A little while back came the news that Marvel Studios had opted to ditch its plans for an “Armor Wars” TV series, with the Don Cheadle-led project being redeveloped as a feature film instead.
Don Cheadle reprises his longtime MCU role of Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes and remains on board to star, whilst showrunner Yassir Lester is staying on as the film’s writer.
Speaking with http://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-secrets-of-marvels-magic/id1612131897″>The Town Podcast, Marvel Studios executive Nate Moore has now explained why said plan was changed, revealing it came down to budget and scale:
“There were some great ideas that were coming out for that show, but that, to be quite honest, felt too big for that show. Our Disney+ shows are awesome, and we love them, but the budgets are not the same as the features, that’s not secret. When you’re talking about a show that wants to be about seeing all the cool armors, and Don Cheadle interacting with all these armors, and the legacy of Tony Stark, that became cost-prohibitive to do as a show.”
By turning the project into a feature, Moore says they can now use some of the imagery from the publishing side of the equation. In addition, they could “leverage the ideas of that movie that affect other movies down the line”. That impact on the greater overall MCU continuity became a determining factor in making “Armor Wars” into a film.
The story revolves around the idea of Stark Technology falling into the wrong hands, which has led to online speculation that Robert Downey Jr. could return in some capacity (ie. flashbacks, AI hologram, etc.). Cheadle has previously teased a “rebirth” for his character as it gets to show Rhodes in his off hours.
https://www.darkhorizons.com/why-marvels-armor-wars-became-a-film/”>