‘It’s really an opportunity to act’: Don Cheadle is ready for ‘Secret Invasion’ to finally give him some meaty material

We’ll all be diving into Secret Invasion before we know it, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s foray into political thriller territory set to make its grand debut on Disney Plus tomorrow.

Anyone who’s spared a moment of their time soaking up a trailer or two will know that this isn’t quite the same MCU that often gets rolled out on the big screen. Indeed, the Skrull invasion has plunged Earth into some particularly gritty depths, and the Marvel heroes we once recognized will be forced to don new shades as the alien threat ramps up.

This ethos shift is perhaps captured best in the character of Rhodey, Don Cheadle‘s Avengers veteran who seems to have ditched the War Machine suit to become the right-hand man of the President of the United States, which places him in a much more complex position than he’s probably used to, and we imagine the complications will only escalate when the possibility of opposing Nick Fury comes into play.

Whatever the case may be, Cheadle is all too happy to sink his teeth into a brand new side of one of his most recognizable characters. During a recent press conference (via Murphy’s Multiverse), the Academy Award nominee reflected on the opportunity that Secret Invasion granted him, highlighting the show’s unique human aspect as one of the many upsides to being involved in this particular MCU project.

“And also being in a show like this, that’s really a departure from what I have been in, as far as the genre goes, it’s really an opportunity to act and really, you know, lean into some human stuff, which was also a lot of fun. So it was just all upside, and, you know, very happy to, you know, look into who Rhodey is and to probe that more and kind of find out what really makes him tick.”

We may never look at Rhodey the same way again once Secret Invasion has run its course; in fact, for all we know, we may have never been looking at him in the first place.

The first episode of Secret Invasion is due on Disney Plus on June 21, with additional episodes releasing on a weekly basis until the series finale on July 26.