The Oscar-nominated actor believes that an alleged run-in with a legendary producer played a role in Don Cheadle replacing him in the MCU.

Terrence Howard says he once threatened to punch famous producer’s teeth out, thinks it led to Iron Man 2 firing

The Oscar-nominated actor believes that an alleged run-in with a legendary producer played a role in Don Cheadle replacing him in the MCU.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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on March 5, 2026 6:19 p.m. ET

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Terrence Howard, Jon Favreau, and Robert Downey Jr. in 'Iron Man'. Credit:

Paramount/Courtesy Everett

Terrence Howard believes that being an angry man is what cost him *Iron Man*.

Before Robert Downey Jr. was cast as the future rock of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Howard was actually the first actor brought aboard Jon Favreau's 2008 *Iron Man*. In the debut MCU film, the Oscar-nominated actor played Tony Stark's friend and sidekick, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, only for Howard to be replaced by his *Crash* costar Don Cheadle ahead of the 2010 sequel. Howard has previously blamed the move on his refusal to take a drastic pay cut, considering he was initially earning more than Downey. But he's now suggesting that his actions on another film were a large part of his departure.

Speaking on the *PBD Podcast*, Howard recalled an alleged run-in that he had with legendary producer Joel Silver at the 2007 Venice Film Festival as the duo promoted their movie, *The Brave One*, in which Howard starred as a New York City detective who is on the hunt for a vigilante killer (played by Jodie Foster). Howard said that after a reporter asked why his name wasn't getting the same credit treatment as Foster, Howard — who had just been Oscar-nominated for *Hustle & Flow *— began to wonder the same, and word of this frustration apparently made it back to Silver.

"Joel Silver came and had a conversation with me, and he's like, 'The reason your name isn't above the titles is because you're not the star of this thing — it's Jodie. And if you get nominated for an Oscar, it's going to be for Supporting Actor, not Best Actor,'" Howard claimed. "And I was like, 'Thank you for telling me that, now I understand. But, you have to remember that I'm a man just like you, and if you ever talk to me in that way again, I'm going to knock your teeth out of your mouth.'"

Neil Jordan, Susan Downey, Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, and Joel Silver at the 'Brave One' premiere.

E. Charbonneau/WireImage

Silver's producing partner on *The Brave One* just happened to be Susan Downey, the wife of Howard's *Iron Man* costar. "Eight months later, I lose *Iron Man*," Howard said. "And I'm sure that all of those things played their part."

** has reached out to representatives for Joel Silver and Susan Downey for comment.

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EW previously reported that Favreau was unhappy with Howard's performance in *Iron Man* and so he was planning on minimizing the Rhodey character in the sequel, prompting Marvel to go to Howard with a drastically reduced salary to continue. For his part, Howard had called the firing "the surprise of a lifetime," adding that "apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on sometimes." He even went so far as to suggest that Downey Jr. was partially responsible: “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."

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Howard's career has been full of ups and downs, and he now admits that his "aggression" and "need to be a man" cost him many opportunities. In his *PBD *interview, he cites a conversation with Denzel Washington that gave him new perspective. "He told me, 'Look at your hands, your fists are all balled up,'" Howard said of Washington believing that he was always ready to fight. "'All of these producers are trying to open your hand so they can put money in it, but you won't do it; you keep your hands all tight. And you're blowing it.'"

Howard did eventually find success again with his celebrated run on the Fox music drama *Empire*, but he says that he is "blacklisted" by Hollywood after he filed a lawsuit in 2020 against the Disney-owned 20th Century Fox over unpaid compensation related to *Empire*. "You're no longer on their list because you've broken the cardinal rule: you never talk," Howard declared. "Even if you're being screwed over, you never talk. You're supposed to keep that quiet and keep working as a good slave —and I didn't do that."

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