Rhodey Walks Again (Captain America: Civil War)
When the news of Captain America: Civil War first broke, many wondered if Marvel would have the guts to kill off Cap like in the source material. Naturally, when we saw that Chris Evans was set to appear in future MCU films, the answer became pretty clear that it was a no.
Then came the trailer where Iron Man stood over a fallen James “Rhodey” Rhodes/War Machine, and fans wondered if the MCU had pulled the trigger and done the unthinkable. Would War Machine become a casualty of Tony and Steve’s war?
When the Russos’ film reached its climax, we discovered that Rhodey had only been paralyzed by his fall. Rather than leave his story on a sour note, however, the finale of Captain America: Civil War showed us how he’d regained the use of his legs due to Tony’s help. What a pal!
Unfortunately, this cheapened the impact of what happened to Rhodey and furthered the belief that Marvel lacks the courage to go down the dark side in its cinematic universe. Yeah, it was probably done with good intentions, but it was poor character development and a narrative shortcut when you think about it.