Don Cheadle, who plays War Machine in the MCU, recently explained his role in Secret Invasion.
Cheadle briefly appeared in 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but Secret Invasion will really mark the first time he will be prominently featured since Avengers: Endgame.
The actor is set to continue his role as James “Rhodey” Rhodes in the upcoming Armor Wars movie as well, but there are little to no current plot details regarding that project, so many fans wondered what will come next for the former military hero.
Don Cheadle Confirms Secret Invasion Role
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, long-time MCU star Don Cheadle confirmed exactly what his role will be in the upcoming Disney+ series, Secret Invasion.
According to the actor, his character, James Rhodes, will be the “righthand to the president” of the United States of America.
Rhodey’s duties in this new position will consist of him identifying and containing threats made to the president as he works alongside the White House security administration.
Cheadle himself briefly described the new role and how Rhodey will be “on the other side” of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury:
“In this one, he finds himself not directly at odds but somewhat on the other side of where Fury is.”
The War Machine actor then went on to talk about the show as a whole, specifically how it differs from most other projects within the MCU.
He stated that it will feature “espionage and double-crosses” as opposed to “the bells and whistles of big special effects:”
“It speaks to the elasticity of what the MCU can be. This one feels much closer to a movie like ‘Bourne Identity’ or something that’s more along the tone of a ’70s movie. It’s not as much about the bells and whistles of big special effects. It’s more about the intrigue and drama, the espionage and double-crosses. And I still think it fits perfectly with what the MCU is able to do and pull off.”
Cheadle’s comments align perfectly with what Secret Invasion star Samuel L. Jackson stated in a past interview with Vanity Fair regarding the character of War Machine.
In that interview, Jackson teased that Rhodey would be a lot different from what fans are used to, and even revealed his role of being “the president’s right-hand man:”
“This is a different kind of Rhodey—a political animal and not, you know, a guy who has a special suit. He’s the president’s right-hand man in this. So he’s the guy that makes a lot of decisions—some good, some bad.”
How War Machine Will Be Different in Secret Invasion
As with any other character set to appear in Secret Invasion, there is a chance the Rhodey fans see on-screen will not actually be the real character at all.
However, assuming that it will be the actual character and he will be the “righthand to the president,” fans will truly see a new version of Rhodey.
Due to the Skrull infiltration, all kinds of major figures will be at risk, so Rhodey will have his work cut out for him in providing protection for the United States Commander-In-Chief.
The biggest change that fans will witness when it comes to Rhodey, however, is the fact that he will be operating outside of his trademark War Machine suit.
This will force the character to come up with other ways to offer his protection without the help of his suit – and that will likely be a challenge in and of itself.
Cheadle and Jackson were both able to shed a little bit of light onto Rhodey’s character in the upcoming Disney+ series, but fans will get to witness it firsthand when it is released on the streaming platform on June 21.
