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We’ve been waiting for any definite news about Iron Man 2 ever since we heard the rumor that Don Cheadle might be in as Rhodey for the sequel, leaving Terrence Howard to rent it on DVD with everyone else.

Now, thanks to Marvel themselves, we’ve got confirmation that Cheadle is a go. As a bonus, Marvel has confirmed that Robert Downey, Jr will reprise his role of Tony Stark for 2011′s The Avengers. Of course, we already knew he and Favreau would be back for Iron Man 2, but the news about Cheadle confirms that Downey Jr won’t be donning more blackface to play both Stark and Rhodey. Personally, I’m disappointed.

So it’s a bittersweet day. The rumor about Terrence Howard losing his job as Rhodey was pretty lame to begin with, and now it’s confirmed. Cheadle is an incredible actor, but so is Howard, and he did a strong job as Rhodey – especially considering how little screentime the character got in the first place.

The news about Stark in Avengers is great, but not surprising. We knew from the beginning of the project that the plan was to bring all the characters from the individual films together for a blockbuster. That might not necessarily guarantee an Ant-Man 2 or even an Iron Man 3, but this news might as well be months old. We just never got confirmation until now.

What do you think? Should Marvel have made the switch?