Don Cheadle as Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine:[6] Cheadle replaces 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."[7] Entertainment Weekly stated Favreau did not enjoy 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.[8] Theroux denied the part of the report stating "the role of War Machine was scaled back and then beefed up".[9] Cheadle only had a few hours to accept the role and did not even know what storyline Rhodes would undergo.[10] He commented he is a comic book fan, but had not previously participated in comics-themed films due to the lack of black superheroes.[11]