It seems War Machine will be packing serious heat come 2019.
Having played second fiddle to Tony Stark for far too long (“next time, baby!”), it’s looking increasingly likely that Don Cheadle’s Colonel James Rhodes plans to up his arsenal quite considerably in time for Avengers 4.
How do we know? Well, as you’re likely well aware, a slew of concept art leaked onto the interwebs just a few hours ago, revealing up-close looks at Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and their godly new ally, Captain Marvel – Brie Larson’s solo pic was also given the spotlight thanks to a fresh batch of retro-inspired artwork, in which Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury can be seen with two eyes still intact.
And it’s within that MCU artwork that we see War Machine and his upgraded suit, which looks to have taken some inspiration from the Bleeding Edge armor worn by Stark during Avengers: Infinity War.
As noted by Screen Rant, the multiple boosters and hefty design certainly point to the Bleeding Edge armor, while the shoulder-mounted canon appears more refined than previous incarnations. Stark tends to iterate and improve upon his suits due to the failure(s) of past models – think of how Iron Man was able to absorb Thor’s thunderous lightning in The Avengers following his encounter with Whiplash in Iron Man 2, or the way in which Infinity War introduced a rocket booster after Tony failed to catch War Machine in Civil War.
So we wouldn’t be too surprised if this souped-up armor is capable of withstanding hordes upon hordes of alien nasties come 2019. That said, we’re inclined to believe that the fourth Avengers movie revolves around a journey back in time to undo the Mad Titan’s apocalypse, so perhaps Rhodey’s upgraded suit is just that.
Either way, Avengers 4 opens big on May 3rd, 2019.
