Playing a superhero is never easy—especially when somebody else has played the role first. Such was the dilemma for actor Don Cheadle, who takes over the role of James "Rhodey" Rhodes from Terrence Howard in next summer's "Iron Man 2." In addition to replacing Howard, Cheadle also gets to don the War Machine armor, something that Howard was never able to achieve.

In an interview with Moviefone, Cheadle admitted to some awkwardness surrounding the takeover due to his friendship with Howard—but the discomfort didn't last too long.

"Terrence is a friend of mine," said Cheadle. "But the actual playing it, I just felt like it was my role. I wasn't made to feel like I had to sort of take care of what was done before. I really feel like I could make it my own." Read more...

When we spoke to Stan Lee during this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego, the conversation naturally turned to his cameos in the Marvel movies. One of the industry's living legends, Lee has proudly appeared in just about every movie featuring Marvel characters that's hit the screen.

While Lee wasn't certain he could talk about the cameo at the time, the news appears to have hit the 'Net this weekend—so we're thrilled to finally be able to show this portion of our interview with Stan "The Man" Lee. Excelsior!

"For some reason, they wanted me to wear suspenders and heavy glasses, and they treated me as though I was Larry King," Lee told MTV News of the character he'll play in "Iron Man 2." "So I finally, for the first time in my life, felt like I was a celebrity." Read more...

When it comes to discovering subtle movie spoilers, action figure fans have learned to turn to toy shelves. That's why when these "Iron Man 2" toy images surfaced, it was worth taking a close look to see if the plastic articulated any new information about one of 2010's most anticipated super hero films.

Marvelousnews has a look at the toys, revealing Iron Man Mark I and Iron Man Mark II as the first action figures ready for public view.

Both armors appeared in Iron Man's cinematic debut in 2008, meaning that while they're not likely to make an active return to the franchise, they'll help flesh out Tony Stark's armory. Read more...

"Iron Man 2" actress Scarlett Johansson was in Munich, Germany, yesterday (Wednesday, Oct. 14) at an promotional event for the Mango clothing line, and reporters managed to wrangle a few comments out of her about the much-anticipated sequel to last year's Marvel blockbuster.

According to a report on JustJared, Johansson joked to Extra TV, "Hopefully, I won’t be crucified for saying this, but I think the second one is even better."

Well, given the reaction to images of Johansson in costume as Black Widow, early reviews seem to be pretty positive regarding her addition to the cast—though we have yet to see her alter ego, Russian super-spy Natasha Romanoff, in action. Read more...

Yesterday, our chat with "Iron Man 2" director Jon Favreau yielded the news that Favreau won't be directing "The Avengers," but today we get a little insight into Tony Stark's upcoming return to the big screen.

Bouncing around a golf cart during the "Couples Retreat" press junket in Bora Bora, Favreau told with MTV Movies editor Joshua Horowitz that the primary relationship driving "Iron Man 2" is still Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow)—despite the introduction of Scarlett Johansson's Russian superspy, Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a Black Widow).

"I think the central relationship is still those two characters," Favreau told MTV News. "It's still Pepper and Tony." Read more...

A new, behind-the-scenes video from the set of "Iron Man 2" has hit the 'Net, and while there's not alot of new footage to be seen, there are some shots that should spark debate among fans analyzing every detail of what's available thus far.

In the video created by French-language site CanalPlus.fr, Favreau and "Iron Man 2" star Robert Downey Jr. offer some background on the making of the film, but we also get our first look at a homemade particle accelerator Tony Stark has built in his workshop. Pointing off-screen, Favreau tells the host, "As you can see, there have been some accidents."

But perhaps one of the most interesting shots in the video is a short scene featuring Downey and Scarlett Johansson's character, Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. The Black Widow) getting very close while she wears what looks to be one of the gloves from the Iron Man armor. Read more...

When MTV News caught up with "Iron Man 2" director Jon Favreau at the "Couples Retreat" junket a few weeks ago in Bora Bora, we were determined to get the filmmaker's take on how his much-anticipated sequel would connect with "The Avengers"—even if it took a bumpy ride in a golf cart to make the conversation happen.

Along with confirming that "Incredible Hulk" star Edward Norton won't be appearing in "Iron Man 2" and that Favreau won't be directing "The Avengers," the filmmaker shared some thoughts on his approach to making the Marvel movies all tie together. Read more...

Between a wealth of new videos highlighting the many characters of "Iron Man 2" (such as the villainous Whiplash) and a plethora of photographs from the set (both official and unsanctioned), the film's press machine is clearly rolling with all the efficiency of a Stark Industries product.

Further evidence of the Jon Favreau-directed "Iron Man" sequel's continued progression has arrived in the form of a new production still.

Entertainment Weekly debuted a brand new image of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in the highly anticipated Marvel Studios flick. Read more...

Comic book readers love controversy, and so did creators on Twitter Wednesday night. Tweets showed up all night mourning the death of Twitter user @HOBODARKSEID, who was outed in an NPR blog post as being none other than writer Matt Fraction.

Elsewhere, a few creators took issue with claims made my Tyrese Gibson in a CNN article about inventing digital comics for iTunes. Brian Michael Bendis and Christian Beranek both weighed in on that one. On lighter notes, Jon Favreau and Stan Lee are both jazzed about "Iron Man 2," and Stan Lee believes he may outshine Robert Downey Jr.

All of those insights and more can be found below in the Twitter Report for October 1, 2009. Read more...

“Iron Man 2” fans take note: Scarlet Johansson is keeping her “tight” Black Widow costume completely out of sight—even from her husband, Ryan Reynolds.

According to Contact Music, Johansson wants to gauge Reynolds’ reaction when he sees her on the big screen wearing the black catsuit of the sexy Russian spy.

Ever since the first images of Johansson in costume were revealed, fans have been clamoring to see more of her in action. Read more...