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Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for Secret Invasion episode 4
Not only didMarvel’sSecret Invasion episode 4 see the death of a major character–who has no hope of revival, G’iah style, in the future–but it also confirmed a popular theory that Colonel James Rhodes, a.k.a. Rhodey, was a Skrull all along.
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Following Agent Everett Ross’ reveal as a Skrull during episode 1, fans are wondering how long the real War Machine has been out of the game and who the female Skrull using his skin is. Here’s everything we know about Rhodey’s Skrull, Raava.
Secret Invasion Episode 4 Recap
During Beloved, we pick back up with Rhodey (Don Cheadle), who joins Priscilla (Charlayne Woodard) during a church concert,confirming that he was, in fact, the voice we heard talking to Nick Fury’s wife over the phone last week, and they’re involved with Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir).
Rhodey confirms it was he who fired Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and highlightsPriscilla’s subsequent mission to kill him. While the pair have their conversation, Fury is listening in from home via a listening device he planted on his wife, and her betrayal visibly upsets him. Priscilla tries to talk Rhodey out of the assassination by saying Fury is a changed man since the Blip and bereft of the power he used to have.
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Fast-forward after Fury’s meeting with Priscilla back home, which resulted inher inability to kill him and vice versa, to Rhodey’s hotel suite, where Fury waits for him to come out of the shower. Meanwhile, we seeRhodey’s female Skrullin the bathroom. Fury wants to settle the beef between them and air the Skrull’s infiltration of the government–even though he already knows Rhodey is a Skrull. The pair share an expensive bottle of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon–disguising the liquid tracking– but Rhodey pulls rank once again and shows Fury the footage of him shooting Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)–even though they both know it was Gravik in disguise.
We later see Rhodey meet President Ritson (Dermot Mulroney) in London, and he confirms the position of the President to Gravik before the Skrulls unleash their attack, posing as Russians. During the shootout on the ground and in the air, Fury and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) manage to save Ritson, butTalos is shot and later stabbed through the heartby Gravik–yes,he’s really dead.
Who Is Rhodey’s Skrull Raava From Marvel Comics?
Thanks to the end credits of episode 4, we were able to see that Rhodey’s Skrull was credited as Raava (Nisha Aaliya), who is actually an established Skrull within the source material of Marvel Comics under the alias,Raava the Un-Skrulled.
Raava is known to be a Skrull pirate gone rogue,rebelling against the Skrull Empire after her offspring, Skragg, and Raavaka, were killed. After her strike back, Raava was sentenced to live out the rest of her life within a secret torture prison out in deep space, where she met the prisoners Metal Master, Blinky, Absorbing Man, and Black Bolt. After a failed attempt to escape the prison, Black Bolt’s giant dog, Lockjaw, came to their aid and allowed them to escape the second time after killing The Jailer.
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The pirate wields two energy swords calledAngry Daughter and Hungry Son, both of which materialize in her hands forged from her rage. Raava is also able to fly, even in the vacuum of space, which is how she managed to get away from the Inhuman prison after escaping. She is also a skilled pilot, being a space pirate, and has an acute sense of spatial awareness that assists her in labyrinths like the prison.
Furthermore, Raava speaks in the third person, stating one of her best quotes like: “Men with laws and threats of cages took Raava’s blood kin until she could birth no more. So Raava took blood back. Raava gave birth to carnage.” She also mentioned how she’s never mastered the art of shapeshifting, which is not true within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
How Long Has Rhodey Been A Skrull?
Marvel fans are understandably curious to know how long Rhodey has been a Skrull, and we’re also no further forward in finding out how long Agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) was a Skrull as well. This also heavily implies thatValentina Allegra de Fontaine(Julia Louis-Dreyfus) may be a Skrull since she’s his ex-wife.
We knew going into Secret Invasion that many of the Skrull reveal were going to make fans look differently towards past MCU titles. However, revealing that Rhodey has been a Skrull since his debut in Iron Man–it may be a meta way to explain the actor swap from Terrance Howard to Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2– would undo a lot of character development and emotion attached to the persona, which would be an unlikely move on Marvel’s part.
Having Rhodey be a loyal right-hand man to Tony Stark’s Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) for a decade and showcasing the heartbreak he felt during Tony’s funeral is too precious to undo, and Marvel risks tainting those moments by having Rhodey be a Skrull from the beginning. Therefore, it’s more plausible thatRhodey was captured and became a Skrull after Avengers: Endgame.
There’s even the possibility that Rhodey was a Skrull during his part in The Falcon and The Winter SoldierDisney Plus series, and either the real War Machine is being held captive somewhere, or he’s being held in Gravik’s base along with the world leaders.There’s a femininity to Raava’s portrayal of Rhodey, which means she may not have synced with his memory like the other Skrulls are doing, suggesting War Machine is being held elsewhere, and he’ll likely make his return in the upcomingArmor Warsmovie.
