Don Cheadle Gives His Take On Controversial SECRET INVASION Twist; Shares Disappointing ARMOR WARS Update

Don Cheadle Gives His Take On Controversial SECRET INVASION Twist; Shares Disappointing ARMOR WARS Update

Don Cheadle has shared his thoughts on his character, Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes, being revealed as a Skrull agent in the Secret Invasion Disney+ series...

By MarkCassidy - Oct 13, 2024 11:10 AM EST
Filed Under: Armor Wars

Secret Invasion was not well-received by the majority of fans, and the plot point that seems to have come in for the most backlash was the twist involving Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes (Don Cheadle).

Making War Machine a Skrull imposter was one thing, but revealing (or at least, strongly implying) that the real Rhodey had been replaced by a shape-shifting alien shortly after sustaining his injury in Captain America: Civil War - rendering his emotional farewell to dying Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame meaningless - really didn't go over well.

As it turns out, Cheadle has some issues with the twist himself.

"Uh… you know, there was no… it wasn’t a demand. It was a request," the actor told TV Line when asked for his reaction to finding out about the Skrull twist. “'What do you think about playing this?' And it was to set up stuff in the following thing. So, if the following thing happens, and all those things were set up, then that’s one thing. If, as you said, it doesn’t, then we can talk about how I feel about it after!"

The "following thing" is Armor Wars, which was initially planned as a Disney+ series before being redeveloped as a feature. A recent rumor claimed that the studio has yet to make a "final decision" on the movie one way or the other, and could still choose not to move forward.

Unfortunately, Cheadle wasn't able to share a more positive update on the project.

"You can find out and let me know. [Laughs] I don’t know, I’m not sure where anything is right now. I think things are going through a lot of changes, and we’ll see what happens, we’ll see what it is."

Plot details are still very much a mystery, but the story is expected to pick up after the events of Secret Invasion, and could show us exactly what happened to the real Rhodey when he was replaced by a Skrull imposter. If Armor Wars takes inspiration from David Michelinie and Bob Layton's comic run, it will likely focus on Tony Stark's advanced Iron Man tech falling into the wrong hands.

We don't know for certain who those hands will belong too, but rumor has it that Sam Rockwell is set to reprise his Iron Man 2 role as Justin Hammer, and Damage Control is also said to be involved.

Rockwell wasn't about to confirm or deny anything while promoting Argyle on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon earlier this year.

"Well, I'm waiting for the phone call.. I haven't gotten the phone call, no. I'm growing the beard and everything." He did add that he'd be interested in an MCU return should the opportunity arise, however. "Listen, I'm in dude. Yeah, let's go."

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JustAWaffle
JustAWaffle - 10/13/2024, 11:48 AM
I legit forgot secret invasion happened.
ProfessorWhy
ProfessorWhy - 10/13/2024, 11:50 AM
@JustAWaffle - lucky you
HOTSHOT
HOTSHOT - 10/13/2024, 11:51 AM
Two forgettable MCU projects in one article. One that sucked. One that feels like it'll never come out and yet I don't feel like it'd be a big loss.
CerealKiller1
CerealKiller1 - 10/13/2024, 12:05 PM
@TheVisionary25 - I don’t think the implication of it being Civil War was given by the show. As you said, the show says that Gravik didn’t put his plan into motion until after Endgame, when he got the opportunity to collect the DnA from the battlefield.

The Civil War thing seems to be something assumed by some fans and sites like this, with no actual evidence to back it up

Obviously Marvel could end up proving me wrong, but I think the show gave enough hints and outright signs that they weren’t crapping on all of Rhodeys history post Civil War
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 10/13/2024, 12:07 PM
@CerealKiller1 - I thought so that Gravik had initiate his plan post EG so that makes sense

I hope so , they could say he was even just at a checkup or something to justify him being in a gown etc.
dagenspear
dagenspear - 10/13/2024, 12:52 PM
@CerealKiller1 - His plan? Maybe, though I don't remember the show saying that that's when Gravik started that. But, the show does say that the skrulls were taking people's identities for a long time, not just since Endgame's events. The skrulls could have still been doing their own thing separate from Fury, for the most part, and that was among them and not have been apart of this elaborate world nuking/domination scheme.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 10/13/2024, 2:17 PM
@dagenspear - They could have been taking folk before Endgame, but then that adds the complication regarding who got blipped cos there would be a fair chance either the captive or Skrull would have ceased to exist.

The more sensible assumption would be his implant needed fixing after Endgame and was captured then, a few years sans exercise in that device resulting in muscle wastage is more than suffice to explain stuggling to walk when released, doubly so if his nerve implant isn't fully functional

As to what the initial plans were behind and if they stick with it however, we likely will never know as whatever it was may change even if we do still get armor wars.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 10/13/2024, 2:20 PM
@TheVisionary25 - Seem to recall his Stark implant was damaged during Endgame thus that would likely mean surgery required.

That seemed the most logical point for me, which does pose the question still if it was him there at the funeral service but would still have been him during the fights etc in Endgame.
dagenspear
dagenspear - 10/13/2024, 6:11 PM
@Apophis71 - I dont think it was said in the show when it started
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 10/13/2024, 8:17 PM
@dagenspear - The show landed well after others that stated two years since Endgame (Hawkeye show for instance stated it was around two years after) and fairly sure they did make reference to how many years Fury had been off planet putting it at three years post Endgame.

I could be wrong but if release order is in general timeline order it certainly started more than two years after.
WEAPONXOXOXO
WEAPONXOXOXO - 10/13/2024, 12:04 PM
Everyone is a Skrull in this scene.


Arthorious
Arthorious - 10/13/2024, 12:39 PM
@WEAPONXOXOXO - yeah when Tony died I was expecting much more crying and sorrow, but Pepper and Rhodey just looked a little sad.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 10/13/2024, 12:05 PM
Even as someone who didn’t dislike Secret Invasion as much as others and even got some genuine enjoyment out of it , the implication of Rhodey having been captured & replaced since Civil War was one I did not like…

Plus , it didn’t really make sense imo since wasn’t it said that Gravik had only recently put his plan into motion in that or am I mistaken?.

Anyway whether it be Armor Wars or whatever the next Rhodey appearance seems to be , I hope they just ignore it or state that he hadn’t been replaced until post EG or even after his appearance in Falcon &.The Winter Soldier.

I can definitely understand his frustration though and hope Armor Wars happens sooner or later since I enjoyed his performance & take on the character so it would be nice to flesh him out more and give him the spotlight!!.

User Comment Image
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 10/13/2024, 12:09 PM
I kinda assumed the Skrulls started replacing humans after the snap, especially considering that's when SWORD and SABER started focusing on Earth instead of space
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 10/13/2024, 12:17 PM
@bkmeijer1 - would've been perfect timing. Imagine Tony coming back to Earth, only to find himself already in the 4th quarter of Eatths restoration. He, Cap, and several other Avengers were doing well... but sometimes things.. just felt... off.

That'd be an interesting Secret Invasion.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 10/13/2024, 1:28 PM
@KennKathleen - Secret Invasion without any Avengers really was uninteresting. So much more they could've done with it
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 10/13/2024, 1:37 PM
@bkmeijer1 - doing it in the vein of a spy thriller/drama was one of the things I liked the most about it

Wish they had kept that and it was Fury outsmarting Gravik (which he kinda di) rather then another third act VFX fight.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 10/13/2024, 2:15 PM
@TheVisionary25 - agreed. It worked, but the spy stuff kinda fell apart after the second episode imo.

And yeah, that third act fight really was unnecessary. And Super Skrull Giah has some unintentional consequences for power levels in the MCU as well.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 10/13/2024, 2:52 PM
@bkmeijer1 - how did it fall apart?.

I think the character interactions between pretty much everyone kept me ensued till the finale which was by far the weakest episode.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 10/13/2024, 5:06 PM
@TheVisionary25 - think it just lost a lot of steam. Felt like they had to push a story for the six mandated episodes, while it easily could've been done in four or maybe five.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 10/13/2024, 5:50 PM
@bkmeijer1 - to each their own
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 10/13/2024, 12:17 PM
I do find it funny though that before this show came out or even when an adaptation of Secret Invasion was just an idea , people where speculating or wanting this character to have been a Skrull all along or this one to be for awhile since that’s how it is in the comic..

However when the show came out and it could be taken given hints in the finale that Rhodey had been taken post Civil War , people got upset lol and rightfully so.

Revealing that a character you have invested in for so long hasnt even been that person for awhile just feels cheap to me…

It might work in comics where there are so many retcons & such but not for this live action universe imo.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 10/13/2024, 12:24 PM
Wait until that reveal is retconned and secret invasion happened in a different universe.

Marvel is bankrupt creatively.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 10/13/2024, 12:35 PM
Rhodey has just been wasted since Endgame, which is stupid given just how big of a connection he has to Stark and the Iron Man legacy.
TheDpool
TheDpool - 10/13/2024, 12:44 PM
I dunno if kinda liked the idea of him being switched out during Civil War.
On page Henry Pyn was switched out in London and that was weeks after Avengers Dissemble, so basically the whole Civil War and events leading up to Secret Invasion he was swirched.
dracula
dracula - 10/13/2024, 1:26 PM
Did not know they did that

Meaning war machine’s best story is still dropping a tank on the White House lawn
Timerider
Timerider - 10/13/2024, 1:47 PM
It really comes down to box office results for Captain America Brave New World, if it succeeds, then maybe, if it fails, there’s future projects that won’t happen. You have to support Disney/Marvel if you want those films. It’s easy as that.
grif
grif - 10/13/2024, 2:46 PM
why dont they just make a im4 prequel to the avengers 3 and have tony and rhodey team up with shit load of action and call it im4 armor wars?

marvel72
marvel72 - 10/13/2024, 3:49 PM
@grif - Because they want to force Ironheart on us.
grif
grif - 10/13/2024, 6:26 PM
@marvel72 - force away. wont be watching anything with that in it
KingMob20
KingMob20 - 10/13/2024, 10:15 PM
@grif - because the last time they made a prequel movie featuring a now-dead character everybody bitched about it.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 10/13/2024, 4:06 PM

The disappointing thing would be if Armor Wars and Ironheart actually happen.

Nobody wants this junk. But we know why they feel they must do them.
NathimusPrime
NathimusPrime - 10/13/2024, 4:20 PM
@DocSpock - armor wars is the only marvel thing I'm even remotely excited about. Always enjoyed seeing the armor suits in action.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 10/13/2024, 4:44 PM
@NathimusPrime -

Hmmmm.... Question: Did you think the Transformers movies were good movies?

dragon316
dragon316 - 10/13/2024, 4:51 PM
@DocSpock - depends who you ask I found them better more exciting less boring to transformers one and new fans who got introduced to transformers all thanks to movies they like movies and half new fans do not watch cartoons buy comic buy toys play transformers games they like live action my cousin he likes treamsformers more thanks to movies but transformers one he passed see it in theaters didn’t look good to him .

He saw bad quality version at home he didn’t like it he like live action movie version better to transformers one there are people on Facebook , twitter and YouTube feel same way about live action movie
dragon316
dragon316 - 10/13/2024, 4:54 PM
@dragon316 - judge transformers movies by ratings and reviews you may as well add you like avatar movies judge by reviews and movie score transformers they don’t have much story goodd vs bad bots evil want to rule cybertron and universe hood stop them what story and plot can anyone make that different you can’t same thing over and over same with comic movies tv shows
DocSpock
DocSpock - 10/13/2024, 7:05 PM
@dragon316 -

I think the Transformers movies were terrible.

I will never try the comics, cartoons, or toys.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 10/13/2024, 4:54 PM
Forgot this show ever happened. A great feeling.
valmic
valmic - 10/13/2024, 5:47 PM
No one’s interested in this and iron heart feels way too late. Should have happened right after Wakanda forever. The momentum is long gone.
Waifuslayer2
Waifuslayer2 - 10/13/2024, 11:11 PM
An MCU movie being quietly canceled is anything but disappointing.

Hopefully the same thing happens to Ironheart.
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