Even now, nobody has any idea about why Terrence Howard was sacked from Iron Man 2 – not even Terrence Howard himself. In fact, Howard claims that he’s still in the dark about it all. All he knows is that he’s angry enough to wail about it to anyone close to him who happens to be holding a microphone.

Still though, Terrence Howard will get the last laugh here. After all, Iron Man 2 might be one of the biggest movies in history, but can Don Cheadle look himself in the eye and say that he’s making a rubbishy Karate Kid knock-off about street fighting that starts Channing Tatum? No. No he cannot. So in that respect, Terrence Howard wins. He loses the bits about being rich and famous and powerful, but he wins the Karate Kid bit.

It seemed like such a brilliant idea, didn’t it, when Marvel decided that it’d hire big-name credible actors for the roles in their movies. Robert Downey Jr, perhaps the finest actor of his generation as Iron Man. Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk. Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes. What a brilliant way to make low-grade superhero schlock seem intelligent and highbrow, we all thought.

Marvel forgot one very important thing in all of this, though – the reason why nobody had thought to do it first is because everyone knew that when you hire an important actor for a movie you’re essentially hiring an enormous raging ego trapped inside the body of Veruca Salt from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

That’s why earlier this year we were treated to the sight of Edward Norton threatening to hold his breath until Marvel made The Incredible Hulk into a three-hour exploration of the frailty of the human condition – and it might be why Terrence Howard is no longer in Iron Man 2.

There were plenty of hints in Iron Man that Iron Man 2 would be Terrence Howard’s film – all the nods to War Machine certainly pointed that way – but last week it was revealed that Don Cheadle was replacing Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes in the sequel.

At the time there were vague murmurings about Terrence Howard wanting too much money, but according to Howard himself, he hasn’t got a bloody clue about anything. And he’s mighty displeased about it, as he told NPR:

“It was the surprise of a lifetime. There was no explanation. I read something in the trades that implicated it was about money or something but apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on. And promises aren’t kept. Good faith negotiations aren’t always held up. You know, even friendships, people that you support…”

So who knows why Terrence Howard got the shove from Iron Man 2. Maybe it was money, or maybe it’s because Terrence Howard seems to be such a self-important nobsack that nobody could bear to spend another second working with him.

Either way, let’s just pray that Marvel doesn’t run into the same difficulties with Don Cheadle, because then it’d have to switch black actors a third time for Iron Man 3 and, as well as giving the slightly dubious impression that the moviegoing public can’t really tell the difference between one black actor and another, it’d only be a matter of time before the studio decides to cast Chris Tucker as Jim Rhodes, and that would just be hideous.

With all of this in mind, someone who should be watching his back is prospective Thor director Kenneth Branagh. He’d better not get any flighty ideas about the movie or he’ll be out and Marvel will jump on the phone to the bloke who directed Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

In fact, an Oscar-nominated actor like Terrence Howard probably only agreed to star in Iron Man in the first place because his role would grow exponentially in Iron Man 2, where he’d become War Machine. Except it won’t now, because Terrence Howard isn’t going to be in Iron Man 2.

Thanks to rumoured financial disagreements, Howard is out of Iron Man 2, and he’ll be replaced by Don Cheadle – the man whose godawful British accent ruined Ocean’s 11 and its sequels. There are bound to be some cosmetic changes to the script because of this casting change – for example, to suit Cheadle’s voice, War Machine will now only be referred to as Woooaaar Mableedingchine Innit Guv’nor Chin Chin Toodlepip Mary Poppins.

When Marvel makes a movie, it likes to hint at sequel possibilities to arouse the geeks. That’s why Nick Fury turned up at the end of Iron Man, Iron Man turned up in The Incredible Hulk, the crappy semi-outline of Captain America popped up in one millisecond of a deleted scene in The Incredible Hulk and the rest of The Incredible Hulk was so bad that people fantasised about a sequel because it could only ever be better than the film they were actually watching.

And another moment like this came in Iron Man when Terrence Howard took a loving look at the Iron Man suit, patted it and murmured “Next time.” The message was clear – rather than just being Robert Downey Jr’s dull, Driving Miss Daisy-style companion, in Iron Man 2, Terrence Howard was probably going to become War Machine. In fact, that’s probably the only reason why Terrence Howard agreed to play such a menial part in Iron Man to begin with.

But that dream is over, because Terrence Howard is out of Iron Man 2, and in his place is lovely old Don Cheadle, as Reuters reports:

In a surprise move, Don Cheadle will replace Terrence Howard as Robert Downey Jr’s best friend in “Iron Man 2,” the sequel to the superhero saga. Marvel had no comment, but sources close to the deal said negotiations with Howard fell through over financial differences, among other reasons.

Apparently, along with the casting change, Marvel wants to take the Howard/Cheadle character Jim Rhodes, in ‘another direction’.

We’re not completely sure what that means but, given Don Cheadle’s previous movie roles, we’re fairly certain that in Iron Man 2 War Machine is either going to end up as a victim of racism who works as a UN humanitarian volunteer in Darfur, or as a gor blimey chim-chiminey cockney urchin who lives up the apple and pears, stands up and weeps every time the national anthem plays and works as a rag and bone man with his cantankerous old father. Our fingers are crossed for the latter.

However, Terrance Howard’s sudden unexplained removal from Iron Man 2 should just go to show the other other actors that nobody is bigger than the movie and everyone is expendable. So everyone had better watch out, otherwise there’s a fairly solid chance that, in Iron Man 2, Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow will be replaced by Gary Coleman and Gary Coleman in a blonde wig and a miniskirt. Consider that a warning.