Warning: This article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 6.
What started out as one of the most promising MCU Disney Plus outings to date has concluded with a lackluster crammed finale, but at the very least Secret Invasion has answered some of our most pressing questions.
Although virtually everyone tuning in saw it coming, the reveal that Rhodey had been a Skrull for a while was still one of the show’s biggest plot points. The green-skinned alien impersonating him did a good job at severing most of the character’s relationships but was luckily found out halfway through. Still, the question remained about the fate of the real Rhodey and what the Skrulls might have done to him before stealing his identity.
The finale did at least ease everyone’s worries that the veteran MCU character could be dead but revealed a soul-crushing possibility in the process. Fury eventually killed Skrull-Rhodey as G’iah liberated the real people the rebels had been holding hostage in their hideout in Russia, among which was the real Colonel James Rhodes we have all known and loved since the very first Iron Man (well, kind of… you know what I mean).
After the initial relief of knowing he’s alive, Rhodey is shown to essentially be paralyzed from the waist down, which means he was still himself during the events of Captain America: Civil War in which he suffered a serious injury. At the end of that film, we see him start physical therapy, and by Avengers: Endgame he seems to have recovered. Granted, years of being stuck in a machine-induced trance could undo his progress, but there’s also a chance the character was abducted before he had ever regained control of his body, especially since he’s seen wearing what looks like a hospital gown. Marvel wouldn’t include and emphasize that specific detail if it wasn’t somewhat important.
This could mean Rhodey doesn’t even know Tony died during the Battle of Earth. While that alone is heartbreaking, the implications that he wasn’t allowed to at least try and protect his best friend, or be present at his funeral might be the most devastating of all.
Some have pointed out, however, that the existence of the Harvest — as the characters in Secret Invasion called the vial containing the DNA of most of the Avengers, obtained after the confrontation with Thanos — proves Rhodey was still himself during Endgame. Fury would have figured out a Skrull had taken over for him sooner by examining the DNA collected at the scene of the battle. Likewise, why would Gravik’s future allies be stealing the identity of one of Fury’s colleagues back then if their leader was still working for and loyal to Fury?
While this theory holds some weight, it’s also possible that Fury and his Skrull minions led by Gravik at the time weren’t interested in Rhodey’s DNA since he doesn’t have a superpower. And while Gravik seems to have only fully turned on Fury after he abandoned Earth on the heels of Thanos’ demise, it’s likely his confidence in him had been waning for some time. Maybe he had a back-up plan all along.
We will probably only know for sure how long Rhodey had been taken when the character finally steps into the limelight in his own solo project Armor Wars, expected to premiere in 2025, 17 years after the character made his first appearance in the MCU. And if our concerns about Tony’s death are confirmed, the upcoming film might be shaping up to be one of Marvel’s most upsetting chapters yet.
