Marvel's Kevin Feige Teases SPOILER Was a Skrull in Previous MCU Appearances

Marvel's Secret Invasion is designed to make viewers question not only what they're seeing on the show, but everything they've known about the Marvel Cinematic Universe to this point. Theoretically, any character in the MCU could be a Skrull and we would've had no idea. That point was driven home in this week's new episode, as a longtime Marvel hero was revealed to be a Skrull, and they've apparently been playing a Skrull on-screen for quite a while. WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Secret Invasion! Continue reading at your own risk...

The new episode of Secret Invasion reveals that Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) is actually a Skrull, which adds some important context to his firing of Nick Fury earlier in the series. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke with Marvel.com about the new twist and shared that Rhodey has been a Skrull for some time now, including in some past appearances.

"We needed to have a character that one would not expect to be a Skrull," Feige said. "Don was on board for this reveal of playing and revealing another side of Rhodey and revealing that, yeah, Rhodey has been a Skrull. When we have amazing actors, like Don, that have been with us for so many years, we very much treat them as partners in the creative collaboration. It was very early days when we pitched this concept to Don, and he very much was into it and into being able to play with different sides of Rhodey that we haven't seen before."

Feige went on to way that fans will have to wait a little longer to "understand exactly how long he's been a Skrull. We like the idea of fans going back and watching some of the other appearances of Rhodey and realizing that that wasn't him."

Cheadle, who has played the character since Iron Man 2, has been in on the Rhodey secret for some time. As Feige said, however, that timeline is going to remain a secret for a little longer.

Not Every Character Has Been a Skrull in Hiding

The first episode of Secret Invasion began with Everett Ross stealing some vital intel, before being shot by Talos. It was revealed that the Ross we saw in that scene was a Skrull in disguise. 

Speaking to Collider, actor Martin Freeman revealed that Ross was not a Skrull in his previous appearances. At least, that's how he played the character.

"No, we had a conversation about it. Put it this way, I wasn't playing anything in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as a Skrull," Freeman explained. "I wasn't thinking, 'I'm a Skrull,' Secret Invasion and Wakanda Forever were definitely overlapping, chronologically, but I was never given a full definitive party line about, 'This is the Gospel truth now.'"

The MCU's top superspy Nick Fury is back in Secret Invasion, the limited series that premiered June 21st on Disney+. Samuel L. Jackson returns in the new Marvel Studios series, showcasing Fury's attempt to get to the bottom of a Skrull invasion that goes all the way to the most powerful positions in various governments and organizations on the planet. In Secret Invasion, Fury teams with allies Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), while James Rhodes AKA War Machine will appear in a mysterious capacity. Other newcomers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe include Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, and Kingsley Ben-Adir.