Marvel Movies
Register
Advertisement
Marvel Movies

"This lone gunslinger act is unnecessary... you don't have to do this alone!"
―War Machine[src]

Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a former jet pilot of the U.S. Air Force and an aerospace engineer. He was Tony Stark's best friend and he aced as the liaison between Stark Industries and the military in the department of acquisitions. Rhodey later becomes the armored superhero known as War Machine.

During the Mandarin's war, Rhodey briefly became the armored superhero known as Iron Patriot.

Rhodey's power comes from his high-tech battle suit known as the War Machine Armor, which grants him extraordinary strength, durability, flight capabilities and several on-board weaponry. He is a member of the Avengers.

Biography[]

Iron Man[]

"Next time, Baby."
―James Rhodes[src]

Colonel James Rhodes attends a ceremony to present Tony Stark with an award for his work, but Stark is not in attendance. Tony's right-hand man Obadiah Stane accepts the award in Tony's honor. Rhodes later finds Tony partying in a casino.

The next day, in a flight, Tony talks with Rhodes. Rhodes is unhappy about Tony's lax attitude, and Tony tries to get his old friend to relax. Before long they are drunk and leering at the stewardesses.

Tony arrives at a military outpost in the Middle East to demonstrate his company's latest project - the Jericho, a super-missile system. After the demonstration, Tony goes off with the convoy that is soon attacked by terrorists.

Months later, after his escape, Stark walks over more sand dunes when a couple of US helicopters fly overhead. A group of soldiers, led by Rhody, come across Tony. Rhody is overjoyed to find that his friend is alive.

Shortly after, Tony appears before a group of reporters and announces that he intends to shut down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division immediately.

Tony comes to visit Rhodes and asks for help with a new private project. Rhodes does not agree with Tony's approach; he thinks Stark is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of his capture and needs time to recover.

In a Middle East village, terrorists are rounding up civilians for capture & execution when they are confronted by a mysterious figure in red and gold. Iron Man has arrived. Within seconds, he defeats the terrorists and destroys the weapons they had obtained.

As Iron Man leaves the area, two F-22 jets spot him. Col. Rhodes is asked about the status of any new developments. He contacts Tony, who claims that he knows nothing about what is happening. Iron Man tries to outrun the jets but they are too much for him. Tony calls Rhodes and reveals that he is responsible for the "unidentified craft." Rhodes is furious about Tony sending in unauthorized equipment, and horrified when Tony explains that the "equipment" is actually himself. Iron Man is hit by one fighter jet, sending him flying into the wing of the second jet. The pilot is forced to eject, but the parachute fails to open. Iron Man, still under fire, manages to fly in and successfully deploy the parachute in time to save the pilot's life. Tony convinces Rhodes to pass off what happened with the jets as a "training exercise."

Days later, Stane arrives at Tony's house and paralyzes him with a sonic weapon. Obadiah yanks out the power source from Tony's heart, taunting him all the while. After he leaves, Tony realizes that he has only one hope for survival - the preserved Arc Reactor that Pepper gave him in a display case. He gets the power source installed just as Rhodes arrives, who had been earlier informed on what was happening from Pepper.

Rhodes watches Tony suit up, awestruck at the Iron Man costume, saying that it's the "coolest" thing he has ever seen. As Tony flies away, Rhody looks at the prototype silver suit Tony built earlier... then shakes his head and mumbles "Next time, baby." Acting on Tony's orders, he is able to prevent the military from getting involved in Tony's fight against Stane by passing it off as a routine training exercise.

Days later, Rhodes holds a press conference about the incident with the two robots and tries to pass it off as a training exercise, just before Tony exposes himself as Iron Man.

Iron Man: Security Measures[]

According to Phil Coulson, when Tony was kidnapped by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan, Rhodey was were 5 minutes behind when Tony got kidnapped and when he got to the area, Tony was gone.

Iron Man: Fast Friends[]

Sometime before Tony was captured by the Ten Rings, Rhodey was present in Arizona when Tony was presenting his Accelerated wave explosion, later Rhodey asked Pepper if she have the weapons specifics, she that yes, Rhodey asked her to give to the generals while he tries to talk to Tony, One Hour later he ended up joining Tony in a nightclub, in the nightclub Tony was punched in the face by one person in the club who was angry with him after his girlfriend left with Stark a week prior, but then Rhodey punched the man in face

After the death of Obadiah Stane, Rhodey had Tony go to the hospital, When Tony asked what hospital they were going, Rhodey said it was "surprise", actually they were heading to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base where Agent Coulson was waiting for them, Coulson explained to Stark he was not good in battle, Stark asked Rhodey what was happening, Rhodey said that Stark may be getting recruited, Coulson then presented Stark and Rhodey their headquaters explaining to them what they do at S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson then told them that they had Pepper Potts schedule a conference about the battle, Stark asked what he should say in the conference, Rhodey bets that they will give him a script and hopes Tony will stick up with it. which Coulson confirms, as S.H.I.E.L.D. wants the whole episode as quiet a possible.

Iron Man 2: Public Identity[]

After Tony revealed that he was Iron Man, Rhodey told him that ever since that day, he discovered a new hobby, covering for him. Tony joked saying that he was there for business unrelated to the military. As they went downstairs, Rhodey asked Tony if he was the one who hit the depot in Pavlodar. Tony said if Rhodes thought he was interested in a Ten Rings sect in cahoots with rogue Russian nationalists they could do worse than Kazakhstan in Spring. Rhodes told Tony that it was confirmed that the Ten Rings were involved, but at least the hostages were okay, as they could've died. Rhodey explained that it was a matter of protocol and that Tony was making people nervous by rushing and dealing with situations before he had been officially deployed. Rhodey informed Tony that the military had him write a report about it. Rhodey received a phone call, wanting Tony to come in to be briefed about a mission in Al Kūt but Tony put on his armor and left, not wanting people to lose their lives while he met with the military.

Senator Stern watched a news report about Stark's mission in Al Kūt, he believed that Stark was getting worse. Rhodey told Stern that Stark was a good friend and he had already talked to him. Stern deemed it a matter of national security and was annoyed that Stark was not listening. Sterns brought in Thaddeus Ross to tackle the program from a different angle. When Ross arrived at Stern's office, he informed them that he was in a hurry as he wanted to return to the Gamma Project but the US army couldn't afford to wait for Tony Stark to straighten up.

Ross told Stern and Rhodes to follow him, he was going to show them a top secret project, a weapon that would be the right way to send the right message to the enemies of freedom, which was that they don't need Tony Stark. Justin Hammer arrived and presented the Aerodynamic Marvel which he considered the next step in close-quarter combat with full protection and attack capabilities

When Tony returned from Afghanistan, Pepper and Rhodes met with him and Rhodey told him that Justin Hammer had started to work with his superiors and seemed to be getting more independent in his projects. Rhodey answered a call and was informed that the Aerodymamic Marvel was shot down and had fallen into enemy territory. Rhodes told Tony that they had a trained airman to pilot the machine and he was being held captive by the enemy.

Iron Man 2[]

"You can have your suit back."
―James Rhodes [src]

James Rhodes is called upon to write a report analyzing Iron Man. He is used to try and get the Iron Man armor handed over to the US Government.

Later, Tony gets drunk at his birthday party because he knows he is dying of palladium poisoning. Rhodes puts on the Mark II armor to stop Tony, who is wearing the Mark IV, and putting his party guests at risk. After the brawl, Rhodes flies back to the airbase. The Mark II is upgraded into the "JRXL-1000 Variable Threat Response Battle Suit" or "War Machine". Rhodes is selected as the pilot.

During Justin Hammer's display of Hammer Drones at the Stark Expo, Ivan Vanko takes control of the drones and the War Machine armor, trying to use them to destroy Iron Man. Agent Romanoff of S.H.I.E.L.D. manages to give Rhodes control over his armor and he uses it to aid Iron Man in his fight against the drones.

Iron Man and War Machine are then faced by a new and improved Whiplash. The pair defeat Whiplash and Rhodes decides to keep the suit. Stark and Rhodes are then awarded medals for their bravery.

Iron Man 3 Prelude[]

Tony stripped the War Machine armor of everything that Justin Hammer had "upgraded" it with leaving the suit with no weaponry. When Rhodes pointed this out to Stark, Stark revealed that he had made Rhodes his own suit, the War Machine 2.0.

Rhodes began using this suit to take down Ten Rings terrorists in other countries finding that they had acquired Hammer Industries weaponry. Rhodes took out the terrorists and continued to investigate the mysterious Ten Rings. By the time of the Chitauri invasion of New York, Rhodes was busy fighting terrorists in Asia. Tony contacted him, but Rhodes told him that even at supersonic speed it'd take over an hour for him to return so Tony told him not to bother. After dealing with the terrorists in Asia, Rhodes returned to New York, finding the battle already over he located Stark in a Shawarma restaurant where he was introduced to the Avengers.

Some time later, Tony invited Rhodes to his workshop. He had realized that not even Iron Man and War Machine would be enough to protect the Earth. Tony revealed to Rhodey that he had developed several Iron Man armors that could be remotely controlled - an Iron Legion.

Iron Man: The Coming of the Melter[]

After Melter attacked and defeated War Machine, Tony and Rhodey teamed up and confronted the villain. They defeated him and put him in the custody of the United States Military.

Iron Man 3[]

"Iron Patriot is on the job!"
―James Rhodes[src]

Shortly after the Chitauri invasion of New York, Rhodey's War Machine suit was re-branded into the Iron Patriot by A.I.M.. Rhodey and Tony were having drinks at a bar whilst discussing the new paint job of the War Machine and the threat of the Mandarin. However, this discussion was cut short when Tony had an anxiety attack and left in his suit.

Much later, after Tony went missing after another Mandarin attack and a third Mandarin broadcast, Rhodey was ordered to a possible broadcast source, only to find villagers. Whilst there, Rhodey was contacted by Tony who asked for his log in details, his log in which Rhodey hesitantly gave to Tony. Later, Rhodey followed another possible Mandarin broadcast source only to find another false lead. As the villagers thanked Rhodey, one woman crippled the suit using Extremis.

Rhodey later woke up in the Mandarin's lair, as numerous engineers attempted to cut Rhodey out of the suit to no avail. Eventually, Aldrich Killian came and used his Extremis powers to break Rhodey out. Once out, Rhodey punched Eric Savin and tried to run, only to be stopped by Killian's fire breath and Savin rendering him unconscious. Rhodey later woke up to find Tony running through the facility with his newest suit and that Savin had stolen the Iron Patriot suit. Tony then lead Rhodey upstairs to the Mandarin whom turned out to be a drunken British actor named Trevor Slattery just posing as Mandarin for Killian so he could get rich from the supply of the Extremis product. Also, that the vice president was involved.

Later, Rhodey and Tony using Trevor's speed boat contacted Vice President Rodriguez and warned him about the threat and the danger to the president whom Rodriguez promised to have Ellis alerted (but was really also working with Killian, too). Later, Rhodey witnessed Tony saving the President's assistants ejected from the plane by Savin saved by Tony's remote controlled suit. After this, Rhodey and Tony using just pistols lead an attack on a dock area where Killian was. After being discovered early, Tony called for his Iron Legion to appear. Rhodey requested one, but the suits were only encoded to Tony, forcing Rhodey to go after the president without a suit. Rhodey eventually discovered Ellis trapped in the Patriot suit above an oil tanker and freed him. After recovering his suit, Rhodey flew Ellis out of the area.

Later, after Killian was defeated, Rhodey returned to his original duties and witnessed the arrest of Rodriguez. Much later, he also witnessed Dr. Wu remove the shrapnel from Tony's chest in surgery, making Tony free to never again worry about heart trouble.

Avengers: Age of Ultron[]

"Welcome to the dance floor boys"
―James Rhodes[src]

Rhodes attended a party that was thrown by Tony after he and the other Avengers had captured Loki's Scepter. During the party, he told his story of how he became the War Machine, to the uninterest of the Avengers but to the entertainment of the other guest. During the after party, Ultron had activated and attacked the Avengers and escaped with the Scepter. Rhodes suggest that Ultron was after the nuclear codes to destroy the human race.

Later, while the Avengers were fighting Ultron, Rhodes assisted S.H.I.E.L.D. in evacuating the civilians and taking down any Ultron drone that was attempting to escape. After the battle, he joined the New Avengers, a team lead by Captain America and Black Widow and consisted of Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Falcon.

Captain America: Civil War[]

"Congratulations Cap. You're a criminal."
―War Machine to Captain America[src]

After a mission in Laos ends with the deaths of many people, the United Nations starts to draft the Sokovia Accords, a contract stating that the Avengers should act under the jurisdiction of a UN appointed body in order to prevent more needless loss of life. As a military man, Rhodey agrees with the accords in favor of government regulation. However, not all of his teammates agree, leading to an argument with Sam. In the end, he, Tony, Natasha, and Vision sign the accords while Wanda and Steve remain undecided and Sam outright refuses. Steve eventually finds worldwide wanted fugitive, Bucky Barnes, and he and Sam go themselves to try to capture him, as does T'Challa, the new king of Wakanda looking for revenge after Bucky seemingly killed his father, which was against the accords. Rhodey flies in his new armor and arrest the four. Later, Bucky escapes, as does Sam and Steve.

Tony gathers him, Natasha, T'Challa, and newcomer Spider-Man to take on Steve. They spot him seemingly trying to escape in a helicopter. Tony disables it and the group surrounds him and Spider-Man takes his shield. However, Ant-Man reveals himself and takes the shield back, giving it to Steve. Rhodey spots Sam and Barnes trying to escape and alerts the group, Spider-Man fleeing after them. While T'Challa is fighting Steve, Rhodey activates a electric baton and tries to subdue Steve from behind but Steve blocks it with his shield. War Machine tries again but Steve jumps over him, causing Rhodey to fall and break his baton. An-Man and Steve throw a truck the explodes on top of Rhodey, making him "pissed." Stark's group regroups with Vision and they block Steve and his group's way to the Quinjet. They start a fight, Rhodey going after Sam. Sam hits Rhodey and flies away, to which Rhodey chases after him across the airport. Eventually, An-Man goes huge, turning into Giant-Man, who grabs a surprised Rhodey and throws him nearly into a jumbo-jet, only to be stopped by Spider-Man. Rhodey returns firing at Giant-Man and lands Spider-Man onto him. He tries his soniccanons but it only succeeds in annoying Giant-Man. He then goes to throw a piece of rubble at Rhodey, but Rhodey fires all of his weaponry, turning the rubble into tiny pieces. He then jumps out of the way as Giant-Man tries to step on him. Rhodey spots Steve and Bucky and tries to go after them but he's stopped by Wanda, who throws him into a jet and later tries to throw a truck at him. Vision knocks down a tower trying to cut off Steve and Bucky, but Wanda holds it up until Rhodey fires his sonic canons at her. Rhodey then helps Tony and Spider-Man take down Giant-Man by hitting his tied-up legs with a trailer and punching him with Tony to the ground. He then sees the Quinjet escaping with Steve and Barnes and chases after them with Tony. Sam peruses and tries to fire at Rhodey. Rhodey orders Vision to take him out, which Vision atacks but Sam dodges and it hits Rhodey's suit in the chest, deactivating it and causing him to crash into the ground, nearly killing him.

After numerous scans and surgeries, Rhodey is paralyzed from the waist down and relies on leg enhancements made by Tony to walk. He and Tony talk about how dangerous his 138 combat missions were and any of them could have killed him but he still stands by his decisions, including the accords.

Avengers: Infinity War[]

Around two years later, Thanos' forces threaten Earth and Tony is forced from the planet to save the Time Stone. Bruce presumingly informs Rhodey about the importance of Vision. They locate him in Scotland with Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda leaving in a stolen Quinjet. He and Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross, argue, with Rhodey now seemingly having a more sour opinion on the accords. Steve and his group then enter to assist Rhodey in defending Vision. Ross orders Rhodey to arrest them, but he refuses and hangs up. They talk about where they should get Vision and Steve decides to take him to Wakanda.

The Avengers on Earth fly to Wakanda and meet T'Challa, Okoye, and Ayo on a platform and they take Vision to get his stone out. Soon, Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian arrive with an army of Outriders outside Wakanda's force field. The Avengers and Wakanda's forces form up by the edge of the force field and defend against the Outriders that start breaking into the shield. Rhodey, in his new armor, starts carpet-bombing the area, taking out many Outriders. T'Challa and Steve decide to open up the shield and charge towards the alien army. Rhodey fires onto the aliens coming into the shield, only to be hit out of the sky by Cull Obsidian. The Outriders send out giant spiked wheels, which devastates the forces on the ground. He and Sam target them and try to take a few out. Eventually, the forces are taken down and The Avengers appear successful until Vision feels Thanos coming. Thanos arrives and begins taking down the Avengers. Rhodey fires every weapon he has on him but Thanos crushes his suit and tosses him aside. Thanos ends up winning and snapping half of all life away. Rhodey tries looking for Sam, but Sam gets snapped away, turning him into dust. He regroups with what's left of the Avengers and questions what happened and what this means.

Captain Marvel[]

Rhodey noticed that Fury's pager had stopped working and let the other Avengers know. They debate on if they should restart the device when the one Fury was trying to contact appears; Captain Marvel.

Avengers: Endgame[]

About 22 days after the Decimation, Captain Marvel rescued Tony Stark and Nebula aboard the Benatar and returned them to Earth. The Avengers, still wanting to avenge the Earth, figured out that Thanos had used the stones again so went together to confront him. War Machine restrained Thanos with Bruce and Carol, only to be told that the stones had been destroyed. Thor decapitated Thanos and the group left, hopeless.

Five years later, Rhodey was assisting the Mexican government and found that Clint Barton had massacred a Mexican drug cartel. During a conference call with Natasha, Rocket, Nebula, Okoye, and Carol they discussed how to deal with any responses. After the call, he described the brutal scene to Natasha and alerted her to how dark Clint had gone.

Tony, Steve and Scott figured out a way to use the quantum realm to reverse the snap and they called on the Avengers to reunite. Nebula landed the Benatar on the front lawn and warned Rhodey that there was an "idiot in the landing zone", referring to Scott. War Machine landed, scaring Scott and calling him "regular sized man". Rhodes, Bruce and Scott discussed time travel, Bruce said that most time travel movies were wrong and that they can't change the past. Rhodes was teamed with Nebula to retrieve the Power Stone. They went through the quantum realm to Morag in 2014 and Nebula lent Clint and Natasha the Benatar to retrieve the Soul Stone. Nebula and Rhodes waited and followed Peter Quill, who led them to the Power Stone. Rhodey knocked him out and Nebula got the stone. The pairing shared a moment as the two had significant parts of their bodies enhanced with robotics.

Rhodey returned to the present with the Power Stone and met up with Rocket, Bruce, Scott, Clint, Tony, Steve and Nebula, but was saddened to hear Natasha didn't make it. He watched as Bruce snapped half the population back into existence. Moments later, the New Avengers Facility was destroyed by the Thanos of 2014. Rhodey was trapped under debris with Bruce and Rocket and they began to drown as water began to fill up the hole. Scott saved them by turning into Giant-Man. Rhodey, in his new Mark IV War Machine armor, joined the combined forces of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Wakanda, Asgard and Ravagers against Thanos and his forces.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier[]

"New World Order"[]

Rhodey attended the function where Sam Wilson donated Captain America's Shield to the Smithsonian. Walking through the Captain America exhibit, the two discussed their lives and Rhodey questioned why Sam didn't take up the mantle of Captain America as Steve Rogers had wanted. Sam explained that when he'd first received the shield from Steve, he'd told Steve that he felt like it belonged to someone else, meaning Steve himself. Rhodey told Sam that the world was a broken place with everyone looking for someone to fix it and the two looked at the display now containing the shield. Calling it a new day, Rhodey promised to be in touch and left.

Secret Invasion[]

"Resurrection"[]

To be added

"Promises"[]

To be added

"Betrayed"[]

To be added

Character traits[]

Rhodey is a "Soldier with a conscience". He doesn't inherently want to kill, however if he is attacked, or has no other option he will. Though the toll of which will weigh on his mind.

Rhodey is depicted in the film wearing a "Brass Rat", the MIT school ring, indicating that in the film, he and Tony Stark were graduates of the same college, and on his other hand he wears an Air Force Academy ring, suggesting that he received his masters degree from MIT after earning a "grad school slot" for high academic achievement while at USAFA.

In Captain America: Civil War, due to being a soldier of the United States and his loyalty to his country, Rhodey blindly trust the governments in general, as he as it is one of the main reasons why he signed and support the Sokovia Accords, like Tony, he puts his logic, and his morals and honor second.

As a soldier, Rhodey is a firm believer in individuals being held accountable for their actions and a proper chain of command. This made signing the Sokovia Accords an easy decision for him as it would make the Avengers accountable for their actions and a show of good faith for the public. As a result of this, he has a dislike of those who believe their actions to be "right" and would flout the law to accomplish them, seen when he confronted Steve Rogers' faction of Avengers during the Avengers Civil War.

However, this does not stop Rhodes from agreeing to do the best in only capturing and reasoning with Steve and his rogue Avengers. He even apologized to Steve for being about to use an electrical staff on him and instead of using Scarlet Witch's struggle in keeping the tower lifted for lethal attacks, he simply knocked her out without inflicting any actual injury with a sonic cannon.

In the end, unlike Tony, Rhodey does not regret what had happened despite having been left partially paralyzed as he believes it was the right thing to do and freely admits this to the now remorseful Tony. This attitude prevented him from being much of a help to Tony in coping with his guilt and shame over the breakup of the Avengers, although it doesn't seem to have any actual damage on their friendship as Rhodes (likely) doesn't even know of Tony's deep regret and remorse and Tony doesn't seem keen on telling him.

In Avengers: Infinity War, 2 years after the Avengers were disbanded, Rhodey, having reflected deeply over the time he spent with the Avengers fractured, finally came to share the same feelings of regret as Tony had regarding the Avengers Civil War. This has caused Rhodey to lose any loyalty and respect he had towards the governments, as in his frustration with the restrictions imposed on the Avengers, he came to see Steve was completely right not only about how much the Sokovia Accords put them in the control of the corrupted governments, but also that they were unfairly trying to shift the blame of the situations that had happened on the Avengers despite none of it being their fault, and also realized just how ineffective the Accords were as they were not allowed to help when they needed it without permission.

The fact that Thaddeus Ross and the UN continued to label Rhodey's friends as criminals even when the world needed them was the last straw, as the steadily fading loyal demeanor he had been maintaining finally fully cracked and he chose to get a court martial when Ross demanded Steve's team arrest. He likewise showed no antagonism towards his former teammates, despite their role in his becoming crippled, only visibly happy to see the team back together.

In Avengers: Endgame, Rhodes is no less devastated and wracked with guilt and desparation to undo Thanos's actions as the rest of his fellow Avengers are. He even seemed to be among the most desperate, as he was the only one who could try to suggest Thanos was lying before being horrifiedly put in his place by Nebula. Likewise, when a chance finally came for the Avengers to undo the damage, Rhodes showed an astonishing amount of brutality in that he suggested killing Thanos as a baby upon going to the past to undo his actions in the future, showing a shocking lack of hesitation in proposing it, even simply stating that it was Thanos when Bruce expresses disgust at the idea, which only the much darker and more ruthless Barton agreed, even Scott while approving over how Rhodes is right in the way Time Travel could be used also indirectly refuses to commit such a brutal act and instead opts to retrieve the Stones so Thanos doesn't have them.

At the same time, Rhodes still retains his reasonable and empathetic side and strong will, as he sees Tony's attempt to create Ultron and others like him as being a bad move and unlike his trauma-driven attitude, does not blame Steve and the others for the fall out of the Avengers, as he quickly defends Steve from Tony, and had the sense to be cautious of fighting Thanos again as he believed he still had the Stones. He also proves more strong-willed than his friend, as he would remain dedicated to protecting and keeping the world stable whereas Tony retired and started a family with Pepper. Rhodes also shows a reasonable and empathetic side to himself, as despite admitting to being horrified by how much darker and ruthless Barton had became after the death of his family, he respects Natasha's decision and wish to find him and stop his crusade of killing every criminal who survived the Snap, accepting to continue after she refuses to give up upon his advice. He also seemed concerned over Thor's mental state as he derailed upon having to explain about the Reality Stone. While working with Nebula, Rhodes was able to empathize with her cybernetic implants, noting that like her, he wasn't always like this either, both having sustained a life-changing injury. When he and Rocket faced imminent death over being flooded, Rhodes was able to accept that he would die calmly, simply saying he'll see Rocket in the afterlife.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Expert Pilot: Rhodey is a skilled combat pilot and is capable of maneuvering most if not all Tony's Iron Man armors.
  • Skilled Engineer: Rhodey studied in the U.S. Air Force service him to become an aviation engineer. He helped redesigned the Mark II with Justin Hammer tranforming it into War Machine.
  • Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Rhodey is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant. Rhodey was more than able to handle himself against Killian's Extremis Soldiers, even utilising combos to take down Eric Savin, with one punch and a kick, sending him to the ground with a single punch. After escaping the Mandarin's mansion, Rhodey was able to take down the guards with ease, while searching for Tony. He also knocked out Peter Quill with a single punch.
  • Skilled Marksman: Aside from the Iron Patriot weaponry, Rhodey is a very skilled marksman.

Equipment[]

  • Arc Reactor: Utilizing the arc reactor Stark was using just before his upgrade to the new and more improved arc reactor, it is unknown if it is just as powerful or slightly less powerful than the one Tony Stark uses now, despite this, it is still effectively powerful enough to power his armor, the chest battery is capable of generating at least eight gigajoules of energy. Only a fraction of this energy is required to power the Mark II exoskeletal structure.
  • War Machine Armor: Rhodey uses a modified Iron Man armor to become War Machine, the armor allows him to fly and contains various weapons for battle. The armor is more heavily armored and equipped than Tony's.

Armor Capabilities[]

War_Machine_-_Fight_Moves_&_Flight_Compilation_HD

War Machine - Fight Moves & Flight Compilation HD

The War Machine armor (also the Mark II Iron Man armor/the Variable Threat Response Battlesuit) is the only other powerful suit next to the Iron Man armor. Before weaponization of the suit, it was sufficient enough to battle a more updated and powerful generation armor (the Mark IV). Upon weaponization of the armor, it was sufficient enough to nearly overpowered the Mark VI (while under Vanko's control), battle hordes of Hammer drones and Vanko with his own armor.

  • Flight: The armor can reach speeds as Mach 3 in moments. It is equipped with non-weapons grade repulsor based flight stabilizers that theoretically reach speeds of Mach 8 similar to the Mark IV's flight stabilizers. It was able to keep up with the Mark VI during the battle over the Stark Expo and catch Iron Man off-guard and tackled him into the Orcale building.
  • Advanced Strength: Rhodes in the armor is capable of lifting weights that are several times greater than a human weight. His strength levels can be increased when powered by a sufficient energy source.
  • Armor Systems: The armor has remote assistance (it is unknown at this time if JARVIS provides support or another computer A.I.-like support system), and the armor also have a holographic HUD, with cellphone and computer connections in the helmet. The armor is powered by a miniature arc reactor and has an on-board generator for emergencies. The scanner systems are capable of scanning the environment, weather conditions and equipment for information. The armors also have variable control surfaces for active flight control. The Hull Pressure Transducers are onboard sensors that track external pressure based on altitude, speed, and temperature, and adjust internal settings appropriately.
  • Advanced Durability: The armor is made of a solar charged carbon-composite-based external plating armor, and has a chestplate protecting the arc reactor. It is shown that it can withstand tremendous amounts of punishment. It had withstood a full-on fight with the Mark IV in Stark's house. It had withstood the full-on fight with the Hammer Drones and withstood the full-on ammo unloaded on both him and Stark while in their respective suits. It was also able to withstand damage done on it by Vanko in his own suit. It also protects the wearer from the effects of extreme g-forces.
  • Self-Contained Life-Support System and Environmental Protection: The armor can be completely sealed for operations in vacuum or underwater, providing its own life support, and is shielded against radiation.
  • Repulsors: A particle beam weapon in the palm gauntlets. Can repel physical and energy-based attacks.
  • Unibeam: A powerful version of the repulsor beam.
  • Advanced Reflexes: The armors have motors for movement. It is proven to be extremely fast and responsive in flight, and during the fights.

In addition to the physical capabilities and various weaponry it already possesses, it also utilizes laser guided munitions. The armor's heavy weapons arsenal of ballistic weaponry was provided by defense contractor Justin Hammer of Stark Industries' rival company Hammer Industries. On the right shoulder, there is an M134 7.62mm minigun that can extend or retract in or out of its "cup". On the left shoulder, there is a bunker buster Sidewinder missile. Each wrist supports twin 9mm Claridge Hi-Tec semi-automatic pistols. The 5.56x45mm FN F2000 was ideal for mounting inside of the gauntlets due to the unique way it discharges spent casings out the front. Custom feeds send the rounds directly into the gun, eliminating the standard 30-round magazine.

Weaknesses[]

  • Mortality: Although Rhodey's War Machine armors grants him superhuman physical attributes; he was just a normal human and without his armor; he can easily be overpowered by other superhumans and extraterrestrial beings respectively.

Former Equipment[]

Relationships[]

Appearances/Actors[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • According to Don Cheadle, Rhodey's skills as a pilot are the reason why unlike Tony Stark, he doesn't need an AI to help him operate his armor. [1]
  • Cheadle was the first choice for Rhodes in Iron Man, but was unavailable at the time. Similarly, Zachary Levi was the first choice for Fandral in Thor; was unavailable for the first film but portrayed the character when he was recast for the sequel.

Trivia[]

  • In order to play the part of Rhodes, Marvel made Terrence Howard go through extensive military flight training, which Howard enjoyed. However, he never appears flying a jet in the finished film, making all of his training a waste.
  • Terrence Howard did not reprise his role in the second film because negotiations had broke down with Marvel. Howard, was the first person cast in Iron Man, had received the highest pay out of all the actors in the film, and Marvel wanted to decrease his pay for the sequel. Howard, however, disagreed, and left the role. Cheadle was quickly contacted to replace Howard, and had only hours to accept or decline the role.
  • Before he became War Machine in the comics, Rhodes served as Iron Man for a while when Tony had to step down due to his drinking problems.
  • Both Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle were in the film Crash.
  • The original draft of The Avengers explained Rhodey's absence as War Machine by stating that he and Pepper were at a Stark Industries conference overseas. Rhodes would have been S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first choice to pilot the Iron Man armor, as Tony was found 'unsuitable' at the end of Iron Man 2. His absence was going to have S.H.I.E.L.D. begrudgingly accept Tony into the Initiative; where he would evidently prove himself. However, once Gwyneth Paltrow signed on for her extended cameo (she was not originally going to appear in the film); all mention of Rhodes was removed from the film as Pepper's role was modified, however it was confirmed his absense will be explained in a comic book prequel to Iron Man 3.
  • His rank changes from Lt. Col. to just Col. in the films, possibly have gotten a promotion between or after the events of Iron Man 2 and before the events of Iron Man 3, most likely because of the service with the War Machine and Iron Patriot Armors.

Gallery[]

Iron Man[]

Iron Man: Fast Friends[]

Iron Man 2[]

Iron Man 3 Prelude[]

Iron Man 3[]

Avengers: Age of Ultron[]

Captain America: Civil War[]

Avengers: Infinity War[]

Captain Marvel[]

Avengers: Endgame[]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier[]

New World Order[]

Secret Invasion[]

Home[]

References[]

See Also[]

MDB
Advertisement