Ever since he replaced Terrence Howard in the role over a decade ago, Don Cheadle’s Rhodey has gone on to establish himself as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most prominent supporting characters. However, you could make the argument that he hasn’t really been given an awful lot to do since Iron Man 3 wrapped up Tony Stark’s solo trilogy back in 2013.
Rhodey may have appeared in several of the highest-grossing movies ever made, but he only tends to drop by in short bursts to either deliver exposition or a handful of quips, with the effects team picking up most of the slack during the action sequences. Cheadle will finally take top billing in an MCU project, though, whenever Disney Plus series Armor Wars ends up premiering on the streaming service.
All we know so far is that it revolves around Stark Industries technology falling into the wrong hands, forcing War Machine into action. Based on that brief synopsis, we’re presumably looking at a number of armored heroes getting involved, including Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams, and some new fan art from MUZE imagines Jon Bernthal’s Punisher suiting up and entering the fray, too, as you can see below.
In the comic books, the Punisher famously stole War Machine’s armor under the orders of Nick Fury and kept it for almost a year, and if Marvel Studios aren’t sold on the idea of rebooting the vigilante in the same sort of R-rated, violent style as the popular Netflix series, then having Bernthal reprise the role in Armor Wars would be an awesome substitute, one that would go down a storm with fans who would love to see the actor return, even if it does seem a little far-fetched at this stage.