Don Cheadle Reacts to His Emmy Nomination: “I Don’t Really Get It”

in Marvel

Posted on by Krysten Swensen
James Rhodes Falcon Winter Soldier

Credit: Disney

On July 13, the nominations for the 73rd Annual Primetime Emmys were announced and the Walt Disney company cleaned up. The Mandalorian received an incredible 24 nominations and Marvel’s WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier received a combined 28 nominations. However, one nomination came as a surprise to Marvel fans — Don Cheadle’s nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his reprisal of James Rhodes in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. 

don-cheadle-war-machine
Credit: Marvel Studios

Don Cheadle had less than 5 minutes of screen time in Marvel’s hit series, but it was enough to earn him a Guest Actor nomination. This shocked fans, who could not believe that Cheadle had gotten a nomination when stars Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan had not. They were equally surprised — if not more so — to see Carl Lumbly snubbed for a nomination in the Supporting Actor category.

isaiah bradley falcon and winter soldier
Credit: Marvel Studios

Lumbly played Isaiah Bradley, a man who was forced into government experimentation and injected with Super Soldier Serum — the same serum that gave Steve Rogers his powers and made him Captain America. Lumbly’s performance was deep and emotional and translated into issues that persist today.

Anthony Macke Carl Lumbly Falcon Winter Soldier
Credit: Marvel

Unfortunately, even though Cheadle had nothing to do with being nominated for the award, fans took to social media to ask why he received any sort of nomination. However, keep in mind that Disney submitted both Lumbly and Cheadle for Emmy consideration in different categories: Supporting Actor for Lumbly and Guest Actor for Cheadle.

Twitter user Terry (@vermilionsquad) praised Don Cheadle but still acknowledged that Lumbly was snubbed.

Late to the party but, do the @TelevisionAcad folks think that @DonCheadle is #carllumbly ? Because, WHAT??? Don is amazing in everything but Carl murdered it in @falconandwinter #isaiahbradley #blackcaptainamerica

Mikeylito on Media (@MikeylitoMedia) also expressed his admiration of Cheadle but admitted he thinks that a mistake was made.

I like @DonCheadle as much as the next guy but are you going to tell me that his performance in #TheFalconandtheWinterSoldier was better than that of #CarlLumbly? Apologies to Mr. Cheadle, but I don’t get it.

Well, it seems that fans are not the only ones who are confused about Don Cheadle’s nomination, Don Cheadle is confused as well. As fans flocked to social media to express their shock and anger at The Falcon and the Winter Soldier snubs, Cheadle chimed in to share that he was as surprised as them.

thanks, well wishers. sorry, haters. agreed, [shoulder shrug emoji]. i don’t really get it either. buuuuuuuuuut on we go …

It is important to remember that Cheadle had nothing to do with his Emmy nomination. As mentioned above, Marvel decides who to submit for an award and which category to put them in, but they do not decide who actually is nominated. In June, we reported that Disney and Marvel Studios did push for Emmy consideration for a number of actors in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier — Carl Lumbly was submitted for consideration for Supporting Actor, and Don Cheadle was submitted for consideration for Guest Actor.

Don Cheadle Falcon Winter Soldier
Credit: Marvel

Cheadle even shared that people need to understand that he and Lumbly were nominated for different Emmy categories based on their roles in the show. LMD Mary (@GeekKirk) tweeted how the nominations are figured out:

The rules are online to read. That’s not what makes them supporting or guest. Guest stars are contracted that way. Supporting have to have at least 5% of the total screen time of the show. Disney paid money to enter Mr Cheadle as guest and Mr Lumbly as Supporting

Don Cheadle retweeted her and simply said:

that part

If Cheadle wins the Emmy for his role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it will be the first Primetime Emmy win for the actor. The 73rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 19 at 8 p.m. EDT, so make sure to tune in to see if Cheadle and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and WandaVision take home any awards.

How do you feel about Don Cheadle’s Emmy nomination? Let us know in the comments!

Krysten Swensen

A born and bred New England girl living the Disney life in Southern California. I love to read, to watch The Golden Girls, and love everything to do with Disney and Universal. I also love to share daily doses of Disney on my Disney Instagram @BrazzleDazzleDisney!

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