Summary
- Don Cheadle's Rhodey was one of the characters replaced by skrulls in Secret Invasion, a plot twist that surprised viewers.
- Rhodey's upcoming series, Armor Wars, will explore the aftermath of his discovery, and how he comes to terms with a very different world.
- The events of Secret Invasion could impact other MCU projects, such as The Marvels, as the skrulls were introduced in Carol Danvers' storyline.
One of the biggest plot twist from Secret Invasion was related to the real identity of Don Cheadle's Rhodey, and the actor tried to warn the fans about this way before the release of the series.
Created by David Michelinie and John Byrne in 1979 for Iron Man #118, the character first debuted in the MCU in the first Iron Man movie, played by Terrence Howard, with Cheadle taking his after that, appearing in Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, being one of the closest people to Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark.
Although War Machine, his superhero name, is not one of the main characters from the MCU, he has always been relevant to the plot and mostly when it comes to Iron Man. The character will soon return in a series mostly focused on him, Armor Wars, which will definitely be connected to Secret Invasion and will show the aftermaths of discovering that he was replaced by a skrull for a long time.
In fact, the actor already tried to warned Marvel fans about the big twist around the character even before the show, but of course no one understood what he was referring to until now. Last year at the latest celebration of Disney's D23 Expo, Cheadle spoke to ComicBook.com about the future of his character, giving away some clues of what would ultimately happen in Secret Invasion. When being asked about how would fans would find Rhodey in Armor Wars, he said:
"At a very different place, and in a way that is something that I can't really talk about, but it's going to be very surprising to a lot of people."
When Secret Invasion premiered, many fans already had the theory that Rhodey was going to be one of the people replaced by skrulls, but it was still unexpected for most of the viewers, such as the revelation that Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) was also replaced.
How Secret Invasion Connects to Armor Wars
Disney
At the end of Secret Invasion, the skrull that took Rhodey's identity died along with the leader of the shape-shifters, but that doesn't mean the planet is safe from them. But it does mean Rhodey will return as himself, finding a very different world in comparison to the one he remembers.
Armor Wars will probably deal with the aftermaths of Rhodey being kidnapped and him coming back, finding out everything that has happened, like the death of Tony Stark. However, the events of Secret Invasion could also impact in some other MCU projects such as The Marvels, since the skrulls were first introduced in the first part of Carol Danvers' adventures.
Armor Wars doesn't have a release date confirmed yet, while The Marvels is the next MCU project slated to debut, coming to theaters on November 10, after being delayed from its original release date on July 28.