Although there's much more of the cast to confirm for Iron Man 2, there's one actor that won't be returning to the film, and that's strange since his role in the sequel is to be expanded upon and given much more storyline.

It's just been announced that Terrence Howard will not return to his role as Colonel Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes in the sequel to Iron Man, in fact he'll be replaced by Don Cheadle.

It seems, according to the studio through The Hollywood Reporter anyway, that Terrence Howard was just asking too much money for the sequel, and that's something that would hold true if you had a small part in the first and were asked back for a sequel with more to do, you would surely ask for a raise.

The article does suggest there's something more in the decision though, stating that there were other reasons and they wanted to take the role in a different direction, that must have been a direction other than Howard's, and what direction that could mean I have no idea. What direction would Cheadle bring that Howard wouldn't? More dramatic? Less mumbling?

We'll probably not hear all the ins and outs until Howard starts speaking about it, but for now it's clear that one of the first actors confirmed for the sequel is Don Cheadle.

Iron Man 2 is set to look more at the character of Rhodes and his relationship with Tony Stark, and this could be where Rhodes dons the suit (pardon the pun) to take over Stark's role when he's unable too.

At least we know Jon Favreau is back too, we have to wait and see if Robert Downey Jr. and the rest of the cast return, although I think it's looking highly likely they will, otherwise there wouldn't really be a Favreau sequel would there?