IRON MEN
Tony gets cured and Vanko resurfaces, now with access and resources provided by Hammer to launch an attack on the Stark Expo. Rhodey is reluctant to deal with Tony at all after what’s happened, but he changes his tune when Tony mentions that Vanko’s still alive. Unfortunately that’s when Vanko takes over all of the bots with Hammer tech including War Machine, and this time Rhodey is fighting Tony in a suit that’s out to kill against his own will. Though he has no control of the suit, he uses the information available to him to help his best friend.
When War Machine is reprogrammed and freed by Natasha, Rhodey and Tony finally make peace. Rhodey apologizes for his part in everything with the understanding that Tony was definitely pushing buttons (which Tony admits to!) and the admission that he should have trusted Tony more. Tony says he didn’t have to, as he’s the one who put him in that position. It’s not the first time Tony has pushed Rhodey’s buttons to get what he wants, like in Iron Man where he turns Rhodey’s hesitation into drunken funtime with strippers (during which they’re pretty physically close, oh my!). After years of being friends, Rhodey is able to handle Tony Stark’s bullshit better than almost anyone else. With an understanding reached, the two of them are able to take on the remaining Hammeroids and Vanko as the badass buddies they’re meant to be. Iron Man and War Machine versus the Hammeroids is one of the coolest, well-shot battles in the whole MCU.
And after defeating Vanko, friendship comes back to the both of them easily. Rhodey provides some good-natured jabs at Rhodey and Pepper before leaving with War Machine. Tony and Rhodey reunite briefly in Washington D.C. to get medals for their actions. One neat little detail of note is the look on Rhodey’s face at the exchange between Tony and Stern. They’re in a public ceremony that’s being filmed outside the White House, so Rhodey is every bit the professional while giving Stern a brief look of disapproval. Fuck that guy.
The Avengers is sadly lacking in the Rhodey department, but the Iron Man 3 tie-in comic tells us that he showed up in time for Shawarma. Good times were had by all.
Iron Man 3 itself is a good movie for Rhodey. Without the big buddy brawl that dominated Iron Man 2, we’re allowed to more clearly see the man that Tony Stark calls a best friend and understand why. Early in the movie we see Tony and Rhodey eating together and shooting the shit. It’s friendly moments like this, even in the open area of the diner, Rhodey’s compassion truly shines. He listens to Tony go on about his new creations and waits patiently to express his concern. And Tony, despite his personal troubles, is more open around Rhodey than he is with most other people.
As it turns out, Tony has the best assessment of the Iron Patriot armor. He’s huffy about the rebranding - as a businessman he understands what the US military is trying to achieve with it and he doesn’t. War Machine - Rhodey - is clearly better. Rhodey hardly puts up a fight about it (“It tested well with focus groups” is a shitty defense). He’s not so insecure that it’s going to affect him, but both of them know what’s up. Attention is shifted back to Tony’s anxiety issues briefly, and that’s the last they hear from each other for a while.
Unlike in Iron Man, Rhodey doesn’t have the chance to go hunting for Tony immediately after the attack. As the Iron Patriot he has his responsibilities, which fortunately involve him hunting down the Mandarin for the sake of America. There may even be a part of him that believes that Tony will make it out alive like he did in Afghanistan. That’s proven true when Tony resurfaces with a phone call in a great scene showcasing Rhodey’s high bullshit tolerance and poor understanding of password security. The fondness between the two of them is clearly there.
They have an unlikely reunion at the mansion in Miami. Rhodey is dragged there (surprisingly quickly from the other side of the world) against his will and Tony is captured in the midst of invading. Their escapes and methods of moving around is an excellent contrast of their characters. Tony’s escaped is hampered by the low-powered derpitude of the Mark 42 armor, but he breaks in and out with the clever use of his own technology and engineering ability. Rhodey, on the other hand, fights his way out - even standing up to Killian and Savin, two of the most noted people altered by Extremis with just his fists. He loses, but once he’s on his own again and back on his feet he gets straight to kicking ass and taking names. Rhodey’s skill set is very different from Tony’s despite their MIT background and as a result, he’s quite the action hero when left to his own devices. With barely one armor between them, they kick ass and take names (and a speedboat!).
This continues into the final battle scene, where the genius billionaire is led to the scene of the final battle by the war-hardened badass. Tony’s out of his element while Rhodey’s combat training and levelheadedness shines. Once the House Party arrives Iron Man is back into the fray - note that those security protocols preventing armor theft are in full use here - and it’s up to Rhodey to prove that he’s a bad enough dude to rescue the president. Unlike Tony with all of his Iron Man suits and JARVIS’s grace or Pepper’s Extremis-enhanced badassery, Rhodey makes his way through the battle with just a hand gun and chutzpah. He takes on more Extremis goons with his own cleverness in a highly underrated scene, and then escorts the president to safety.
While he isn’t there for the explosive finale, Rhodey is shown with Pepper waiting outside the room where Tony is having his operation, providing an adorable thumbs up of support.
HANDLE IT, OR I’M GOING TO HAVE TO
Rhodey, Tony, and Pepper make up the Iron Man franchise’s main triumvirate but unfortunately the relationship between Pepper and Rhodey is sorely understated in the movies. They’re both present for Tony’s return to the United States and subsequent dissolution of the weapons division of Stark Industries, but we don’t see them interact on screen too much. Despite that, there is an obvious amount of trust between Rhodey and Pepper. Very, very few people in the world are able to put up with Tony Stark’s bullshit for extended periods of time, and fewer still are adept enough at it while being close enough for Tony to consider them friends. Rhodey and Pepper have a very unique position in the MCU. Bruce Banner hasn’t interacted much with either of them, so time will tell if he becomes an official member of TEAM TONY NO.
It is obvious that Pepper and Rhodey keep in contact outside of interacting with Tony. Pepper calls Rhodey for help when she realizes what Obadiah Stane is up to, and though he’s incredulous at first he goes to Tony’s house at her request. There are a few deleted scenes where they interact a little, but a scene that remains in Iron Man 2 is when Rhodey comes to the mansion to get Tony’s ass in gear. Natasha deflects him in accordance with Tony’s request not to be disturbed, but Pepper knows better. Rhodey is her partner in all Stark-related crimes and she tells him straight up where Tony is.
The most telling interaction between Rhodey and Pepper happens at Tony’s birthday party. Pepper’s got a brand new Tony-fueled clusterfuck on her hands and is on her last nerve. Rhodey has been covering Tony’s ass all day only to find his faith and trust blown up in his face. They have what amounts to a mini-meltdown together, with Pepper panicking and Rhodey doing his best to hold his temper together. He’s a solid source of reason for her, and she provides him with reassuring pats as they vent. Very rarely do we see how touch-friendly Rhodey is, with only the occasional hug or shoulder pat, but he lets her touch him openly and without any hesitance on his part despite his brimming anger. Do you want a reason to ship Rhodey/Pepper in the MCU? This is the scene for you.
They go their separate ways in understandable anger after that, and we don’t see the two of them together until the very end of Iron Man 3, supporting Tony as they do best. There’s not a doubt in my mind about the fact that they are friends, even if most of their interactions are likely behind the scenes. Tony Stark couldn’t ask for a better set of besties.
IT’S CALLED BEING A BADASS
Rhodey is the War Machine in the same way that Tony is Iron Man. The gunmetal gray of the War Machine armor matches Rhodey’s steely calm. It’s armed to the teeth with big guns, lots of bullets, and a whole host of weapons for Rhodey to bring down on bad guys. It’s bulkier than Tony’s Iron Man suits, covered in the heavy armor of a sentinel of justice. Rhodey’s bravery, especially in the heat of combat, is something that’s showcased throughout all of the Iron Man movies. In the first movie he climbs onto a turret to fight back when the convoy carrying him and Tony is attacked (sadly, most of this is contained in the deleted scenes). In Iron Man 2 he takes to the Mark II like a duck to water and is able to go toe-to-toe with Iron Man in battle the first time he’s in the suit. Iron Man 3 sadly doesn’t feature much of Rhodey in the Iron Patriot armor, but instead we get to see the badass James Rhodes putting the smack down with whatever he can find. Rhodey the War Machine is always ready for a fight, whether it’s a careful war of words and actions defending his best friend from the greedy government or sending fists flying against genetically enhanced men that have forced him out of his armor. He is an excellent fighter that’s cool under pressure and always ready to do what’s right.
Iron Man 3 introduces Rhodey in the Iron Patriot armor for the first time, and though it lacks the context of the original armor in 616 it’s been implemented in the comics all the same. It doesn’t quite make sense there (yet?), but I can see the logical progression of it in the MCU.
To me, the rebranding of War Machine as the Iron Patriot is best compared to the branding of Captain America. Captain America was the best of the greatest generation, a symbol of what America thought itself to be in WWII and beyond - someone who fought for freedom and justice against the Nazis, the perfect personification of the American Dream. The perception of Captain America isn’t necessarily accurate to who Steve Rogers is, but Captain America is still a significant symbol for the country.
The Iron Patriot is a Captain America of the new millennium, of a post-9/11 United States. The patriotic symbolism of Captain America is combined with the sleek but impressive grace of one of Tony Stark’s greatest creations (what he’ll allow them to have, naturally). The paint job, an avant garde Target interior decor interpretation of America, FUCK YEAH!, is capitalist marketing at its finest. It’s the America of the MCU puffing its chest and affirming its position as a global superpower with an image that probably sells a lot of merchandise in July. So far the rebranding hasn’t had the sinister nature of Norman Osborn’s post-Civil War creation, but the intent is slightly similar. Iron Patriot appears sleeker than War Machine and all of Hammer’s additions have been replaced with superior Stark technology (and AIM, I guess). Unfortunately there’s little to compare with regards to battle capability because Rhodey spends most of Iron Man 3 OUT OF THE ARMOR no i’m not bitter
Rhodey isn’t Steve, but he has some of the same qualities that make Steve great. He has a strong moral code and good tactical sense (there’s no telling whether it’s as good as or better than Steve’s but since it’s Steve I’m guessing not). He has an understated compassion for the wellbeing of others, which we see when he busts into a sweat shop and lets the workers go. But unlike Steve, Rhodey is a veteran of very different wars. Captain America fought Nazis and Hydra - two groups that are as blatantly evil as evil gets. From Vietnam and beyond, many enemies the United States fought were one of our own making, such as Osama bin Laden (who the US provided weapons to in order to help fight Russia). War on the ground is a much uglier beast than it ever was, now that even apparently unarmed people are deadly weapons. Tony Stark privatized world peace with Iron Man and the Iron Patriot has succeeded in that role. That in itself provides so many possibilities to Earth 199999 - so many soldiers can come home safe and mostly whole. Rather than mindless, heartless drones, there a man in the best armor in the world who can make morally-based judgment decisions while being every bit as lethal. Current day America has a reputation of being the de facto world peacekeeper, whether we like it or not, and Rhodey is the face for that peace. He’s capable of handling the moral grayness of modern day warfare and if he’s suffered any emotional damage or PTSD, it’s not something we’ve seen yet in the MCU.
One of my biggest hopes for Avengers: Age of Ultron is that this comparison can be highlighted. I’d like to see how Steve and Rhodey take to each other in the midst of everything. Or that someone will write fic about it.
