Secret Invasion Confirms It—Don Cheadle’s Rhodey Is a Skrull. But How Long Has He Been One?

The next fable contains spoilers for Secret Invasion Episode 4, titled “Loved.”

PART OF what made the authentic Shock Comics Secret Invasion occasion—written by Brian Michael Bendis and launched motivate in 2008—so provocative, so taking part, and, truly, factual so overall just correct, used to be the truth that with every page grew to change into, there could possibly maybe merely be one other huge, world-shattering trace. Somebody, from Spider-Lady, to Captain The USA, to Hawkeye, had an equal probability of being exposed as a Skrull All Alongside. Hell, even actual-existence figures like Barack Obama, John McCain, Paris Hilton, and Stephen Colbert had been revealed to be Skrulls!

With the scale on Secret Invasion unnerved down for its adaptation true into a espionage/study Disney+ series—an actual version of the 2008 droll’s storyline would want to be an Infinity Battle/Endgame-level occasion—its been tougher to grab that identical irritating, paranoid, magic. No offense to Everett Ross (and we want to conception Martin Freeman demonstrate up), nonetheless it be no longer precisely the identical punch to conception him revealed as a Skrull as about a of those droll finds that truly managed to web the juices flowing.

But as Secret Invasion continues its accelerate, we’re in the end initiating to web some finds that organize to swap the game each and every in the existing and retroactively. Cut Fury has a Skrull wife, for one. Obviously, that is a retcon and wasn’t continuously the belief, nonetheless it quiet forces MCU fans to re-evaluate the total lot they’ve viewed sooner than and take show of how that revelation adjustments things.

But as Secret Invasion gets against its final stretch accelerate, it be additionally keep some most important cards on the table: one of our longtime MCU heroes is, genuinely, no longer who they claim to be. That’s factual: anyone suspicious of Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes had those fears confirmed in Episode 4, “Betrayal,” when it used to be revealed that (this version of) Rhodey is actually working facet-by-facet with Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir).

And now, possibly, the game will proceed to swap.

Is Rhodey a Skrull in Secret Invasion?

Episode 4 officially confirmed that the Colonel James Rhodes we had been seeing at some level of Secret Invasion is, indeed, a Skrull. He sure is. Or have to quiet we deliver… she sure is?

While Episode 3, “Betrayed” provocative closely hinted that Rhodes used to be a Skrull—it used to be clearly Don Cheadle’s affirm on the numerous live of Priscilla Fury’s (Charlayne Woodard) episode-ending phone call—Episode 4,”Loved” confirmed it. A scene showed a female Skrull in the shower washing up, and coming out and searching at herself in the replicate; a handy guide a rough swipe later, and the Skrull used to be in Rhodey manufacture as soon as more.

Fury clearly knows it at this level, too, as he had a listening instrument on his wife at some level of her dialog with Rhodey in the church; he knows he’s working with Gravik, and he knows there’s a draw to abolish him.

The shower scene additionally finds that the Skrull impersonating Rhodey is a woman, and the closing credit trace that Skrull’s name is Raava, played by actress Nisha Aaliya. Granted that the persona has a corpulent name, we are able to presume that we are going to be finding out extra of that backstory in Secret Invasion‘s final two episodes.

How long has Rhodey been a Skrull in the MCU timeline?

Now that is a stout quiz. We variety no longer rep a ton of exhausting proof pointing in a single route or the numerous, but we are able to seem for at a pair different probabilities.

The most definitely option could possibly maybe well be that Rhodes used to be kidnapped by the Skrulls at some level between his final MCU look (either on the huge masks in Avengers: Endgame or at some level of his temporary look in The Falcon and the Iciness Soldier) and the commence of Secret Invasion. While this quiet allows for the plotline of Rhodey being a Skrull and getting shut to the President of the US (Dermot Mulroney), it additionally has minimal impact on any of Rhodey’s past in the MCU; Kevin Feige and firm could possibly maybe merely no longer have to mess too noteworthy with the past.

But that being mentioned, they haven’t been substantial panicked about doing that previously. Always take into account the SHIELD twist in Captain The USA: The Iciness Soldier, when it used to be revealed that the “just correct guy” intelligence company used to be truly infiltrated and brought over by Nazis long previously. Whoops!

So if we’re following that line of thinking, it’ll merely be, truly, wherever. Perchance Rhodes used to be captured and replaced when he used to be flying by draw of reveal and time with Nebula in Avengers: Endgame. Perchance Rhodes truly died on the live of Captain The USA: Civil Battle and used to get replaced with a Skrull reproduction—and the acceptable one who knew about it, Tony Stark, is now dumb. Perchance your complete time that Rhodey has gave the impact of Don Cheadle and no longer Terence Howard—since 2010’s Iron Man 2—he’s been a Skrull!

We variety no longer know. But we are able to utterly uncover in the final two episodes of Secret Invasion.

Is the particular Rhodey quiet alive someplace? Turned into as soon as there ever a actual Rhodey?

We lean against the acknowledge to each and every of these questions being a convincing “Sure.” Provided that Nisha Aaliya’s persona is credtied as “Skrull Rhodey,” that implies that there, as a minimum at one level, used to be a “Human Rhodey.” And we predict about that he’s being held prisoner someplace like the total others we rep viewed so some distance in the series.

There’s additionally the truth that Don Cheadle is quiet put to manual the long-gestating Armor Wars film (which used to be on the foundation deliberate as a series). It would no longer seem in particular seemingly for that fable—which is set Tony Stark’s progressed weapons skills falling into the nasty fingers—to be led by a shapeshifting alien in Tony Stark’s easiest friend/a decorated militia officer’s body.

So, we’re guessing that the actual Colonel James Rhodes will seemingly variety his substantial return some time sooner than the live of Secret Invasion. Until then, despite the truth that, we’re quiet conserving our breath to conception how this all performs out.