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This article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 3
Secret Invasion episode three dropped a massive reveal that may recontextualize much of the last decade of the MCU, but it did it so subtly that many viewers may not even have noticed. In the closing moments of the episode, we saw Fury’s wife Varra retrieving a pistol from a safety deposit box. Her phone rang and she answered, expecting to hear Gravik’s voice.
But Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes was on the line, confirming the widespread suspicions that grew during episode two. Fans over on Reddit have been processing this reveal, which will inevitably have major consequences for the MCU at large. Now there’s one question on everyone’s lips: how long has Rhodes been a Skrull?
One particularly attentive viewer has spotted that in Secret Invasion Don Cheadle is credited as playing “Rhodey” rather than “James Rhodes”. All other Secret Invasion characters are listed by their full names, so could this be the hidden key to which TV shows and movies feature the Skrull imposter? For example, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier credits Cheadle as playing “James Rhodes/Rhodey”, which may imply that the switch took place during that show.
Further evidence for this theory may be that in Avengers: Endgame, the characters’ prior appearance before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Cheadle is credited as playing “James Rhodes / War Machine”, potentially indicating that he was the real deal for the final battle with Thanos.
Other fans have wilder theories, including that he was replaced by a Skrull after suffering major injuries in Captain America: Civil War. If so, this would mean the real Rhodes has been on ice for around a decade in the MCU and might not even know that Tony Stark died in Endgame.
All of this should be resolved soon. Armor Wars is coming next year and will star Cheadle as Rhodes and presumably by that point he presumably won’t be a Skrull imposter. Before that Fury and pals now have a Skrull at the highest level of political power in control of the fearsome War Machine suit. Looks like they’ve got a fight ahead of them.