Spoiler Warning: The article below contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Secret Invasion.
Secret Invasion shocked viewers with an unexpected and inevitably controversial plot twist in Episode 4. Apparently, a Skrull has infiltrated the Avengers for a long time, possibly even from the very beginning.
Episode 4 confirmed one of the most popular fan theories: James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, a.k.a War Machine is a Skrull shapeshifter. The reveal had fans asking how long has Rhodey been an alien impostor. Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige teases that the character may have been a Skrull for a long time.
In an interview posted on Marvel's official site, Feige suggests that a Skrull has impersonated Rhodey in his previous MCU appearances. He also encourages fans to re-watch previous movies that involved Rhodes to figure out how long Don Cheadle's character has been an impostor.
"We needed to have a character that one would not expect to be a Skrull.," Feige explains. "Don was on board for this reveal of playing and revealing another side of Rhodey and revealing that, yeah, Rhodey has been a Skrull."
He adds, "It was very early days when we pitched this concept to Don, and he very much was into it and into being able to play with different sides of Rhodey that we haven't seen before. We like the idea of fans going back and watching some of the other appearances of Rhodey and realizing that that wasn't him."
Cheadle may have been keeping the plot twist a secret for a long time. The actor shared that it was fun to know the major plot twist while filming his scenes for MCU films. "It's fun to fold that in and know that that's what's happening underneath all of these Rhodey scenes," Cheadle explains. "Rhodes is not who he appears to be."
The revelation of Rhodes' secret identity puts him