Don Cheadle Was ‘Butt Naked’ In Avengers Before Mark Ruffalo Gave Him A Piece Of Advice

When fans watch their favorite superheroes fighting the forces of darkness on the big screen, very few imagine actors like Mark Ruffalo and Don Cheadle wearing green unitards covered in ping-pong balls to make that kind of magic come alive. Apparently, there are things to consider before putting on these motion capture suits, things Don Cheadle didn’t know about the first time he wore his own, which led to him wearing it “butt naked” for an entire movie.

Don Cheadle and Mark Ruffalo bonded on set during their first Avengers movie together since they both had to wear these motion capture suits. However, after that was over, Ruffalo gave Cheadle a key piece of advice that probably would have been helpful beforehand. Ruffalo told him to wear a modesty cloth, a jockstrap male dancers wear while in costume (one Jamie Dornan has also talked about due to his work in Fifty Shades). Here’s what Cheadle told Variety about that:

It’s hard to know what to make of this. Don Cheadle first started working on Marvel movies with Iron Man 2 as James Rhodes and War Machine, which seemingly would have required him to wear a mo-cap suit. So, if this is true, it sounds like he could he was likely going commando for a long time.

Don Cheadle took on the War Machine role after Terrence Howard left due to contractual disagreements with Marvel. He’s been playing the character ever since and has been a fan favorite for his dry humor and by-the-book attitude, which has played as a clever foil to Tony Stark’s snark.

Funnily enough, Don Cheadle didn’t get much time to make the decision to play the role. He was at his kid’s laser tag part when the call came from his agent that Marvel wanted him for a six picture deal, but he only had an hour to make the decision. It sounds like it worked out, "butt naked" or no.

While Avengers: Endgame finalized a massive superhero saga, it’s unknown what that means for Don Cheadle and War Machine. One thing we do know is that Don Cheadle wants back in and has some ideas on how that could happen, including making his own spin-off movie or series that could dive deeper into his origins.

Believe it or not, a while back there were plans to make a War Machine movie before it got scrapped. Joe Robert Cole, who wrote Black Panther, was originally tapped to write the spin-off War Machine script, but it never happened. With Endgame over, it might make sense to revisit this idea. And if that happens, I’m sure this time Cheadle will come prepared for the mo-cap suit.