Don Cheadle recalls he had only two hours to sign a six film deal with Marvel: ‘If you don’t say yes then…’

“I was at my kid’s laser tag birthday party. They called me and said, ‘This is what’s happening and we’re giving you the offer (for Iron Man 2). If you don’t say yes then we’re going to the next person. This is going to happen very fast. Why don’t you take an hour and decide if you want to do it?’ It was a six-movie deal. In an hour I have to decide?” he said.

When he told the makers that he is at his kid’s birthday party, they only extended the time by an hour. Don was also not told anything about the other five movies other than Iron Man 2, but he still had to sign the six-film deal. When he asked about the rest of the movies, he was told, “It’s going to be these Avengers and this is what it is, so you have to say yes or no.” Cheadle asked what the trajectory of his character would be, to which Marvel responded, “We don’t know any of that but this is what it is so you’ve got an hour.”

Cheadle then took the two hours playing with his kid. He discussed the matter with his wife and called the agent to get as much information about the offer before giving his nod to the role. It has been about 12 years since he started wearing the War Machine armour, and he feels, “In every successive film, he’s coming more and more out of Tony’s shadow and becoming his own person. But we still haven’t explored who he is and really dug into that yet. That’s what the movie (Armor Wars) is for.”