War Machine is a Skrull in Secret Invasion, Here Is Why
Marvel's Secret Invasion is here and the new Disney Plus series is already breaking hearts and moving fast. The new MCU show starring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury centers around the shapeshifting Skrulls and their plans to infiltrate and take over the world. Building off the events of Marvel Studios' 2019 hit Captain Marvel, and inspired by the comic book storyline also titled Secret Invasion, the Skrulls' ability to morph into humans blend in is the backbone of the story. In the original Marvel comics this resulted in multiple major Marvel heroes being revealed to have been replaced For the Secret Invasion TV series, it seems like there's only one major candidate: Don Cheadle's James Rhodes aka War Machine. Spoilers will follow.
Though Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury in the first Secret Invasion episode, and is flanked by returning stars Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, and Don Cheadle as Rhodey aka War Machine, there are not nearly the amount of major, A-list Marvel heroes in Marvel's Secret Invasion as there were in the original Marvel comic storyline. Freeman's Ross was revealed to be a Skrull in the opening scene of the Disney+ series, but Secret Invasion may be hiding an Avenger that's secretly a Skrull with Cheadle's fan-favorite character.
For starters, Don Cheadle's War Machine is one of the only major characters present in the Secret Invasion TV series. Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill is killed off at the end of the first episode, and frankly Martin Freeman's Everett Ross isn't big enough potatoes for a surprise Skrull reveal. Though a major rug pull that Nick Fury is a Skrull would obviously be the ultimate twist, but the potential for Olivia Colman's Sonya Falsworth to be a Skrul also seems to be on the table.
The biggest reason we can guess that Don Cheadle is secretly a Skrull in Secret Invasion is about what comes next. It's already been confirmed that Cheadle will star in Armor Wars, previously a Marvel series on Disney+ and now set to be a major Marvel Cinematic Universe feature film. After the Secret Wars trailer was revealed at D23 last year, Cheadle teased that Secret Invasion would lead right into the events of that storyline.
Now why would Secret Invasion lead directly into Armor Wars, a series where Don Cheadle's Rhodey must face the consequences of Tony Stark's tech falling into the wrong hands? It would be easy for Armor Wars to concoct a reason for why this technology has gotten into the wrong hands, but wouldn't it also make since for that to have happened because Rhodey was replaced by a Skrull and Skrull-Rhodey wasn't exactly keeping an eye on Stark tech he didn't even know about?
It's all just a theory, but it sure does make a lot of sense when you think about it. Rhodey is the easiest Avenger to make a Skrull in Secret Invasion since he's not integral to The Multiverse Saga, and one could easily pinpoint a moment post Endgame that he was swapped with a Skrull.
What do you think? Will any major characters be revealed to be Skrulls in Secret Invasion? Sound off in the comments below and look for Secret Invasion to debut on Disney+ next year.