Marvel is just over halfway through airing its six-episode “Secret Invasion” series, and already it has shaken up the MCU with some serious impact on recurring characters.
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR “SECRET INVASION” EPISODE 4
The show’s fourth episode, titled “Beloved”, aired this week and with it came a key reveal involving an MCU character that has been there since the beginning – Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes.
The character has been revealed to be a female alien Skrull impersonating Rhodes. This has raised the obvious question as to when the real Rhodey was replaced in the MCU timeline.
Speaking with Marvel.com, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige spoke about the reveal and hints that the character has been replaced for a lot longer than many would think and it will take a little while before viewers understand exactly how long he’s been a Skrull:
“We needed to have a character that one would not expect to be a Skrull. Don was on board for this reveal of playing and revealing another side of Rhodey and revealing that, yeah, Rhodey has been a Skrull.
It was very early days when we pitched this concept to Don, and he very much was into it and into being able to play with different sides of Rhodey that we haven’t seen before.
We like the idea of fans going back and watching some of the other appearances of Rhodey and realizing that that wasn’t him.”
Rhodey’s only other appearance in the fourth and fifth phases of the MCU was a brief cameo in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”. Whether the replacement stretches further back isn’t known, but either way it would suggest Rhodey was abducted and replaced years ago.
The reveal also begs the question as to how it will impact the “Armor Wars” movie, which was originally conceived as a series before being retooled into a film.
“Secret Invasion” has two more episodes to air, with the finale releasing on July 26th.
