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Secret Invasion Director Worried He’ll Get Death Threats for War Machine Twist

Ali Selim is worried about receiving death threats for changing Tony Stark’s death with that Rhodey/Skrull twist in Secret Invasion.
SECRET INVASION
Don Cheadle as James 'Rhodey' Rhodes in Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

Secret Invasion has finally come to an end, and the Marvel Studios series definitely did a lot of major things for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series was released to middling reviews, and it even has an astonishingly low rating on Rotten Tomatoes, giving it one of the lowest scores ever in the MCU. During Secret Invasion, it is revealed that James “Rhodey” Rhodes/WWar Machine is actually a Skrull and has been ever since he lost the use of his legs in Captain America: Civil War. Director Ali Selim recently confirmed the timeline of War Machine being a Skrull to us, and now he’s speaking out on a possible fan backlash. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Selim revealed that he’s worried that Iron Man fans will send him death threats for altering Tony Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgame with the War Machine/Skrull reveal.

“I’m worried that I will get death threats because of that,” Selim said about making War Machine a Skrull during the events of Avenger: Endgame in an interview with the trade. “And also because I’m the guy who took out Maria Hill. So I’m actually going into hiding now,”

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Selim went on to reveal if Cheadle ever asked when Rhodey became a Skrull, “No, he never asked me that. He’s a great collaborator. He was a detailed, logical guy who would not say, ‘How long have I been … ?’ But he would say, ‘Let me tell you why I could’ve been, and let me tell you why I couldn’t have been,’ which is an interesting way to get at his character. So I would say this to anybody, but go back and visit all of the Rhodey scenes in the MCU and see how you unpack it now that you have a slightly different perspective on Rhodey or Skrull. But I don’t know that there’s a definitive answer. I think it’s still open to interpretation.”

What happens in Secret Invasion?

Secret Invasion sets its focus on MCU veterans Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Talos (Mendelsohn) as they handle an invasion of shape-shifting Skrulls who have infiltrated all aspects of life on Earth. Other MCU alumni that show up in the series will include Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, 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.

All episodes of Secret Invasion are currently streaming on Disney+. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on Secret Invasion and the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we learn it!

What do you think about Ali Selim’s comments? What do you think about the War Machine twist in Secret Invasion? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!