Who needs six to eight hours of something when you could have slightly over two? That must be what the folks at Marvel thought after looking over the upcoming slate. Only a couple of weeks after D23 Expo 2022, at which we learned the upcoming Secret Invasion Disney+ series would roll right into an Armor Wars series, we now know, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, that the later title is not going to be a show anymore. It’ll instead become a feature film for theaters.
The change of format will also push Armor Wars even further down the pipeline of production. No directors had been attached to the series, so no worries there for feature direction gear-grinding. Comedian and writer Yassir Lester, who was on board as the series’ head writer, will write the screenplay. Don Cheadle, who would star in the series as James “Rhodey” Rhodes, aka War Machine, will still be the main character.
According to the report, sources close to the production realized the story—based on a seven-issue comic arc from the 1980s—would be better served as a movie. The series had not started production yet, eyeing a 2023 launch.
Armor Wars focuses on Tony Stark discovering his Iron Man technology is now in the hands of not just heroes but also villains. Which, of course, leads to chaos. So, of course, his bestie, Rhodey, sets off to recover the items. Disney confirms the series will ask the question, “what happens if Tony Stark’s tech falls into the wrong hands?”
Where the movie will end up now is anyone’s guess. But since Armor Wars was never on the Phase 5 announcement slate, and not officially on Phase 6, we can assume it’ll end up toward the end of the latter. We’re looking at fall or winter 2024 at the absolute earliest. Most likely, it’ll be 2025.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.
