James Rhodes
| James Rhodes | |
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| Also called | War Machine |
| Infobox • Talk page | |
James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes is a former colonel in the United States Air Force and a former weapons liaison who is a senior advisor to President Ritson. As a member of the Avengers, Rhodes became known as War Machine, and during Aldrich Killian's insurrection plot, he was rebranded as the Iron Patriot.
As a weapons liaison to Stark Industries on behalf of the United States Air Force, Rhodes formed a relationship with Tony Stark, who he had met at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After Stark was abducted by the Ten Rings in February 2008, Rhodes led a mission to return him to the United States. Rhodes fought with Stark at his mansion and retrieved a prototype of Stark's armor, delivering it to the Air Force. The military contracted Hammer Industries to equip the armor with weapons and presented it at the 2010 Stark Expo, but Ivan Vanko mounted an attack on Stark using Hammer drones and Rhodes' armor. Rhodes and Stark fought against Vanko and defeated him in the battle of Stark Expo.
In response to a series of explosions caused by Advanced Idea Mechanics' Extremis program, claimed to have been committed by the "Mandarin", president Matthew Ellis announced that Rhodes would serve as the Iron Patriot, enlisted to locate the Mandarin. Rhodes discovered that the Mandarin was a false terrorist threat created by AIM founder and CEO Aldrich Killian, but he was captured. The Iron Patriot armor was stolen and used to attack Air Force One and abduct Ellis. Rhodes and Stark fought and defeated Killian in the battle on the Norco.
Rhodes served as a member of the Avengers, ordering an evacuation of Novi Grad during the Battle of Sokovia. He supported the ratification of the Sokovia Accords and aligned himself with Stark during the Avengers Civil War. In the Battle at Leipzig-Halle Airport, Rhodes fought against Steve Rogers' faction of the Avengers. During the battle, Vision fired a beam aimed at Sam Wilson; Wilson dodged the attack, and Rhodes plummeted from the sky, disabling him. Stark created leg braces for Rhodes. During the Infinity War, Rhodes fought against Thanos with Rogers, but lost in the Battle of Wakanda. Rhodes joined the Avengers in going to the Garden to see Thanos, where he was killed by Thor. In the Time Heist, Rhodes joined Nebula in retrieving the Power Stone. Rhodes fought in the Battle of Earth, defeating Thanos.
By 2026, Rhodes had been abducted by Skrulls and his identity was assumed by Raava, who attempted to initiate a nuclear war on Earth. After Gravik's defeat, the U.S. military entered New Skrullos, organizing Rhodes' excursion.