‘Armor Wars’ Reportedly Gets an Update, The Project to Be Reworked Following ‘Secret Invasion’ Backlash

Marvel Studios has a mix of rumored and confirmed projects in the works. Some are fresh ideas, while others have been stuck in development for years, even before the SAG-AFTRA strike that paused the industry.

While fans are excited about the ‘X-Men’ reboot, new ‘Avengers’ movies, and ‘Daredevil: Born Again,’ some projects, like ‘Armor Wars’ (which has shifted between being a movie and a show), have faced long delays with little progress or updates.

‘Armor Wars’ was envisioned as a film based on the comic storyline of the same name. It was intended to follow ‘Secret Invasion’ (which came out last year) and ‘Ironheart’ (Set to be released in 2025). Back in 2011, Don Cheadle confirmed that a War Machine film was in the works and that Joe Robert Cole had been hired to write it.

Nine years later, during Disney’s 2020 Investor Day, it was announced that ‘Armor Wars’ would be developed as a television series for Disney+, with Don Cheadle set to reprise his role as James Rhodes. In 2021, Cheadle also mentioned that production would begin in a few months.

Then the show was transformed into a movie yet again, with uncertain production or release date.

Cheadle gave us an update on the project a few months ago, and it wasn’t positive:

You can find out and let me know.

Cheadle also commented on the fact that the project switched from a series into a movie yet again:

Yeah. I think the word that’s the most salient in that sentence is “switched.” [Laughs] I don’t know, I’m not sure where anything is right now. I think things are going through a lot of changes, and we’ll see what happens, we’ll see what it is

Now industry insider Daniel Richtman revealed on his Patreon what the most recent cause of the delay was.

The update suggests that ‘Armor Wars’ isn’t canceled but is currently on hold. Marvel is reworking the project, likely due to criticism of ‘Secret Invasion.’ Now, it seems the project will only be released after ‘Secret Wars,’ and its storyline will be significantly different from the original plans.

I’ve heard that Armor Wars is on hold, not canceled. They’re reworking it after the backlash from Secret Invasion, and at this point, it’s looking like it’ll only happen post-Secret Wars. It’s also expected to focus on entirely different things than originally planned.

Fans criticized ‘Secret Invasion’ for its slow pacing and lack of exciting action, which made it feel dull for a Marvel show. Many felt the story wasted its potential, especially with big characters like Nick Fury, and didn’t fully explore the Skrulls’ invasion in an impactful way. The finale also disappointed viewers because it felt rushed and had unsatisfying conclusions to key plot points.

Fans also hated the polarizing reveal that Cheadle was a Skrull along and the actor himself commented on it:

Uh… you know, there was no… it wasn’t a demand. It was a request. “What do you think about playing this?” And it was to set up stuff in the following thing. So, if the following thing happens, and all those things were set up, then that’s one thing. If, as you said, it doesn’t, then we can talk about how I feel about it after!

Source: TVLine

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