War Machine in other media

James Rhodes is a Marvel Comics character that has appeared in comics featuring or related to Iron Man since 1979. The character has appeared in other media adaptations of Iron Man both as a non-costumed character and as War Machine.

Most of the character's appearances have been in animation, but in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character is played by Don Cheadle.

Television

1990s

Iron Man and War Machine in the Iron Man episode "The Hands of the Mandarin, Part 1".

Rhodey in Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

• War Machine appears in the 1994 animated series Iron Man, voiced by James Avery (for most of the first season) and Dorian Harewood (for the remainder of the series). During the first season, Jim Rhodes is a member of Iron Man's "Force Works". When the team disbands at the end of the second season's opener "The Beast Within", Rhodes is one of two characters to remain with Iron Man. While the character appeared in armor for the bulk of the series, he avoids it for the four episodes between "Fire and Rain" and "Distant Boundaries" appearing only as Rhodes. This character arc had Rhodes dealing with claustrophobia arising from almost drowning in the War Machine armor.
• War Machine makes a cameo appearance during "Time Fugitives Saga" in the second season and "Phoenix Saga" in the third season of the animated series X-Men.
• War Machine appears in the third season Spider-Man episodes "Venom Returns" and "Carnage", voiced by James Avery.^[1]
• War Machine is featured in The Incredible Hulk episode "Helping Hand, Iron Fist", voiced by Dorian Harewood.^[2]

2000s

• A teenage incarnation of James "Rhodey" Rhodes is featured as one of the main characters in the animated series Iron Man: Armored Adventures, voiced by actor Daniel Bacon. During the first season, Rhodes and his family act as a foster home for Tony Stark's after Howard Stark's supposed death. He is also Tony's classmate and best friend at the Tomorrow Academy, a science-intensive high school, and after Iron Man's first appearance he acts as Tony's tactical aide-de-campe and voice of reason. In the season one finale "Tales of Suspense", Rhodey gets his War Machine armor.^[3]
• War Machine appears in the The Super Hero Squad Show episode "Tales of Suspense" voiced by actor LeVar Burton.

2010s

• James Rhodes appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Bumper Robinson.^[4] He first appears in the episode "Iron Man is Born!", dons the War Machine armor in the second season episodes "Alone Against AIM",^[5] "New Avengers" and "Avengers Assemble".
• The War Machine armor makes a cameo appearances in Avengers Assemble. In "The Avengers Protocol: Part 1", it's initially selected to be worn by Sam Wilson before choosing to use the Falcon armor instead. The War Machine armor reappears again in the episodes "Exodus" and "Avengers Disassembled". The actual character will appear in Avengers: Ultron Revolution.
• War Machine appears in the anime series Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers,^[6] voiced by Hidenori Takahashi.

Film

Animated

Character poster for Iron Man 2 featuring War Machine.

• James Rhodes appears in the 2007 animated film The Invincible Iron Man, voiced by Rodney Saulsberry. In the film, Rhodes is an engineer and former army medic.
• War Machine appears in the anime film Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, voiced by James C. Mathis III in the English version and Hiroki Yasumoto in the Japanese original.
• War Machine appears in the anime film Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher.^[7]

Marvel Cinematic Universe

• James Rhodes is portrayed by Terrence Howard in Iron Man, the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.^[8] He holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force and acts as the military's chief liaison to Stark Industries' weapons division, and is initially oblivious to Obadiah Stane's actions. Artist Phil Saunders had created concept art for an unused "hall of armor" scene which included the War Machine armor.^[9][10] Following a contract dispute between Howard and Marvel Studios, Don Cheadle was cast to portray War Machine, and Cheadle has portrayed the character for the rest of his MCU appearances.^[11][12]
• In Iron Man 2, Rhodes is under pressure from the United States government to convince Tony Stark to relinquish ownership of the Iron Man armor. When Tony drunkenly endangers civilian lives, Rhodey is forced to don an Iron Man suit to intervene during the confrontation to which Tony says: "You wanna be the War Machine, take your shot.".^[13] Rhodes's borrowed armor is subsequently retrofitted by Justin Hammer with various weapon enhancements at an Air Force base, but the 'ex-wife' missile proves to be woefully below standards, and the War Machine armor itself is briefly taken over by remote control and used to attack Iron Man before Pepper Potts and Black Widow break the connection controlling him. Once freed, Rhodey fights alongside Iron Man to defeat Ivan Vanko. Director Jon Favreau also used the name "War Machine" when referring to the character in various interviews.^[14][15]
• Before the release of The Avengers, Don Cheadle reported that War Machine would return for that film, but, for unspecified reasons, this didn't happen.^[16]
• In Iron Man 3, Rhodes is promoted to full Colonel and his armor is painted red, white, and blue.^[17] According to director Shane Black, the patriotic color scheme and name was chosen by the U.S. government in response to the events of The Avengers.^[18] Rhodes states that the U.S. government deemed "War Machine" to be too militaristic and that "Iron Patriot" tested well with focus groups. The armor is briefly stolen and used by Eric Savin to abduct President Ellis, but Rhodes is able to recover the armor at the film's conclusion and save the President.
• In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Rhodes once again operates the black and silver War Machine armor and is directly referred to as "War Machine" for the first time. He aids the Avengers in the final battle against Ultron and joins the team along with Vision, Falcon and Scarlet Witch.^[19]
• In Captain America: Civil War,^[20] when the Avengers are presented with the Sokovia Accords for the government to regulate their actions, Rhodes sides with Stark and is one of the heroes that sign the accords.^[21] Rhodes apprehends Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Falcon and Black Panther when the latter battles the former three. When Captain America and his faction attempt to leave for Siberia to pursue Helmut Zemo, War Machine is among Iron Man's team that confront and fight them. Captain America and Winter Soldier escape on a Quinjet with Iron Man, War Machine and Falcon trailing them; Falcon evades a blast by Vision, which hits War Machine instead and incapacitates his suit, causing him to fall mid-flight. Iron Man and Falcon are unable to catch him and he lands hard on the ground, fracturing his spinal column and paralyzing him. He is given bionic support on his legs as he tries to recover, but assures Stark that he does not regret his decision on siding with him.

Video games

• War Machine is a playable character in two of the video games in Capcom's Marvel vs. Capcom series. In both games, the character's voice was provided by Wayne Ward.
  • Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998) - The in-game design was based on Iron Man from Marvel Super Heroes (1995) with the palette swapped and the addition of new animations such as a shoulder cannon instead of a chest unibeam, spiked smart bombs, and a new Super Attack. The game also contains a gold colored "hidden character" version that cannot block or fly, but is never stunned and had the beam and missile attacks switched.
  • Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000) - The character design was modified further, incorporating elements of the Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes hidden character, to differentiate him from Iron Man.
  • Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011) - Iron Man's theme is a remix of War Machine's from the first Marvel vs Capcom. He also makes a cameo in Hawkeye's ending in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.
• X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005) by Activision - The War Machine armor is an alternate costume for Iron Man. It also allowed a special bonus when all four characters in the party were in the same themed costumes.
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006) by Activision - War Machine's design is used as an alternate "costume" and in game bonus were similar as those in X-Men Legends II also he is a playable hero on the PC version.
• Iron Man (2008) by Sega - James Rhodes, voiced by Terrence Howard, is a non-playable character in the game.
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009) by Activision - War Machine, voiced by Nolan North, is a boss character in the "Anti-Registration" campaign for the game's PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions.
• Marvel Super Hero Squad (2009) by THQ - War Machine, voiced by Nolan North, is an unlockable character in the game.
• Iron Man 2 (2010) by Sega - War Machine is a playable character voiced by Don Cheadle,^{[22][23][24][25]} with additional dialogue provided by Phil LaMarr. In the game's Wii version, Iron Man and War Machine have slightly different upgrades and different Repulsors. The main differences between the two are that War Machine can be equipped with gatling guns and when War Machine loses all of his health, he cannot be revived like Iron Man can.
• War Machine appears as a playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, voiced by Alimi Ballard.
• War Machine appears in Hawkeye's ending for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as a member of the West Coast Avengers.
• War Machine is a playable character in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance with various costumes including the Iron patriot armor.
• War Machine and Iron Patriot are playable characters in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Phil LaMarr.^[26]
• War Machine is a sidekick character in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes.^[27]
• War Machine is a playable character in Marvel Heroes,^[28] voiced by James C. Mathis III.^[29]
• War Machine is a playable fighter in Marvel: Contest of Champions.^[30]
• War Machine is a playable character in Marvel: Future Fight.
• A teenage version of War Machine appears in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced by Adande Thorne.
• War Machine is a playable character in Lego Marvel's Avengers, voiced by Don Cheadle.

Toys

• Iron Man animated series line by Toy Biz^[31]
  • Series 1 - A War Machine action figure with removable armor.
  • Series 4 - A silver "War Machine 2" action figure with removable armor.
• Marvel - Hall Of Fame line (1997) by Toy Biz - An "unmasked" War Machine action figure with removable helmet.^[32]
• Marvel Vs. Capcom line (1999) by Toy Biz - A War Machine action figure packaged with Mega Man.^[33]
• Marvel Legends lines by Toy Biz
  • Series 9 (2005) - A War Machine action figure was based on his appearance in the comic U.S. War Machine.
  • Face-Off Series 2 (2006) - Released as a chase variant of the Modular Armor Iron Man action figure from the same series.
• Marvel Legends lines by Hasbro
  • Ares Series (2008) - An Ultimate War Machine action figure based on his appearance in Ultimate Iron Man.
• Iron Man movie tie-in line by Hasbro - A War Machine action figure was produced as a Wal-Mart exclusive for the line. Though the figure is referred to as the "Stealth Operations Suit" armor, the figure has War Machine's black & silver paint job, War Machine's weapons, and the toy description lists Jim Rhodes as the pilot of the armor.
• Marvel Universe line by Hasbro - A 3¾ inch War Machine action figure was produced for a Secret Wars 25th Anniversary two pack. It was released packaged with the Julia Carpenter version of Spider-Woman.
• Marvel Minimates line by Diamond Select Toys
  • Series 21 - Rhodes as he appeared in the Iron Man film packaged with the Iron Man Mark II armor.
  • Series 23 - Rhodes' Mark II War Machine armor was a chase variant figure packaged with Spymaster.
  • Series 35 - Rhodes' War Machine armor as depicted in the Iron Man 2 film packaged with Iron Man Mark V and Rhodes in his U.S. Air Force uniform packaged with an Air Assault Drone.
• Iron Man 2 movie tie-in line by Hasbro^[34]
  • Wave 1 (2010)
    • "Movie Series" - Based on the character design from the film, two variants were released with either red or blue eyes, chest arc reactor, and palm repulsors.
    • "Comic Series" - Based on the character design from the comic books.
  • Wave 5 (2010)
    • "Munitions Armor" - A War Machine action figure released under the "Concept Series".
  • "Advanced Tactical Armor" K-Mart Exclusive Box Set (2010) - Omega Factor War Machine action figure packaged with Vibranium Iron Man and Bio-Metal Iron Man. Released under the "Concept Series".
  • Armor Tech Deluxe Wave 3 - A War Machine action figure released under the "Concept Series".
  • Hall of Armor Collection Wave 1 (2010) - A Target exclusive variant of the Wave 1 "Movie Series" action figure.
  • A 6 inch War Machine action figure was also produced as a Wal-Mart exclusive. Later rereleased in the Iron Man Armored Avenger line for 2011.
• Marvel Select line by Diamond Select Toys - A 7-inch War Machine action figure.
• Transformers: Crossovers line (2010) by Hasbro - A War Machine figure which is supposed to be an upgraded version of his armor from the second Iron Man film, which is larger and turns into a stealth jet.
• Lego has a War Machine minifig in its 2013 Iron Man 3 playset collection, as well as the Iron Patriot in a pre-order exclusive.
• Bandai Tamashii Nations in Japan has released War Machine in their SH Figuarts line.

References