Secret Invasion Star Don Cheadle Teases War Machine’s MCU Future in Armor Wars

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown over the years, James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine has played a unique part in that. Don Cheadle, who was cast in the role beginning with Iron Man 2, has become one of the staples of the franchise — but according to the actor, there’s still a lot more stories to tell in his future. According to Cheadle, the arc that Rhodey will undergo in the upcoming Secret Invasion Disney+ series, as well as his forthcoming Armor Wars movie, will help people see a number of new sides of his character.

“The fun part about it is that we’re going to continue to explore Rhodey and — in some ways for the first time — get to see what makes him tick,” Cheadle explained in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly. “We understand his physical challenges, but we haven’t really yet dug into a lot of his emotional and psychological [challenges].”

What is Armor Wars about?

Armor Wars, which was originally conceived as a Disney+ series before being reimagined as a movie, will explore what happens when the Iron Man tech falls into the wrong hands. The film will be written by Yassir Lester, and will be inspired by the 1987-1988 comic storyline of the same name. 

“Hopefully the favorite one that I’m going to do is Rhodey movie that we’re going to shoot,” Cheadle explained in an interview last year. “I think I’m every successive film, he’s coming more and more out of Tony’s shadow and becoming his own person but I still think we haven’t really figured out who he is and really dug into that so that’s what the movie is for. It was going to be a series, now we’re going to do it as a film. Armor Wars. So I’m looking forward to that.”

What is Secret Invasion about?

Secret Invasion will center around MCU veterans Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Talos (Mendelsohn) as they deal with an invasion of shape-shifting Skrulls who have infiltrated all aspects of life on Earth. Other MCU veterans will include Smulders as Maria Hill, Don Cheadle as James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine, and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross.

New cast members will include Emilia Clarke, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Olivia Colman, Carmen Ejogo, Christopher McDonald, Dermot Mulroney, and Killian Scott. The series will be written and executive produced by Kyle Bradstreet, and directed by Thomas Bezucha and Ali Selim.

Are you excited to see what’s in store for Rhodey in Secret Invasion and Armor Wars? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Secret Invasion is expected to debut on Disney+ on June 21st. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can do that right here. 

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