Don Cheadle reveals if Armor Wars’ Disney+ abandonment was his decision

Don Cheadle has a brief account of the surprising call for change Panzerwarrior from a Disney+ show to a movie.

After flying under the radar for most of the past two years, Panzerwarrior shook up the MCU fandom with the announcement that it would be changing from a Disney+ show to a theatrical release. This marked the first time an MCU project had ever changed platforms in such a way, and with so little information about the project known, it brought a lot of excitement for its release.

This film will give Don Cheadle his first leading effort in the MCU after more than a decade of service, making him the oldest leading man in MCU history.

But did his tenure with Marvel give him any influence or power to make this huge change Panzerwarrior? According to Cheadle himself…no, it didn’t.

Don Cheadle addresses Armor Wars Switch

In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live that aired Thursday night, MCU star Don Cheadle spoke about his involvement in the decision to develop Panzerwarrior as a movie rather than as a Disney+ series, as was originally planned.

Kimmel asked Cheadle who made the decision Panzerwarrior a film, which Cheadle admitted that he “(does not) make such decisions” with Marvel Studios, continues to joke about how War Machine is fair “a fictional character” which does not determine real-world outcomes:

Kimmel: “I have to ask you this Panzerwarrior, the Marvel movie you’re making, which was going to be a show on Disney+, and then somebody decided, you know, this is going to be a movie instead. Who decided that? Were you in on it, because I heard you did?”

Cheadle: “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t make decisions like that at Marvel.”

Kimmel: “Interesting. I thought War Machine would just tell everyone what he wants to do.”

Cheadle: “Well, War Machine is a fictional character…”

No higher power for Don Cheadle at Marvel

Even as long as Don Cheadle has been a part of the MCU, he makes it clear with this interview that the Armor Wars decision was made by people in positions above him as an actor. And while it’s certainly working out well for him now that he has his first solo film centered around James Rhodes, Cheadle wasn’t able to use his status or character to break into the big screen.

Ultimately, this decision was made due to the fact that some of the ideas Marvel had for Armor Wars were “too big for [a] performance,” leads to the structural change. With no story or production details in place, it’s hard to specifically pick out which ideas were changed, but these will all become clearer as the film nears production time.

Currently, Armor Wars is without a release date in the grand MCU timeline, although many expect it not to hit theaters until Phase 6 or even Phase 7. And while Cheadle may not have had the power to make changes behind the scenes as big like this, he will likely have a big influence on where War Machine goes in a post-Iron Man world throughout the Multiverse Saga.