Following the revelation surrounding Don Cheadle’s Rhodey in the latest episode of Secret Invasion, there might be a whole lot of consequences to that reveal that MCU fans haven’t even thought about yet. At least that’s the impression that Marvel boss Kevin Feige is giving in a new interview.
Warning: spoilers to follow for Secret Invasion episode 4.
Feige explained that he specifically asked Cheadle if the Oscar-winning actor would be down to play a Skrull imposter in Secret Invasion, and he said yes.
Fans have suspected Rhodey was a Skrull since the beginning of the series. However, now that his secret is out in the open, the question remains whether Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury was wise to the situation or if he just acquired the information recently.
However, the even more intriguing question is: how long has Rhodey been a Skrull? according to Feige, the answer may just completely change our understanding of the past Marvel shows and movies where Rhodey appeared. As Feige explained in an article with Marvel:
“We like the idea of fans going back and watching some of the other appearances of Rhodey and realizing that that wasn’t him.”
Obviously, Feige is remaining tight-lipped about the details of Rhodey’s career as an imposter as well as, presumably, the location of the real War Machine in the universe somewhere. Since the Skrulls have been on Earth since the 1990s — as was depicted in Captain Marvel — is it possible that Rhodey’s entire tenure in the MCU as we know it was as an imposter? It would certainly explain why the character seems so different between the first and second Iron Man movies — or maybe that’s just the recasting from Terrence Howard to Cheadle. Hey – at this point, they can explain every recast with a Skrull imposter subplot. In fact, maybe Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner wasn’t really recast after all, he was just poorly duplicated and the original is still floating out there in the universe somewhere. Maybe it’s Mark Ruffalo‘s Hulk that is actually an alien invader.
In all seriousness, we can’t wait to find out more about the Skrull threat and how long it has been brewing when new episodes of Secret Invasion drop on Disney Plus every Wednesday.