Marvel chose not to comment. As Favreau and Theroux chose to minimize the role, Marvel came to Howard to discuss lowering his salary – Howard was the first actor hired in Iron Man and earned the largest salary of the cast. The publication stated they were unsure whether Howard's representatives left the project first or if Marvel chose to stop negotiating.[6] Theroux denied the part of the report stating "the role of War Machine was scaled back and then beefed up".[7] Cheadle only had a few hours to accept the role and did not even know what storyline Rhodes would undergo.[8] He commented he is a comic book fan, but felt there are not enough black superheroes.[9]