Marvel Brings SPOILER Back From The Dead

Marvel Comics has resurrected James Rhodes, a.k.a the heavy-hitting War Machine, from the [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Marvel Comics has resurrected James Rhodes, a.k.a the heavy-hitting War Machine, from the dead.

Invincible Iron Man #600, released Wednesday, saw the fallen superhero returned to the land of the living courtesy of writer Brian Michael Bendis, who killed Iron Man's longtime best friend near the beginning of 2016's Civil War II.

Invincible Iron Man 600
(Photo: Marvel Entertainment)
Rhodes, working with the Inhumans, A-Force, and the Ultimates, participated in an ambush on Thanos at a Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. facility after Ulysses Cain — a newly surfaced Inhuman with the ability of precognition — saw Thanos come to Earth in search of a Cosmic Cube.

During the heroes' attack on Thanos, the powerful alien landed a devastating blow on the suited up War Machine — killing him.

Rhodes' death helped spark the central conflict of Civil War II, which saw many of Earth's superheroes come into conflict over using Ulysses' visions to preemptively thwart crimes and catastrophes before they occurred.

This split the superhuman into two factions — those in favor of utilizing Ulysses' future-seeing abilities, lead by Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel, and those against it, lead by Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man.

After a battle with Captain Marvel in Washington, D.C., Stark slipped into a coma — a situation he survived only because of years of alterations and genetic modifications he made to his body and DNA to operate the Iron Man armor.

With Stark's body placed in stasis at the Triskelion — and his mantle taken up by Doctor Doom and Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart, in his absence — Stark's body later rebooted itself. Hypothesizing this same process could be used to restore Rhodes, Stark exhumed his body and was able to kick-start Rhodes' biological system and bring him back to life.

Iron Man #600 Rhodey
(Rhodes' return. Photo: Marvel Comics)

While Rhodes was dead, Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher, donned the firepower-heavy War Machine armor and waged a new kind of war in six-issue limited series Punisher: War Machine.

The event also claimed the life of Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk, at the hands of Avenger Hawkeye. The Hulk has similarly since been resurrected.

A longtime veteran of Marvel Comics, Bendis has since joined the DC Comics universe, where he will pen limited-series The Man of Steel before scripting the ongoing Superman #1 and Action Comics #1000 this July. Bendis has already created 14 new characters for his crack at the iconic superhero.

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