'Avengers: Infinity War': War Machine's Role Was Originally Much Bigger

After suffering a debilitating injury in Captain America: Civil War, James Rhodes returned in [...]

After suffering a debilitating injury in Captain America: Civil War, James Rhodes returned in Avengers: Infinity War to don the War Machine armor once more in the fight against Thanos.

And though Don Cheadle's character did aid Earth's Mightiest Heroes in that final battle in Wakanda, he almost played a much bigger part in the events of Infinity War — and almost had another suit of armor entirely.

"Originally, Rhodey was going to have two different armors in this movie. And then this ultimately got narrowed down to one armor, so the best elements in both armors were combined into one," said concept illustrator Phil Saunders in The Art of Avengers: Infinity War. "We really wanted to give him a much more advanced look than what he had had in the previous movie to keep up a little bit with the leap from the Mark 47 to Mark 50 for Iron Man.

"So I went with a much more sophisticated stealth geometry and breakup of the form language. I also gave him a far more extensive package of weaponry than he had ever previously had."

As one of the surviving members of the Avengers, it's likely that we'll see War Machine help his allies right the wrongs done in the last movie. But it remains to be seen if Rhodey will get another upgraded suit of armor in Avengers 4.

The character is somewhat dependent on Tony Stark's technology after the events of Civil War, during which he suffered an accident that hampered the use of his legs and required he attend rehab. Cheadle previously spoke about his character's journey, stating that War Machine would be less trusting of his teammates after Vision accidentally struck him from the sky.

"I think it's something that he's fighting to put behind him," Cheadle said. "But absolutely, it creeps up. There's innuendo. There's shots taken. There's things said. Don't want certain people behind me. I'm gonna keep a eye on everybody, I wanna keep that jewel in front of me, not behind me. So yeah, I think he's, like I said, I think he's negotiating this reunion and his rejoining this team."

And though Rhodey fought against Captain America and his allies in Civil War, he proudly stood beside them in Infinity War.

"I think at the end of the day that division was not something that was really fomented by the characters in the movie," Cheadle said. "There were outside pressures that created that division. And they ultimately want to be back together. So, I think that Tony who has yet to make an appearance so I imagine that he's understanding of it."

We'll see how War Machine fares in the final battle against Thanos when Avengers 4 premieres in theaters on May 3, 2019.

You can purchase The Art of Avengers: Infinity War by clicking here.

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