Don Cheadle Recalls Unusual Way He Was Offered Marvel's War Machine Role

Even though Don Cheadle didn't play Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes in Iron Man, he did play the character through the development of War Machine, everyone's favorite armored patriot. According to ComicBook.com, Cheadle had a conversation with The A.V. Club where he revealed how he was offered the part of War Machine.

“I was actually at my kid’s birthday party—a laser tag party—and I got a call from my agent, and they said, ‘Hey, so I want to connect you to these Marvel guys. They want to talk to you, but they want to offer you the part.’ I don’t think it was [Kevin] Feige. I don’t know who was on the phone,” the actor recalled. “But they said, ‘Hey, this is the role. We want you to do this. It’s a six-picture deal.’ I was like, ‘What?! Oh, uh, okay…’ And I’m trying to do the math. I’m like, ‘That’s 11 or 12 years. I’m not sure.’ And they’re like, ‘Well, we need to know, because if you’re not saying yes, then we’re gonna move on to the next person. So you’ve got an hour.’”

Cheadle was given one hour to decide on the next decade and then some of his life and acting career!

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“An hour to decide 12 years, and a role and parts that I don’t even know, in movies that are coming down that I have no idea what they’ll be,” Cheadle went on. “I said, ‘I’m at my kid’s laser tag party right now.’ They said, ‘Oh! Oh, take two hours.’ So generous! So I go back inside, and I’m ducking behind things, playing laser tag, and talking to my wife. I’m like, ‘Should I take a flier on this? Is this something I should do?’ And she said, ‘Well, yeah, I guess so. All things being equal, this is that kind of thing. You’ve never done anything like this before. Big special effects, tent pole, four-quadrant movie. Do you want to do something like this?’ I said, ‘I kind of do.’ She said, ‘Well, then take a flier. Let’s do it. Try it.’"

There you have it, folks! If Cheadle had said no or taken any extra time, it might have been someone else fighting alongside the Avengers as War Machine.