Avengers: Endgame pitted Earth's Mightiest Heroes against Thanos in an epic final battle and when Giant-Man emerged with War Machine, Rocket, and Hulk from the ruins of the Avengers Compound, Rhodey was decked out in a brand new armour painted up just like his Iron Patriot uniform.
There was no explanation given regarding where the suit came from but it looked pretty badass in action, as did the sight of Rocket standing on his shoulder as they raced into battle together.
Now, Iron Studios has unveiled a new statue featuring the likenesses of both characters and it offers up by far our best look yet at War Machine's new armour. There's a lot of great details here and it's fair to say that this is the most formidable version of the hero to date (strangely, some toys show this armour in grey and black so the colour change may have been fairly last-minute).
Either way, you just need to hit the "View List" button below to check out these images!
Did Tony Stark somehow send his old friend this armour, knowing he was trapped beneath the rubble? That's one explanation but no one involved with the film has commented on it just yet.
As a result, that definitely feels like a plot hole and it's possible there's a deleted scene coming our way which explains this. Either way, there's no denying he looks like a total badass here.
The decision to change the armour's colour must have come fairly late in the day because the Marvel Legends action figure which is being released features this suit, albeit with the grey instead.
With rumours swirling that Norman Osborn is coming to the Marvel Universe, perhaps his first victim will be Rhodey and he takes this suit of armour for himself? We'll have to wait and see.
Can you imagine Spider-Man taking on a villainous version of the Iron Patriot? That would be amazing to see but most fans would obviously rather see him as the Green Goblin before that.
Taking War Machine aside for a moment, there's no getting around the fact that Rocket looks every bit as amazing. In
Avengers: Endgame, he was obviously decked out in a comic accurate costume.
The level of details on this statue is phenomenal and it will be a must-have for any fan of the character. It's interesting seeing how that gun on War Machine's back is formed from his armour too.
There's a lot of bulk to this armour but it's still not quite up there with the Hulkbuster. A LEGO toy release before
Avengers: Endgame actually featured the War Machine Buster but was clearly just a toy.
License: Avengers: Endgame
Scale: Art Scale 1/10
Features:
- Limited edition
- Based on original movie references
- Made in polystone
- Hand painted
- Automotive paint
- This statue is part of a battle diorama based on the Avengers: Endgame movie
Product dimensions: 11 in (H) x 8.2 in (W) x 10.2 in (L)
Product Weight: 2.2 lbs
UPC: 606529899707
MSRP: USD 169.99 (American US Dollars)
Release schedule: First quarter of 2020
What do you guys think about this take on War Machine? Are you a fan of the Iron Patriot colour scheme? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts on that in the comments section below.
Continue reading below to find out who could be
the next face of the MCU after Iron Man's demise!
Captain America
No, not
that Captain America.
Based on the way
Avengers: Endgame ended, it's pretty obvious that
Falcon & The Winter Soldier (soon to be renamed
Captain America & The Winter Soldier?) will deal with the aftermath of Steve Rogers' decision to grow old and pass the mantle and shield to Sam Wilson. Once that's addressed over the course of these six episodes, the new Captain America can return to the big screen.
As Anthony Mackie himself has said, it's a very big deal for a black man in modern America to be Captain America and it would be amazing to see this version of the hero take centre stage in whatever comes next for
The Avengers franchise, especially now that Steve and Iron Man are both gone.
Doctor Strange
Benedict Cumberbatch's busy schedule resulted in stand-ins being present for many of his
Avengers: Infinity War and
Avengers: Endgame scenes, but if he's ready to full commit to the MCU, then there's every chance the Sorcerer Supreme can lead the charge moving forward.
We've had a cosmic villain, but a magic-based big bad in Phase 4 would be right up Strange's alley and he could definitely assemble a brand new team capable of taking on that mysterious foe.
Strange has already played an integral role in the MCU since his introduction in 2016, so there's no reason to think that can't grow larger from here, and Cumberbatch's popularity makes him an extremely likely candidate to develop an Iron Man-sized fanbase.
Spider-Man
Based on the latest trailer for
Spider-Man: Far From Home, the sequel will spend a lot of time dealing with Peter Parker trying to fill the void left by Iron Man, and it's definitely time for the wall-crawler to be more than just a Friendly, Neighbourhood superhero.
He's already had a taste of tackling threats to the entire planet thanks to the last two
Avengers movies, and while he may be young, there's no reason why Peter can't suit up and become as important to the MCU as his comic book counterpart is to the 616 universe.
Ultimately, this hinges on whether Sony Pictures is able to continue to play nice with Marvel Studios...
Black Panther
We've already spent quite a bit of time with T'Challa across
Captain America: Civil War and
Black Panther, but he definitely took something of a back seat in
Infinity War and
Endgame.
While Ryan Coogler's sequel will more than likely delve into his and Wakanda's new place in the MCU, it's vital that he also establishes Black Panther as a character who is willing and able to protect the entire world and not just his home country. We've had a taste of that, of course, and his first solo film set the stage for the hero to set-up a base on the West Coast.
That's right, West Coast Avengers led by T'Challa...
Captain Marvel
Man, some fanboys out there are going to hate this one. Regardless of their irrational hatred for Brie Larson, though,
Captain Marvel's first movie made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office and she has a huge fan base capable of ensuring that the HERo sticks around for a long time to come.
While making her the face of the MCU will be somewhat difficult if the sequel takes place in the past, the biggest pitfall here is the fact that Carol Danvers is so powerful. Ultimately, Marvel Studios may decide to keep her off Earth because she could take down pretty much everyone and anyone, but providing they use strong enough villains, there's no reason she can't lead The Avengers.
It could just boil down to whether she chooses to prioritise Earth or other planets!
Ikaris
Marvel Studios seemingly has big plans for
The Eternals and while it's believed that the movie will take place thousands of years in the past, the immortal nature of these characters means they can easily start getting involved in present day adventures.
We've seen that happen in the comic books, and seeing as Marvel Television dropped the ball on The Inhumans, Kevin Feige may have big plans for this group of heroes. The casting process would seem to back this up, and with big names like Richard Madden and Angelina Jolie leading the ensemble, any one of the Eternals could prove to be a major player across the entire MCU.
Madden is red hot after
The Bodyguard and
Rocketman, so it's hard to think of anyone better than him to fill that role, while Ikaris could easily end up being this shared world's Superman.
Shang-Chi
The first Asian superhero in the MCU will be introduced in
Shang-Chi, a solo movie for its titular hero which will reportedly pit the expert martial artist against The Mandarin and Fing Fang Foom.
That immediately establishes him as a major player in this shared world, and it will be very interesting to see how he interacts with his fellow heroes and whether he ends up being a team player.
His comic book counterpart has assembled alongside The Avengers, and providing Marvel Studios gets this one right, it's not hard to imagine Shang-Chi having a very bright future moving forward.
Thor
The last of Marvel's original Trinity left standing, it already seems pretty obvious that they have big plans for the God of Thunder.
Thor: Ragnarok was a huge success at the box office and the hero was put front and centre in the last two Avengers movies; now, it looks like he'll make his way into the
Guardians of the Galaxy franchise with James Gunn at the helm.
That obviously bodes well for Thor's future and with New Asgard now on Earth, he can easily make his return a few years from now in order to be Earth's #1 protector and the leader of whatever incarnation of The Avengers comes next.
After all, he's been there from the start and has tackled all manner of threats alongside Captain America and Iron Man, so who better to square off with the likes of Galactus and Annihilus than one of the MCU's most powerful heroes?
Valkyrie
If Thor does decide to stay away from Earth for the entirety of Phase 4 (and that is looking pretty likely right now), why not put the focus on Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie, instead?
The character has developed a pretty sizeable fanbase and may end up being the MCU's first openly gay superhero. Putting the spotlight on her makes perfect sense regardless of her sexuality, though, especially now that she's been named the leader of New Asgard and its sizeable army.
Personally, I would love to see Taika Waititi take the helm of a fourth "Thor" movie that actually puts the spotlight on Valkyrie, and it would be even better for her to join The Avengers.
Wolverine
This may seem a little optimistic, but now that the rights to the
X-Men and
Fantastic Four franchises have returned to Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige can finally start using heroes and villains from that corner of the Marvel Universe. We know that it's unlikely we'll see a new
X-Men movie until Phase 5, but Wolverine could definitely start showing up here and there to lay the groundwork for that.
Despite how much of a focus Fox put on the character, it's hard to believe Feige doesn't want to introduce a new Wolverine and it would make no sense at all for him to develop his mutant powers now, especially as the most interesting thing about Logan is the fact that he's been alive for well over a century. With that in mind, why not start having him make the odd appearance in a teasing manner?
You could have a series of after-credits scenes focusing on his introduction, regardless of whether he's tracking down powered youngsters, or simply on the run from a nefarious organisation.