When Marvel Studios decided not to announce their new Disney+ series Armor Wars at San Diego Comic-Con, fans were understandably upset. However, during D23, fans finally got their first glimpse at the next MCU series. Don Cheadle, who has been mum on the show’s plot for quite some time, broke his silence in a recent interview with Comicbook, revealing that it would follow a similar plotline to the comics run from which it takes its name, but with a trademark Marvel Cinematic Universe twist. Cheadle replaced Terrance Howard as Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes/the War Machine in Iron Man 2, and he has remained a fixture of the franchise ever since. He has been with Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark throughout the “Infinity Saga,” and he appeared briefly in Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
His story will advance in Armor Wars, as the actor said, “If you know anything about the lore, and you’ve read the comic books, you understand that it’s a series that was built around Tony’s Stark Tech getting out and Rhodey taking it on to go get this tech back from the bad hands, the bad actors whose hands it is in.” Cheadle is referencing the seven-issue arc of Iron Man comics (issues #225-232) that was penned by David Michelinie and Bob Layton and drawn by Mark D. Bright and Barry Windsor-Smith. However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has never faithfully adapted a comic book, and Armor Wars is no exception. And as Marvel does, it’s an opportunity to flip the mythology on its head and find new ways to tell the tale, as Cheadle explained: “So it’s doing that and has done it in spades.”
At the D23 conference, it was announced that the events of Samuel L. Jackson’s Secret Invasion, which had an exciting debut teaser, will be picked up immediately by Armor Wars. There appears to be room for a Skrull subplot or appearance in the Armor Wars as well. While the actor has revealed the series’ fundamental premise, he has refused to elaborate on how Rhodey deals with the loss of his closest buddy, saying only that Rhodey would be “in a very different place” in the new series and that his transformation is “going to be very unexpected to a lot of people.” Furthermore, you said, The nice thing is that there will be so many chances to get to know him and for him to learn about himself and for us, ideally, to really be able to get behind what makes him tick. At the beginning of 2023, filming for Armor Wars will commence in Atlanta.