Jon Favreau: Recasting Terrence Howard Was ‘Tough,’ Says Don Cheadle Owning War Machine Role

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Terrence Howard, Jon Favreau and Don Cheadle
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A dapper Terrence Howard goes global at the Ischia Global Film And Music Festival in Italy on July 16, 2009
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Jon Favreau arrives at the Walt Disney Pictures’ premiere for the animated feature film ‘G-Force’ at the El Capitan Theatre July 19, 2009 in Los Angeles
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Don Cheadle as Col. James Rhodes in ‘Iron Man 2’

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FIRST PUBLISHED: July 27, 2009 3:51 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: July 27, 2009 4:09 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO, Calif. --

The cast of “Iron Man” – Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard – helped propel the first installment of the superhero franchise to $585 million in box office takings worldwide. So it should come as no surprise that director Jon Favreau found replacing Howard, “tough.”

Access Hollywood caught up with Favreau on Saturday at Comic-Con in San Diego, where he shared his feelings about the bringing in Don Cheadle after Howard was replaced by producers after a reported dispute over salary.

“It’s always tough when you recast, especially when you recast somebody that did a really good job — in this case Terrence, " Favreau told Access.

Favreau said Cheadle has put his own spin on the character of James Rhodes, who suits up in his own high-tech exoskeleton as War Machine

“Now we find [James Rhodes] being played by Don Cheadle, and he’s a fine actor,” Favreau continued. “He had to find his version of the character.”

And it was a version Favreau was happy to deliver to the fans at Comic-Con.

“It was nice to show War Machine,” he explained. “That’s what the people wanted to know, ‘Is War Machine in it? What’s it like?’” he told Access. “We wanted to give [fans] at least a taste of it.”

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