The Implications Of This Marvel Character’s Skrull Timeline

Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion wrapped up in a fiery battle this week by escalating Skrull-human tensions and giving us one of the crucial highly effective new characters within the shared universe. However one reveal nonetheless has us asking questions.

The under comprises full spoilers for Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion.

In episode 4 we study that, someday within the latest previous, the rebellious Skrull faction kidnapped Avengers member and long-time Iron Man buddy Colonel James Rhodes, often known as Rhodey, and put a Skrull in his place. And so the model of Rhodey we see in Secret Invasion, who now serves as an in depth advisor to america president, is essentially the Skrull Raava in disguise.

However this leaves the query: When precisely did this change occur?

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has mentioned that viewers will come to seek out out precisely how lengthy Rhodey has been a Skrull and that he likes the concept of followers going again to look at earlier appearances of Rhodey with the understanding that it wasn’t really him.

Nevertheless whereas the present’s finale doesn’t give us an specific reply on this query, it does closely indicate one. That’s as a result of after the Skrull Rhodey is killed and G’iah lastly rescues the actual Rhodey, we see him sporting a hospital robe and visibly limping. And we have now seen Rhodey in a hospital robe weakened like this earlier than, in 2016’s Captain America: Civil Struggle after he sustained an harm paralyzing him from the waist down.

So, the implication could be that Rhodey has been a Skrull for the reason that occasions of Civil Struggle, that means the character we’ve been following on display since 2016, practically a decade in MCU years, has been an imposter this whole time.

This results in some odd conclusions if we, as Feige suggests, return and re-watch older scenes with this concept in thoughts.

This might imply Tony and Rhodey’s touching second throughout his restoration on the finish of Civil Struggle was not really him. It could imply the epic story of all of the Avengers banding collectively, failing, and mustering their may to avoid wasting the world towards Thanos concerned not an in depth buddy of the opposite Avengers however a whole stranger. It could imply the primary individual to return to Tony’s aspect in his second of demise was not his greatest buddy, however an enemy alien. And, maybe most devastatingly, it will imply the actual Rhodey has no information of any of those occasions nor of his buddy Tony Stark’s demise.

However maybe we might simply accommodate this new element into all of that character work. We might preserve that the Rhodey we’ve come to like continues to be noble in all these methods, simply as a Skrull. And we might consider that he isn’t an enemy however really did take care of the opposite Avengers and their missions. However, Rhodey’s actions in Secret Invasion are so clearly immoral and completely different from what we’ve come to anticipate of Rhodey when performing truthfully, that that conception is difficult to return away with as properly.

Secret Invasion director Ali Selim helps the concept that the change occurred in 2016. However, simply because the present does, he comes shy of outright confirming it. Thus, this leaves room for continued hypothesis.

One other approach to strategy this could be to maintain an eye fixed out for when, beginning in 2016, Rhodey will be seen sporting his leg braces that enable him to stroll. He has them in Captain America: Civil Struggle, Avengers: Infinity Struggle, Avengers: Endgame, and even in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In that final instance Rhodey solely seems briefly and in army uniform. However nonetheless we will see the lights of the leg braces shining via his trousers. So this could imply the one time, after 2016, that we don’t see Rhodey with the leg braces is in Secret Invasion, supporting the concept he was swapped with a Skrull someday off display proper earlier than this present started.

This might resolve the difficulty of the Rhodey we’ve recognized for therefore lengthy being an imposter. Nevertheless, this could make it inconceivable for followers to, as Feige suggests, return to earlier appearances of Rhodey with the understanding that they’re watching a Skrull on display.

solely what we see on-screen, the complete reply in the meanwhile continues to be unclear. However each the present and behind the scenes gamers are implying the 2016 date, even when it means undoing or no less than complicating a number of the character work in earlier entries. So, followers could have to proceed on with their questioning.

We should always quickly get extra solutions although. This will are available upcoming titles corresponding to The Marvels, Captain America: Courageous New World, Loki’s second season and others, or within the distant movie Armor Wars, which ought to see the actual Rhodey taking a way more central presence.

We’ll simply have to attend and see.

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