(Cover) - EN Movies - Don Cheadle says he is in desperate need of some "down time".

The actor, who is currently promoting his new movie The Guard, revealed that he is secretly delighted that he hasn't been approached to star in The Avengers yet.

The star, who has portrayed superhero War Machine/Jim Rhodes in the Iron Man franchise, said that while he has a contract to reprise his character for the upcoming movie, it has not been optioned yet.

"Me being in The Avengers?" he asked in pretend shock when asked by Total Film whether he would appear in the picture. "I have a contract to be in The Avengers but I'm glad they haven't exercised that option yet. I need some down time."

Don also revealed that there might be a spin-off movie for War Machine, but that the new Iron Man instalment is scheduled first.

The busy 46-year-old, who has previously starred in critically acclaimed movies Hotel Rwanda and Crash, humbly said that if he was asked to play the super hero in a War Machine movie, he would accept.

"Iron Man 3 is coming back. We'll probably do that again in February and there's talk of a War Machine spin-off, which I guess, unless I get recast, I would probably do," he said. (C) Cover Media