Academy Award nominated actor Terrence Howard, co-stars alongside Robert Downey, Jr. in this summer's Iron Man. In the film directed by Jon Favreau, Howard plays Jim Rhodes, Tony Stark's friend, ally, pilot and in the comics, fellow superhero. In an interview with WizardUniverse, Howard talks about the process of filming Iron Man.

Howard says that he was attached to the film in the role of Jim Rhodes even before director Jon Favreau came aboard. He also talks about his experiences working alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyenth Paltrow. When asked about working with Downey, Howard enthusiastically said "I love him! My first film I ever saw him in was Weird Science, which I watched, like, 400,000 times. So when I saw him that's all I wanted to talk to him about! [Laughs] He's brilliant. He's really, probably, one of the best actors I've ever worked with in my life and I look forward to learning a little more from him as we go on." Regarding Paltrow, Howard expressed just the tiniest bit of difficulty in working with the Oscar-winning actress. But not because of any problems with her personally, "We've had a couple of scenes but Gwyneth is hard to work with because she's so beautiful and you try not to flirt with her."

Asked about what attracted him to the role, Howard summed it up simply. "War Machine." It turns out that both Howard and his father were big fans of the Iron Man comics, in which Jim Rhodes temporarily replaced Stark as Iron Man, and was later given his own suit of armor by Stark. Using this new suit of armor, Rhodes becomes the superhero War Machine.

So, will we get to see War Machine in Iron Man? Howard refuses to say. "You read the comic book? If you read the comic book then you kind of know what happens. But you still have to wait because you all ain't taking away my next two movies!"

Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau, stars Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub and Gwyneth Paltrow. The film tells the story of Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, using his intelligence and ingenuity, Tony builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man. Iron Man flies into theatres May 2, 2008.