‘Secret Invasion’ just crushed any argument over this character being a Skrull

This article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 4

Secret Invasion‘s fourth episode is here, and things have begun to heat up. After three weeks of (relatively) low-key intrigue, Gravik and his rebel Skrulls launched an attack on the President. Fury was on the scene to prevent Gravik from assassinating or kidnapping President Ritson, though it appears this came at the cost of Talos’ life.

All this came against the backdrop of something that was technically revealed last episode, but has still been causing much debate amongst the fandom: Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes has been replaced by a Skrull. We heard Cheadle’s distinctive voice over the telephone last week, though many were still skeptical.

The show explicitly cleared those arguments off the table by showing this character in their Skrull form transforming into Rhodes. In a further twist that nobody saw coming, Rhodes is actually a lady Skrull named Raava (played by Nisha Aaliya), and we detected a flicker of sadness that she’s stuck pretending to be something she’s not.

Two big questions remain. Where is the real James Rhodes? Other humans replaced by Skrulls are being kept in Gravik’s base in some form of stasis, so perhaps he’s there. We’re also very curious as to when he was replaced, with the most convincing theory that it was sometime between Avengers: Endgame and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

We have just two episodes to answer those questions, but with Fury knowing what’s really going on, it’s sure only a matter of time before the situation comes to a violent and dramatic conclusion.

Secret Invasion airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus