The MCU’s James Rhodes/War Machine actor Don Cheadle is excited to discover a new side to his character in the upcoming Armor Wars movie.
armor wars will explore the character of James “Rhodey” Rhodes in more depth, according to Don Cheadle. Introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008 Iron Man as Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey, Jr.) long-suffering best friend, Rhodey was originally played by Terrence Howard before Cheadle took on the role of Iron Man 2 in 2010. Since then, Cheadle has portrayed Rhodey and earned the nickname War Machine in Iron Man 2 and fight alongside Stark in that movie and many after. Although Rhodey has been around since Phase 1 of the MCU, he has never seen a solo movie or television series, which eventually changed when armor wars was announced in 2020.
armor wars was originally intended to be part of the growing Disney+ Marvel television catalog, announced as a six-episode limited series. However, it was reported that the project was turned into a feature film in September due to creative changes and the demands of the story. While such turmoil is sometimes a cause for concern, lead writer Yassir Lester has not left the project, and it is highly likely that the change will improve the quality of the project. armor wars, which is said to take place afterwards Secret invasion.
There’s a lot of potential for the film, which Cheadle hints at in a new interview. During a sit-down with Weekly entertainment, he reveals that he is very excited to introduce the real Rhodey to viewers, who have thus far only seen the character in relation to other major players in the MCU, most notably Tony. After The Falcon and the Winter Soldier allowed both Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) to step out of the shadow of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), it seems that the armor wars film will follow in that vein and give Rhodey a more personal story. Check out what Cheadle has to say about his story in the upcoming movie below:
What does he want to do? What are his desires outside of the relationship with these people we have already seen? Who is he when he is alone? A lot of these things we haven’t seen before, so there’s a good opportunity to explore those things and hopefully create a full character that now that we see the suit, we see everything else… It’s kind of a rebirth. It comes back to this character, but we’ve never been to the places we go on the show, so I feel like in some ways we’re just getting to know him even after all this time.
Armor Wars can finally give Rhodey what he deserves
Cheadle’s comments get to the heart of why armor wars is such an exciting prospect for fans of the MCU. War Machine was an essential character in the franchise, but he was easy to take for granted due to his close proximity to the star of Phases 1-3, Iron Man. Tony and Rhodey had a heartwarming and sibling dynamic, the latter often putting up with his brilliant friend’s antics and trying to steer him in the right direction. While Rhodey will certainly be hit hard by the loss of his best friend, starting a solo story will give him a chance to step out of the one role viewers have become accustomed to seeing him single-handed and truly starring.
In addition, changes armor wars from a TV show to a movie gives Rhodey a much bigger platform. Cheadle’s comments indicate that there is much about Rhodey that is still unknown to the public, which gives: armor wars the exciting opportunity to surprise viewers as they get to know the man under the helmet. Iron Man fans can also look forward to hearing Tony’s name in armor wars, as a main story in the movie revolves around Tony’s technology coming out and Rhodey trying to track it down before it falls into the wrong hands. Hopefully, armor wars‘ release date will be made official soon, giving fans of the character one more project to look forward to.
Source: EW
