Don Cheadle Says His Captain Planet Would Beat Thanos in a Fight

James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) was one of the characters who did whatever it took to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Endgame, but now we know what it would’ve been like if one of Cheadle’s other characters entered the fray. During a recent appearance at ACE Comic Con Seattle, Endgame star Don Cheadle was asked about his previous performance as the eco-friendly superhero Captain Planet. When asked exactly how Captain Planet would have fared within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cheadle had a very specific answer.

“Yes, Captain Planet — let’s hear it for Captain Planet!” Cheadle said to the crowd. “I think Captain Planet, I mean, I can’t believe he didn’t get into the MCU. Captain Planet is not afraid of Thanos. No one who can make trees as liberally as he [can] is afraid of anyone.”

For the uninitiated, Cheadle portrayed Captain Planet in a series of Funny or Die sketches beginning in 2011. The sketches saw Captain Planet being called to stop an environmental threat — which quickly gets complicated thanks to his ability to turn people into trees. Captain Planet quickly uses that power to become a bit of a maniacal overlord.

With all of that in mind, it certainly does stand to reason that Captain Planet would be a formidable foe against Thanos (and that Endgame might have ended much sooner if Thanos had just been turned into a tree). Cheadle was also asked if Captain Planet would be friends with one of the MCU’s “Captains”, Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans).

“And of course he would be friends with Steve Rogers!”

Ultimately, that remains to be seen (especially since Captain Planet might violate Steve’s not liking bullies rule).

While Cheadle hasn’t played Captain Planet since 2012, he’s brought more and more to the role of War Machine in recent years. Unfortunately, it sounds like he won’t be doing so in a solo movie anytime soon.

“No. We kicked it around a bit,” Cheadle said in April of this year, confirming the movie is no longer being worked on.

“There was definitely going to be a lot of tension between his job as a military man and his allegiances to the code that he swore an oath to uphold, versus the changing world.” Cheadle continued. “I think they probably would have run afoul of each other a little bit, but I don’t know if he would have been a straight fugitive, or if he would have become decommissioned. But there was definitely going to be some tension between those two worlds.”

Would you want to see a showdown between Captain Planet and Thanos? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!