Have you watched a Marvel Studios show on Disney+ and thought “I wish this was just a movie?” Well that just happened with development of the upcoming Armor Wars. The show, which stars Don Cheadle as War Machine, was being developed as a follow up from the events in next year’s Secret Invasion but now, it turns out, the story is being moved over to the big screen.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news and wrote that “sources say the studio was committed in getting the story told the right way and in that process realized that a feature was better suited for the project.” io9 spoke to a source close to the project that confirmed this was all accurate.
Yassir Lester, who was hired last year as the lead writer on Armor Wars, will stay on to write the feature though a director is not yet attached. The news comes mere weeks after Kevin Feige brought Don Cheadle on stage at the D23 Expo to tease the show. At the time, Feige said that Cheadle’s character would play a role in Secret Invasion, out spring 2023, and that Armor Wars would act as almost a sequel to that. No release window was given for Armor Wars but now that it’s moving from limited series to film, there’s a chance it could be delayed.
And while it’s pure speculation to guess why this story was chopped down from six hours to two, one imagines Marvel and Disney realized the story worked better in a shorter time and that whatever happens in it was better experienced on the big screen than at home. Could that mean Riri Williams joins War Machine? The new Black Panther? Sentinels? Speculating about this one should be fun.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.