Summary
- The MCU faces production issues after recent flops, leading to overhauls of projects like Daredevil: Born Again and Armor Wars.
- Armor Wars wasn’t canceled but is on hold and facing reworks after the Secret Invasion backlash; it could potentially be post-Secret Wars.
- There have been calls to scrap Armor Wars due to fan turnoff, but there is potential for redemption by returning it to Disney+ as a limited series.
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has worked through a lot of production issues in the past, one particular project keeps going through the ringer and things don’t seem to be getting along any smoother thanks to a previous poor performance.
The MCU has had some problems in recent times, falling from its peak around Avengers: Endgame and grappling head-on with the fan fatigue that has been in the discussion since the decline of the Zack Snyder-led DCEU. For many, this came to a head with 2023’s slate of misfires cumulating in The Marvels, barely making a fraction of what the first Captain Marvel did at the box office right before Endgame. Since then, there’s been a concerted change in the way the franchise puts out content, with 2024 seeing only two major Disney+ shows and only one theatrical release by way of Deadpool & Wolverine. This also affected many projects that were still in development at the time, including shows like Daredevil: Born Again and Armor Wars, which would get major overhauls in the wake of those issues.
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While Daredevil: Born Again got completely redone and is set to release on Disney+ recently, Don Cheadle’s Armor Wars got bumped up to a theatrical release and has seemingly been in a state of arrested development ever since. Rumors did eventually emerge that the project had been completely scrapped at Marvel Studios, but a recent report by trusted scooper Daniel Richtman on Patreon suggests that this isn’t the case at all. “I’ve heard that ‘Armor Wars’ is on hold, not canceled,” the report says. “They’re reworking it after the backlash from ‘Secret Invasion,’ and at this point, it’s looking like it’ll only happen post-‘Secret Wars.’ It’s also expected to focus on entirely different things than originally planned.” This report, specifically pointing out the Disney+ show Secret Invasion as one of the road bumps for Armor Wars, really drives home the impact 2023’s terrible performance had on the project.
In addition to being generally disliked for a whole plethora of reasons ranging from the tone of the show to the CGI used in its more action-filled moments, one major issue with the MCU’s take on Secret Invasion was the reveal that James Rhodes (aka War Machine) had been replaced by a Skrull for a significant amount of time, with the original kept in a pod to have his memories harvested for the ruse. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige confirming this had been the case since Civil War meant that for many important moments in the MCU, including his emotional farewell to Tony Stark, Rhodes had been a fake. Many fans were horrified by this discovery, with many agreeing that this decision in Secret Invasion irreprably tarnished the character’s MCU legacy. With that in mind, it’s clear how that show’s failures and controversial decisions would negatively affect Armor Wars.
With so much time elapsed and so little buzz left, many people have started to think that Marvel really does need to just scrap Armor Wars altogether. With Tony Stark gone and Don Cheadle’s last MCU appearance doing a lot to turn people off from the character’s MCU journey, a theatrical release for Armor Wars feels like a big ask, even for the most optimistic Marvel fans. Elsewhere, there are some calls to have the project return to Disney+ as a limited series, and this could potentially face the reveal in Secret Invasion head-on and show audiences how the character recovers from such a devastating event. If a proper story could be told with a well-written emotional stake and a companion plot that sees the character try to protect Tony’s legacy via adapting the Armor Wars plotline, it really could redeem Rhodey and make him a major player again. However, the decision to leave the project on the back burner until after Secret Wars sort of invalidates its utility as positive character development.
Despite the development hell it will probably have to go through some more, Armor Wars can still work for the same reasons it worked as a comic book storyline, with a special focus on the power of Stark’s tech in the wrong hands looking even more poignant and appealing for the MCU now that the man himself is out of the picture. If initially directionless projects like Agatha All Along and theatrical releases plagued by reshoots like Captain America: Brave New World could make it to the viewing audience, then fans can rest assured that Marvel Studios will bring Armor Wars to theaters as soon as possible (if there’s still a story to be told there).
The MCU is available to stream on Disney+.
Armor Wars
- Writers
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Bob Layton, David Michelinie, Yassir Lester
- Producers
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Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso
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Source: Daniel Richtman/Patreon