It seems Rhodey is still reeling from the events of Captain America: Civil War.
Following his close brush with death, Don Cheadle’s Avenger won’t be jumping into his War Machine suit with the same sense of enthusiasm during Infinity War – it’s only when the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance that Rhodey agrees to take up arms.
Currently out promoting Avengers: Infinity War in anticipation of its arrival late next month, Don Cheadle sat down with ComicBook.com to discuss Rhodey’s arc thus far, and why his on-screen hero is a little worse for wear.
Well, clearly there was a pretty significant moment for Rhodey at the end of Civil War, where he was accidentally shot out of the air by Vision. I think we worked it out over the break. And now he’s coming back to the Avengers too, back to his team. A little ambivalent I think with a new rig by Tony, which of course he had to put his name on. So Tony! Like I’m gonna not know who made them. And he’s rejoining the team and reintroduced back here in this Wakanda storyline.
Suffice it to say, Infinity War will be introducing viewers to a haunted War Machine, and this sense of character development is one of the many reasons why fans feel so invested in Avengers 3 and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.
I think it’s something that he’s fighting to put behind him. But absolutely, it creeps up. There’s innuendo. There’s shots taken. There’s things said. Don’t want certain people behind me. I’m gonna keep an eye on everybody, I wanna keep that jewel in front of me, not behind me. So yeah, I think he’s, like I said, I think he’s negotiating this reunion and his rejoining this team.
Finally, the actor touched base on the moral dilemma eating away at Rhodey, who was originally a straight-laced military man and the polar opposite of Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr.’s wise-cracking tech billionaire who’s grown into a cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I think there are definitely more questions for Rhodey. I think he was always somewhat straddling with having Tony as a friend and trying to support him and do what he needed, being outside of the lines, but still somehow trying to stay within the chain of command and the military man that he is. So I think that’s become more fraught and probably more frayed as the storylines go forward.
War Machine will take flight – reluctantly, we might add – once more when Avengers: Infinity War opens worldwide on April 27th.
