According to Him, Downey Ghosted Him
According to Howard, the studio broke their contract the second Robert Downey Jr. demanded more money. Howard claimed studio executives came to him and told him they didn’t feel his character was important. “It turns out that the person that I helped become Iron Man, when it was time to re-up for the second one, took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out,” he told Cohen. So, Howard tried reaching out to Downey Jr., but the actor ghosted him for three months. The role of Colonel Rhodes ended up going to Don Cheadle.