The MCU has told us that Scarlet Witch is the most dangerous being in the multiverse whose chaos magic could derail all of reality. But just to prove how destructive she really is, it’s possible that a Secret Invasion character could be falling foul of the same curse that has caused Wanda Maximoff’s future in the franchise to become so thorny.
As was perhaps the show’s worst-kept secret, the aforementioned streaming series has outed Don Cheadle’s Rhodey, a beloved Marvel character dating back to the MCU’s Phase One, as a Skrull. This is a huge deal for this universe as it calls so much of War Machine’s MCU past into question. This was the whole point of the thing for Kevin Feige, who has gleefully decreed that he wants fans to go back and ponder when been it’s the real Rhodey and when it’s been a Skrull.
That’s all well and good, and a smart strategy to encourage folks to stick around Disney Plus, but the most important consequence of the Rhodey revelation concerns not the hero’s past, but his future. Let’s not forget that Cheadle is set to star in his very first solo outing, Armor Wars, an upcoming movie that started life as a series. Initially, this was nothing but good news as it finally offered a chance for War Machine to strut his stuff. After the Skrull twist, however, Armor Wars faces a tough challenge.
The reason it’ll be difficult to resurrect Scarlet Witch after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is that Marvel has to find a way to win audiences back after we’ve seen Wanda become a full-on arch-villain. While the villainous Rhodey from Secret Invasion isn’t actually him, we’re still watching Cheadle as this character breaking bad. And, honestly, it might just be Cheadle’s best performance in the role to boot. It’s going to be hard for fans to flick a switch and implicitly trust him again, especially if he’s been a Skrull for years — potentially since before Avengers: Endgame.
Depending on how Secret Invasion concludes the arc of Skrull-Rhodey, there is a way for Marvel to wipe the slate clean and start again with the real War Machine that allows us to shrug off the memory of his evil doppelganger. However, the lingering mixed feelings about Wanda’s turn to the dark side, and the current conversations happening around whether making Rhodey a Skrull was a good idea or not, suggest Armor Wars — a movie that was already struggling to grab the spotlight — really has its work cut out for it.
