For Marvel fans looking forwar to the Armor Wars movie, there’s some bad news as it’s not exactly a priority right now.
In a recent interview with Collider while promoting Captain America: Brave New World, producer Nate Moore gave an update on the project, and well… it’s not great.
When asked about where Armor Wars stands, Moore was quick to clarify that he’s not directly involved, but he still had insight into why the movie has stalled.
He said: “I do know, as Marvel continues to go through this phase, we want to make sure whatever we’re making is awesome. So that means we had to slow down some things that were on the front burner.”
So, while the project has not been canceled, it’s stuck in limbo. Moore reassured that Armor Wars is still on the table but reiterated that Marvel is being much more selective about what moves forward.
He added: “It doesn’t mean we’ll never make it, but it does mean we just have to be a little bit more considered so that every time out, audiences are guaranteed quality.”
The project was initially announced as a Disney+ series back in 2020, and was later reworked into a full-fledged movie, with Don Cheadle returning as James Rhodes.
At the time, writer Yassir Lester explained the shift was about telling the best story possible and giving Rhodey a more meaningful arc in the MCU.
Now, there’s no word on when (or if) production will start, and the movie has no release date. Even Cheadle seems out of the loop.
When prevously talking about the status of Armor Wars, he didn’t sound much more informed than the fans. “I think things are going through a lot of changes, and we’ll see what happens, we’ll see what it is.”
He also teased how his character will be explored in the movie, explaining that for the first time, we’ll get to see what makes Rhodey tick.
“The fun part about it is that we’re going to continue to explore Rhodey and — in some ways for the first time — get to see what makes him tick. We understand his physical challenges, but we haven’t really yet dug into a lot of his emotional and psychological [challenges].”
It’s frustrating because I’ve actually been more excited about Cheadle’s Armor Wars than Captain America: Brave New World. Cheadle is more than capable of leading a superhero blockbuster film.
After spending years as a supporting player, Armor Wars is a great opportunity for him to take center stage.
Moore’s comments line up with what Disney CEO Bob Iger has been saying about the future of Marvel Studios. After the underwhelming box office performances of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels, Iger has been vocal about shifting the focus to quality over quantity.
Instead of flooding the market, Marvel wants to make sure every movie actually delivers. If that means taking extra time to refine Armor Wars, maybe that’s not a bad thing, if that’;s what they’re doing. They might think audiences aren’t interested in an Armor Wars movie.
Rhodey’s last MCU outing was in Secret Invasion, which didn’t exactly get the warmest reception. But looking at Marvel’s packed slate, I guess there’s no spot for Armor Wars right now. We’ll just have to continue to be patient for this one.
