Draft:Armor Wars (film)

Armor Wars is an upcoming American superhero film based on the 1987–88 Marvel Comics storyline "Armor Wars". Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film will be written by Yassir Lester, and stars Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine, alongside Walton Goggins and Dominique Thorne.

Marvel was developing a War Machine film by January 2011, with Joe Robert Cole hired to write a script, though this did not come to fruition. Armor Wars, along with Cheadle's involvement, was originally announced in December 2020 as a Disney+ MCU television series, with Lester joining the series as its head writer in August 2021. In September 2022, Marvel Studios decided to rework the series into a feature film, with Cheadle and Lester remaining with the project. Filming is expected to begin in 2025, at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

Premise
James Rhodes must confront one of Tony Stark's greatest fears when Stark's tech falls into the wrong hands.

Cast
An officer in the U.S. Air Force and Avenger who operates the War Machine armor. New and different types of armor for Rhodes are featured. Cheadle said Armor Wars would be the first time seeing "who [Rhodes] is and what makes him tick".
 * Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine:
 * Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch: A "low-level criminal-type" who sells technology on the black market.
 * Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart: An MIT student and genius inventor from Chicago who creates a suit of armor that rivals the one built by Tony Stark / Iron Man.

Background
Don Cheadle said in February 2010 that he had not been told by Marvel Studios about a potential spin-off film for his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) character James Rhodes / War Machine, and believed it would not be made. That November, Marvel had reportedly sent a pitch for a War Machine film to writers. Cheadle said that Marvel was developing the film by January 2011, and believed that a writer had been hired; Joe Robert Cole had a meeting with Marvel and pitched his concept for the War Machine film and was hired to write the script, before Marvel decided to no longer pursue the project due to their plans for Iron Man 3 (2013). Cole then joined the Marvel writers program instead. In April 2019, Cheadle said that, while he was unsure of what the story would have been, the film would have explored the tension between Rhodes' military job and "the changing world".

In December 2020, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced the Disney+ MCU television series Armor Wars, with Cheadle reprising his role as Rhodes; the series' title and premise were being based on the 1987–88 comic book storyline "Armor Wars". The writing process for the series was set to begin in March 2021, ahead of an indicated filming start in early-to-mid 2021. Cheadle said the death of Tony Stark / Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame (2019) would factor into the series, which would explore more innovations in Rhodes' War Machine suit to elevate the character. Cheadle hoped the series would be able to bridge the storylines from the comics with the MCU and "make those worlds work" together. In June, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said Armor Wars would appeal to Iron Man fans who wanted similar content. Cheadle said a month later that he would be joining the writers room within a couple of weeks to help break the series' story, and that they were just "cracking" the story and discussing what the series would be. Filming was then set to begin in 2022.

Yassir Lester joined as head writer in August 2021. Lester's pitch excited executives and Cheadle with his ideas for the series, with Deadline Hollywood believing he had a "leg up" on other potential writers for the position due to his prior work with Cheadle on the series Black Monday. In October, Cheadle reiterated that they were still in the early stages of the series, and expressed excitement to explore Rhodes "untethered" from Stark and the Avengers following Endgame with more time and focus on the character. Cheadle noted while the series would be inspired by the comic storyline, it would take that "mythology and tip it on its head a little bit and come up with different ways to tell the story". Pre-production work had started by mid-September 2022, for a filming start in early October. At that time, Walton Goggins was revealed to be cast in the series, reprising his role as Sonny Burch from Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and it was also revealed that the series was set after the events of the Disney+ series Secret Invasion (2023). Dominique Thorne was also expected to reprise her role as Riri Williams / Ironheart in the series. Filming was then set to begin in early 2023, and the series was planned to consist of six episodes, with Rayna McClendon, Lekethia Dalcoe, Garrick Bernard, and Emma Fletcher serving as writers for the series. Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and Brad Winderbaum were serving as executive producers, with Lester also producing, along with Marvel Studios' production and development executive Jenna Berger.

Development
At the end of September 2022, Marvel Studios decided to rework the series into a feature film after realizing the story they were trying to tell was better suited as a film than a long-form series. Cheadle remained on board to star, while Lester was remaining as the film's writer. The project was no longer expected to begin filming in early 2023 because of the change. Marvel Studios executive Nate Moore, who produces the film alongside Feige, explained that the ideas generated "felt too big" for the series and its limited budget compared to that of a film, which could better portray the "beautiful imagery" of the comic and leverage ideas to affect future films. By January 2024, filming was expected to begin in 2025.

Filming
Principal photography is expected to begin in 2025, at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, under the working title Rigatoni.