Avengers: Secret Wars Can Finally Deliver On A 16-Year-Old MCU Tease

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Summary

Secret Wars may bring back dead MCU characters and actors replaced in later movies, thanks to the multiverse's limitless possibilities.
Terrence Howard could finally suit up as War Machine in Secret Wars and redeem the tease of him putting on the suit in Iron Man.
However, based on Howard's statement about his past Marvel experiences, his return for a cameo role might be unlikely.

Avengers: Secret Wars will no doubt feature many surprising moments, and can finally capitalize on an MCU promise that was first teased in Iron Man with one such scene. The multiverse has already given audiences many satisfying payoffs that saw actors reprise their classic superhero roles. This includes Patrick Stewart's cameo as Professor Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Kelsey Grammer's return as Beast in The Marvels, and Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield putting on the Spider-Man suit again for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The multiverse presents limitless possibilities, and Secret Wars can take advantage of that. The film could bring back dead MCU characters from alternate universes and characters first introduced by other studios, such as Sony or Fox. Marvel also could bring back actors who were later recast in the MCU timeline, giving the studio the chance to turn around a poorly aged moment from the first Iron Man in the upcoming Marvel movie.

Related Marvel Just Confirmed A Key Secret Wars Element & I've Worked Out What It Means For Avengers 6 Marvel Studios seems to be introducing an organization to the MCU that I think will be crucial to the storyline of Phase 6"s Avengers: Secret Wars.
Secret Wars Can Finally See Terrence Howard Put On The War Machine Suit

Colonel James Rhodes was originally portrayed by Terrence Howard. The Empire star played the character in 2008's Iron Man and was later replaced in Iron Man 2 by Don Cheadle, who still plays the role 14 years later. However, the plan was for Howard to play the role in more movies, leading to an unintentionally awkward moment. After seeing Tony take flight in his Iron Man suit, Rhodes looks at the Mark II and says, "Next time, baby." While Rhodes would later use the suit as War Machine, Howard never put it on before being replaced by Cheadle.
Fortunately, Secret Wars could redeem this poorly-aged moment. As shown in Loki, variants from other universes do not have to look like the main Earth-616 versions. There may be another version of Howard's Rhodes that exists somewhere in the larger multiverse. He could make an appearance as War Machine in Secret Wars, finally giving Howard the superhero moment that Iron Man teased.
Would Terrence Howard Actually Return For Secret Wars? Close The bigger question regarding Howard's return is whether the actor would be inclined to do so. Based on what Howard has said about his experience with Marvel, it seems unlikely he'll return. According to a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Howard's departure from Marvel occurred over a pay dispute. Howard says he initially agreed to a three-movie deal, but Marvel wanted to reduce his pay for the sequel, and Howard's agent wasn't happy. The actor then stated Marvel claimed he was terrible on set, rather than take the blame over the pay dispute.

"They said, 'We want Terrence, but we want him to come back for a million dollars, instead of the 8 million that we had agreed to.' My agent had an emotional reaction to a business decision, and he said, 'F**k you', and hung up the phone. Immediately, they go to Don Cheadle. But instead of just doing that, they had to spend, 'Oh, he was terrible on set,' and all of these things and went through all this stuff."

Howard also said that he played a part in getting Marvel to hire Robert Downey Jr., and he felt the Iron Man star didn't show the same support to him when he tried asking him for help. Considering this experience, he may not want to come back to a studio where he felt undervalued, especially for a smaller cameo role. Still, it'd be an amazing way to tie the beginning of the MCU to Avengers: Secret Wars.

Avengers: Secret Wars Not Yet Rated
Release Date May 7, 2027 Cast Kathryn Newton , Jonathan Majors , Mark Ruffalo , Benedict Wong , Hailee Steinfeld , Dominique Thorne , Anthony Mackie , Brie Larson , Simu Liu , Benedict Cumberbatch , Iman Vellani , Chris Hemsworth , Xochitl Gomez Franchise(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe Upcoming MCU Movies
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Source: The Joe Rogan Experience

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