Terrence Howard Says Marvel Tried To Kill His Career & One-Sided Contract Led To His Exit From 'Iron Man' Series

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by Kevin Jagernauth
March 18, 2013 10:43 AM
10 Comments

Ever since it was revealed that Terrence Howard wouldn't be reprising his role in "Iron Man 2," ultimately replaced by Don Cheadle, there has been plenty of ink spilled about why the actor was bounced from the Marvel universe. Way back in 2008, EW reported that circa "Iron Man," it was Howard -- not comeback kid Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow or Jeff Bridges -- who was actually the best paid actor on that set. The first one to sign on, Marvel wasn't able to renegotiate his deal, but perhaps found another workaround. Rumors suggested that Howard was being difficult on set and/or the filmmakers weren't happy with his performance, leading to early drafts for "Iron Man 2" minimizing his participation. So when Marvel circled back to the actor for "Iron Man 2" with a much lower offer than the first movie, well, we'll let Howard take it from here....

“[I was paid] about $4.5m [for the first film],” Howard explained to radio show Sway In The Morning (via Total Film). “The second time, [the studio] said 'We think the movie will be successful with or without you. So, instead of the $8m that we said we were gonna pay you, we're going to let you come back for a million dollars.' We did a three-picture deal already, [but] I forgot, I didn't know it wasn't a mutually binding contract; it was only beneficial for them and they could bring me back or not. They can honor it or not.”

Ouch -- it looks like those big, lengthy Marvel contracts have a bit of a trap door attached to them. And it seems to be something that still stings Howard. Sitting down with Hollywood.com (see below) to chat about "Dead Man Down," when asked about the worst thing he's ever personally witnessed, unprompted he joked: "(The) worst thing I witnessed was 'Iron Man' killing my career," he joked. "Or trying to. They tried to."

Thus far, Marvel has refused to comment, and we'd reckon they won't start now, but what do you think? Was Howard unfairly bounced or is the series better off with Cheadle anyway?

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More: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Marvel, Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle

10 Comments

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Daniel | March 18, 2013 3:14 PMReply

Basically it seems like no one comes off well in this situation. As an employee being offered a number drastically below his previously-agreed-upon rate, the only self-respecting thing for Howard to do was walk away. But complaining about only being paid over a million dollars -- yeah, there's no way you're not gonna sound like a douchebag.
Daniel | March 18, 2013 3:12 PMReply

Basically it seems like no one comes off well in this situation. As an employee being offered a number drastically below his previously-agreed-upon rate, the only self-respecting thing for Howard to do was walk away. But complaining about only being paid over a million dollars -- yeah, there's no way you're not gonna sound like a douchebag.
Daniel | March 18, 2013 3:12 PMReply

Basically it seems like no one comes off well in this situation. As an employee being offered a number drastically below his previously-agreed-upon rate, the only self-respecting thing for Howard to do was walk away. But complaining about only being paid over a million dollars -- yeah, there's no way you're not gonna sound like a douchebag.
Ugh | March 18, 2013 1:10 PMReply

These actors are paid way too much already. $4.5 million for his work on Iron Man is disgusting enough but wanting $8 million to be in part 2? He would've been on set, what, a month? Fuck this. Too much money being passed around.
If only crew members & the special effects artists could play that game too. What? You want to take me away from my beach house for a month for only $1 million? No thank you.
Ugh
John | March 18, 2013 12:04 PMReply

Can't get around the fact that Marvel is cheap with its actors.
immature | March 18, 2013 11:23 AMReply

Marvel had promised to pay him a certain amount (8m) and then decided the didn't want to. Understandable from their viewpoint, but they're the ones who paid him more than RDJ the first time around and them asked him to take a huge pay cut. (Assuming it's all how he says it is.)
ManaByte | March 18, 2013 11:13 AMReply

Howard demanded more money than the actual star of Iron Man, RDJ, and Marvel told him to take a hike. He's just doing damage control because his own stupidity is killing his career, not Marvel or anyone else.
Christian | March 18, 2013 11:08 AMReply

I think Cheadle's personality fit Rhodey a little better. It's hard to relate to Terrence Howard's situation. "So what you're telling me is, I was paid 4.5mil for the first Iron Man, and now you're going to pay me 1 mil for Iron Man 2? No, I don't want to win the lottery every time someone asks me to portray a super hero."

I mean, I don't know... I don't live in that world. Jet fuel must be expensive.
Stephen B | March 18, 2013 11:33 AM

Well, when you consider the movie made over half a billion dollars worldwide, $8 mill. to co-star seems relatively reasonable.
No | March 18, 2013 10:54 AMReply

This is at least one-and-half weeks old and was initially reported on The Huffington Post.