Oscar-nominated actor Terrence Howard will join forces with Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark in the 2008 John Favreau-directed "Iron Man," playing Stark/Iron Man's close friend (and fellow superhero) Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes.

According to comic lore, James Rhodes is an African-American maverick helicopter pilot who meets Tony Stark during the Vietnam War, becomes his close friend, and later heads Stark Industries' aviation wing. As Stark dons his impenetrable Iron Man suit to fight bad guys, so does Jim Rhodes eventually become the hero War Machine thanks to a similar multi-weapon, strength-boosting battle suit.

Plot details have yet to be released, so there's no telling if the Rhodes' War Machine alter ego will be unveiled sometime in the 2008 Marvel Studios release. Variety reports that Iron Man's first supervillain will be The Mandarin, a brilliant Chinese scientist who used alien technology in the comics in his quest for world domination.

Of course, the film is still in pre-production (with filming set to begin in February) and there's already talk of sequels, so perhaps the storied saga of Iron Man and War Machine's friendship will take multiple installments to play out. Throw in Iron Man's involvement with The Avengers, a few bad guys, a love interest and Tony Stark's famous battle with alcoholism, and you've got yourself a multi-flick comic book franchise!

"Iron Man" is due in theaters May 2, 2008.