Warning: The article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion.
Unless Skrulls have infiltrated the real world and you have been replaced by one, it is common news now that the Rhodey we met on Secret Invasion is actually a female Skrull named Raava, who is Gravik’s crony. We were content to believe that the switch was recent, only for Marvel Boss Kevin Feige to open a can of worms by, more or less, confirming that everyone’s beloved War Machine was replaced by an alien a long time ago — a possibility that just got further back-up from the series finale.
In the series, fake Rhodey had access to a lot of high places and is capable of doing real damage. He was close to the President, he was one of the Avengers and had access to the War Machine suit. If the visual confirmation that Rhodey has been replaced by a Skrull wasn’t enough, the way he talks to Nick Fury later in the episode seals the deal.
So, when did the Skrulls nab the real Rhodey? Hopefully, sometime around Secret Invasion‘s beginning, right? Nope, because Feige and the revelations in the sixth episode have flamed the fire by establishing the exact opposite.
Rhodey aka War Machine been a Skrull in the MCU for years
If we were to entertain the idea of Rhodey being replaced by a Skrull earlier than Secret Invasion, we would have gone with sometime around or after Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which marks his solo Phase Four appearance.
But nooo, Feige couldn’t let us have that as in a recent chat he teased that Rhodey has been a Skrull for some time now and he wants audiences to go back and re-watch “some of the other appearances of Rhodey” to realize that it was not him. Hmm… read that, did you? Not “appearance” but “appearances”—plural, people!
Unless Feige is having fun sending Marvel fans spinning into another obsessive rabbit hole — as if Disney’s Bob Iger isn’t already starting new fires — his comment actually throws away the possibility of Rhodey being a Skrull as a recent development, or even getting switched in Phase Four. Because to watch his “appearances,” we will have to go further back, to Phase Three. And now, the finale episode has given this answer a semi-solid foundation.
In the episode, we see the real Rhodey getting rescued along with other captives in the Skrulls’ basement. If Everett Ross’ comment about “how long” has Rhodey been there isn’t hint enough, the latter decked in a hospital gown and being unable to walk on his own seems to allude that he was snatched away sometime after the events in Captain America: Civil War and was still in the hospital after he had his accident.
This would mean that the real Rhodey didn’t even get to fight alongside Tony Stark in the fight against Thanos, he is probably not even aware that his best friend sacrificed himself. I mean, Tony died thinking his friend was by his side. While the Disney Plus series just made it the zillionth mystery it leaves hanging for the sake of building curiosity, there is no denying that the idea of Rhodey being stuck in one of those machines in the Skrull camp just became even more tragic.