Don Cheadle responds to Robert Downey Jr.'s casting as Doctor Doom — and whether they'll share the screen again in a Marvel movie

• Don Cheadle commented on his former costar Robert Downey Jr.'s return to Marvel in a new role.
• Cheadle said he was looking forward to seeing Doctor Doom's new story.
• Downey Jr. played Iron Man/Tony Stark until the character's death. He'll now be playing Doctor Doom.

Don Cheadle is excited for Robert Downey Jr.'s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Still, he's clueless about how Doctor Doom's story will play out — just like the rest of us.

Cheadle walked the red carpet for the premiere of his new movie "Unstoppable" at the Toronto International Film Festival last Friday. Business Insider asked him about the casting of Downey Jr. as the villain Doctor Doom, which shocked fans when it was announced over the summer.

"They keep saying that name. I don't know that I know who that is," Cheadle initially joked, pretending not to recognize his former "Avengers" costar's name.

Kidding aside, the actor said the announcement was great.

"We're going to be looking forward to seeing what it's going to be," Cheadle said of the villain's forthcoming storyline. "I think none of us really know."

When asked whether fans could expect to see Cheadle and Downey Jr., who played best friends James "Rhodey" Rhodes (AKA War Machine) and Tony Stark (AKA Iron Man) respectively for over a decade, share a screen again in the MCU, Cheadle played coy.

"I mean, we'll see," he said.

Cheadle has played Rhodey since 2010's "Iron Man 2," after taking over the role from Terrence Howard, who played the character in the first "Iron Man" film. He eventually becomes the hero War Machine after getting his own suit of Iron Man armor.

Cheadle reprised the role in "Iron Man 3," "Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Captain America: Civil War," "Avengers: Infinity War," and "Avengers: Endgame."

In "Endgame," Downey Jr.'s Iron Man was killed off, seemingly putting an end to the actor's time in the MCU (at least until that controversial Doom casting). Cheadle's character survived, later appearing in the Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," "Secret Invasion," and "What If…?"

Cheadle is expected to reprise his role in 'Armor Wars,' but it's unclear how and when

The actor is expected to play the role again, returning to headline "Armor Wars." Based on the comic storyline of the same name, the project was first announced as a TV series in December 2020. But it's unclear what the status is after multiple delays, including reports in 2022 that it was being redeveloped as a movie instead.

Cheadle has been having fun with the press asking after it, quipping "What's 'Armor Wars'?" when "Today Show" hosts asked for an update (and perhaps inadvertently spurring fan worries that the project had been canned entirely).

He made a similar joke when Collider asked him about Marvel veteran directors, the Russo brothers, who are returning to spearhead the new Avengers movies in which Downey Jr. will play Doom.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Cheadle joked when asked if he'd signed on for the Russo brothers' new "Avengers" movies. "I've heard of a Russo Brother. There are two?"

"You know I can't talk about that stuff," he added, referencing Marvel's legendary secrecy surrounding spoilers.

Cheadle will next be seen in "Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist" alongside Kevin Hart, streaming now on Peacock. Come December 6, he'll star in the biographical sports drama "Unstoppable," where he plays Shawn Charles, the coach for Anthony Robles, a real-life wrestler born with only one leg.