Marvel producer explains why Armor Wars switched from a Disney Plus show to a movie

Don Cheadle in Armor Wars
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Marvel's Armor Wars was originally intended to be a Disney Plus series, before the studio announced it'll actually be a movie instead back in September. Producer Nate Moore has explained why the project is now a feature film, suggesting that the initial ideas floating around "felt too big" for the small screen.

"You know, our Disney Plus shows are awesome, and we love them, but the budgets are not the same as the features. That's no secret," Moore, who previously worked on Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, told The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast. "When you're talking about a show that wants to be about seeing all the cool armors and Don Cheadle interacting with all these armors and, sort of, the legacy of Tony Stark? That became kind of cost prohibitive to do as a show."

During the chat, Moore went on to suggest that, in true MCU fashion, Armor Wars will likely wind up launching another multi-film story arc, like the recently concluded Infinity Saga. He also noted how much easier it will be to bring certain moments from the comic book series of the same name to life with less money-related restrictions.

"We realized as a feature, not only can we get into some of the beautiful imagery that is from publishing, and there's certainly an Armor Wars run, but also there's ways then to leverage the ideas of that movie and affect other movies down the line," he said. 

For now, little is known about Marvel's adaptation of Armor Wars, other than the fact that it'll be a sequel to Secret Invasion. Yassir Lester is on board as writer, while Walton Goggins and Don Cheadle are set to reprise their roles as Ant-Man and the Wasp's Sonny Burch and James Rhodes, respectively. In the comics, Armor Wars is a seven-parter that sees Tony Stark's Iron Man discover that someone has been stealing his technology and selling knock-offs of his powerful suits to supervillains. Following the death of Robert Downey Jr.'s Stark in Avengers: Endgame, the new Armor Wars will center on Rhodey, AKA War Machine.

As it stands, there's no word on when Armor Wars will be released, but we'll be sure to keep you updated. In the meantime, keep up to date with the franchise's stacked slate, with our list of all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows currently in the works.

Amy West

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.