The universe of Marvel cinematic entertainment allows fans to imagine a world where science, technology, close encounters of the third kind, xenology, and theology can all co-exist in unison. But when it comes to the real world, black holes might not be too believable a thing for the realm of science and reason. Or at least, the ex-Iron Man star Terrence Howard happens to think so.
With a messy history with the Marvel bosses and a complex relationship with the Marvel legend Robert Downey Jr., Howard exited his post as Colonel Rhodes aka War Machine in the MCU in disgrace. Behind-the-scenes politics merged with some pride on his part accounted for the sudden overnight recast.
In the aftermath, Terrence Howard’s online presence has been somewhat controversial and divisive and his version of events, be it his exit from Marvel or his theory about black holes has raised several eyebrows among fan circles.
Terrence Howard and His Black Hole Theory
Not unlike conspiracy theorists, Iron Man star Terrence Howard once unraveled on air and revealed his wildly uncorroborated and unfounded theory about the presence of black holes and the scientific reasoning behind their state and purpose of existence.
While talking to Joe Rogan in an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Howard explained:
[Black hole] doesn’t exist. There aren’t black holes. There’s no spot where energy goes in and never comes back out. There’s no place in the universe where the information paradox occurs, where there isn’t a balance, where something gets contracted and never comes out. That’s not how the universe behaves. It comes in and it goes out.
The actor further goes on to reflect on his understanding of vortex systems and how they play into the workings of a black hole, equating naturally occurring phenomena like hurricanes and tornadoes to the physics behind the spatial anomaly:
The shift that [scientists] are talking about, that’s the tornado [effect]. Remember, there are vortices. There’s all these huge vortices. Everything is spinning around these vortices. So a collection of larger vortices is going to have the same [effect] as what’s happening at the center of the galaxy, it’s happening at the center of a hurricane, it’s happening in your toilet stool.
Joe Rogan later added to Howard’s argument, rationalizing that this is the reason why the galaxies appear as circular discs in the first place. Howard also reasoned that: “All motion is expressed in waves. All waves are expressed in curves. It always makes spirals.” The Iron Man actor further went on to call doubt to the concept of zero in physics, saying that it exists only in terms of currency: “There is no zero to even think [about] zero.”
Celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson later made a reactionary video to respond to Terrence Howard’s claims on Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast.
Terrence Howard and the Glory Days of Marvel
The former Rhodey may have been in the MCU for a brief stint but like every first love of our lives, his impression lasted a long while even after Don Cheadle came and took over his role. Terrence Howard’s legacy may be conflicted due to the unclear version of events that caused him to quit the MCU so soon, but the actor himself has lived on in pop culture for being the original James “Rhodey” Rhodes.
16 years later, his impression still lingers as the fans of Marvel’s old glory days recall an era of reinvention and brilliance without the collusion of cringey moments, forced narratives filled with plotholes, and utterly uninteresting storylines (re: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels).
Terrence Howard reminds the fans of a time when the MCU was not bound by social politics, the preference for originality over comic book accuracy, and the narrative of woke culture and the criticism that exists around it. Marvel, for all its faults and flaws, gave its fans an incredible decade filled with such magnificent hopes and promises that the studio can still draw them back with a single call to arms.
Iron Man is currently streaming on Disney+.
