Don Cheadle landed an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and many Marvel fans just aren't quite sure how to take the news. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cheadle has long been playing the role of James "Rhodey" Rhodes, aka War Machine, in various movies. He briefly appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode "New World Order, and while it was certainly an awesome cameo, you'd almost miss it if you blinked.

On Tuesday, the complete list of nominations for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards was revealed. For the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category, Don Cheadle was named as one of the nominees for his appearance on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The other nominees in the category included Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten in The Crown; Courtney B. Vance as George Freeman in Lovecraft Country; Carl Weathers as Greef Karga in The Mandalorian; and Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth in The Mandalorian.

Because Cheadle is so popular with Marvel fans, the news of his Emmys nomination isn't a bad thing. The problem is that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier fans were also quick to notice that the show's lead stars, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, were not recognized with Emmy nominations of their own. Many fans are thus praising Cheadle's ability to land an Emmy nomination with such little screen time while questioning why Mackie and Stan were totally snubbed.

"Don Cheadle was in tfatws for like a minute and he got nominated for an emmy. king things," one tweet reads.

Or as one fan puts it: "don cheadle came on the tfatws set once and secured his emmy nomination, give it up for don cheadle."

"don cheadle gettin nominated for a 30 second scene with the actual leads of the show gettin nothing is way more funnier than it should be im sorry," tweeted another fan of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Another fan agreed by writing, "Don Cheadle getting an Emmy nom for Falcon and the Winter Soldier while Mackie and Sebastian got nothing has me screaming."

With all due respect to Cheadle, other fans have argued that Carl Lumbly should have earned an Emmy nomination instead as he was much more crucial to the series. Joining many others, one tweet pointed this out by stating, "Don Cheadle getting a nom for basically being a background actor is insane. Especially considering Carl Lumbly was the best part of that entire show."

Even Cheadle himself caught wind of all of the Twitter attention and offered a personal response. For his part, Cheadle is just as confused as many others about getting the nomination while Mackie and Stan were left out in the cold. Even so, he thanks the fans who've been supportive of the announcement.

"thanks, well wishers. sorry, haters. agreed, [shrug]ers. i don't really get it either. buuuuuuuuuut on we go ...," Cheadle wrote.

In any case, Cheadle has been nominated for an Emmy for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and we'll find out this fall if he'll pick up the win. The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards will air on CBS on Sunday, Sept. 19. It will also be made available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. You can see the fully list of Emmy nominations at Emmys.com.