The fate of the original Avengers moving forward after Avengers: Endgame is pretty much known by all, but a plethora of secondary characters and heroes have fates that are completely up in the air. One of those very characters is Col. James Rhodes/War Machine, played by Don Cheadle .
The hero debuted in the original Iron Man and was played by Terrence Howard before a casting shakeup just before Iron Man 2 . Cheadle has played Tony Stark’s best friend in six Marvel Cinematic Universe films, and it’s unknown if he’ll appear in any more, or if he’ll show up in a Disney Plus series.
Cheadle shared some thoughts in a recent interview, via Comicbook , where it appears as if he doesn’t know anything about a future for Rhodey.
“If there were to be one, I’d really want to dig into him and maybe even find something that felt closer to the first Iron Man for who he was,” Cheadle explained. “I think they can go anywhere with him now.”
The comment from the longtime actor is interesting, given he didn’t play the character in the first Iron Man flick. Col. Rhodes was just a friend of Tony’s and never even tried on an iron suit during the film, and it was more of a personal play on the character than the hero that he is known for being now.
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When it comes to appearing in a Disney Plus series, Cheadle didn’t have much of an answer for that possibility just yet.
“I really don’t know,” Cheadle said. “I haven’t given it much thought as far as which would be or if either would even be. That was an 11-year journey.”
A large chunk of Disney Plus original shows have already been announced for the next several years, and there was no announcement from Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige that suggested War Machine would have his own show or be a part of anyone else’s.
The secondary heroes (and one villain) getting their own spinoffs on Disney Plus are Falcon, the Winter Soldier, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, Loki, and Hawkeye. Three newcomers to the MCU will also be getting their own gigs, which include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk .
For now, fans of Cheadle’s War Machine will have to hope for some sort of cameo appearance in future MCU films, otherwise, the character might retire right alongside his deceased best friend.
Upcoming projects for Cheadle include the television series Ratched , Space Jam 2 , Don’t Look Deeper , and an untitled secret television project.
