They’ve literally destroyed everything about Rhodey in a single scene. The defilement of the MCU from its own shows and creators continues as Secret Invasion completely assassinated Colonel James Rhodes…aka War Machine…and everything he’s done in the MCU.
This is getting way too far!
Despite being one of the last-standing OG Avengers in the MCU (as they rest where either killed off or their actors moved on to different roles), War Machine was utterly disgraced and irrevocably changed by Secret Invasion, the show’s writers, and the show’s directors as the show retconned HIS ENTIRE ROLE IN OF THE INFINTY WAR SAGA! Yes, you read that right, Rhodey was written out of the MCU…by the MCU itself.
For the people who don’t know what I’m talking about or didn’t put two and two together when they saw Rhodey leave the abandoned Russian nuclear base in a hospital gown (like me until yesterday), Secret Invasion’s ending implied that War Machine was kidnapped, and his form hijacked by a Skrull since he broke his spine in Captain America: Civil War.
Yes, that’s right, the last seven years of Rhodey’s involvement in the MCU has not been Colonel James Rhodes suiting up in the Iron Patriot suit, but rather a worthless, completely irrelevant Skrull who ended up getting killed off in Secret Invasion anyways.
So, Rhodey’s military service as the War Machine, the last seven years of his military service in general, his battles against Thanos’ minions in Infinity War, his participation in the Battle of Wakanda, his brief one vs. one against Thanos, his involvement in rebuilding the world after The Blip, his involvement in hunting down and killing Thanos at the start of Endgame, his participation in the time travelling that helped recover the Power Stone, his participation in the final battle vs Thanos and his minions at the end of Endgame, comforting his longtime best friend Tony Stark as he died, attending Tony Stark’s funeral, and then everything he’s done since Endgame was all a Skrull pretending to be Rhodey.
This is the kind of shit that has turned me and millions of people like me off from the MCU and the last two Phases.
Unless this change gets double reconned by Kevin Feige and Rhodey was wearing a hospital gown for some other operation after Endgame, Secret Invasion pretty much pulled a Last Jedi-level subversion of expectations on us as instead of having all of those heartwarming, critical character growth moments for James Rhodes…it was actually just a nameless, useless Skrull this entire time.
RHODY DOESN’T EVEN KNOW TONY STARK IS DEAD!!!!!
Just let that sink in.
(Disney/Marvel-Secret Invasion-Official Trailer)
Tony Stark’s best friend and one of the most loyal and honorable “side characters” within the MCU in James Rhody was not only an imposter Skrull this entire time that couldn’t care less about Tony, Pepper Potts, Happy, and all of Tony’s adventures in his solo and Avenger films, but he was actually trying to undermine everything Tony Stark stood for the entire time since 2016.
WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS, MCU?!?! You have destroyed one of the last MCU characters for literally no other reason than it would be a shocking reveal to know Rhodey wasn’t actually Rhodey for an MCU show that not only was buried on Disney+, but was also one of the least watched PROJECTS in MCU history.
There was no “hey, is this really Rhodey” moments in any of the films post-Civil War (because Rhodey was not a Skrull the whole time as that’s a stupid idea), and Tony Stark, one of the most brilliant men alive, didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with James Rhodes, yet Skrull Rhodes almost instantly gives himself away in Secret Invasion after spending a perfect seven years within the guy’s skin?
We’re supposed to believe that?
I’m getting angry just thinking about how they’ve insulted James Rhodes and his legacy, so I’m ending the article here. In my own head cannon, the MCU ended after Endgame and everything else that’s come after has just been a live-action version of “What If…?”.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Disney/Marvel) (Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War – Trailer 2 – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Disney/Marvel) (Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion | Official Trailer | Disney+ – YouTube)
