James Rhodes (Marvel)

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War Machine in Invincible Iron Man v2 #6.

James Rhodes is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

The new Iron Man in Iron Man v1 #170.

James Rupert Rhodes was a male human born in the modern age on Earth.

As a child he suffered racist abuse from white children in the Grays Ferry area of south Philadelphia, who attacked him while urging him to stay out of their park and keep to 'his own'. He would go on to be targeted by black gang members as a teen, who believed Rhodes thought he was better than as he focused on his education, rather than joining up with them. He later joined the United States Marines becoming a pilot stationed overseas. (Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #34)

His sister had a daughter by the name of Lila Rhodes. (Iron Patriot v1 #1)

On a mission, his helicopter was damaged in the sky by enemy rockets thus forcing him to land. The vehicle was still in one piece with Lieutenant Rhodes attempting to get it airborne again. During that time, he was approached by Iron Man who had arrived in his armor after having escaped his captors. He had recently been taken prisoner and forced to develop a weapon for his captors alongside Professor Ho Yinsen where the two instead developed the Iron Man suit. Yinsen had been killed but Stark managed to wield the armour and avenged his fellow prisoner where he sought an electrical source to charge the machine keeping his heart functioning. His arrival though took Rhodey by surprise where he fired on the armoured figure until he was calmed down. The pair were then attacked by enemy soldiers but Stark proved that he was an ally by fighting the enemy off but this put a drain on his energy reserves. After seeing him as a friendly, Rhodey then decided to have his helicopter battery be used to help Stark in his Iron Man suit. He then directed Stark to the nearest American defense perimeter where they fought off a sniper and uncovered a hidden enemy rocket base with them stealing a helicopter to reach friendly territory. Whilst recovering from his injuries, Tony Stark approached Rhodes and offered him a job as a pilot once his service in the military was over. (Iron Man v1 #144)

Iron Man

Due to Obadiah Stane's actions, Stark International was losing foreign contracts and going into heavy debt. With Stark's company and personal life in disarray, Stark relapsed into alcoholism. (Iron Man v1 #167) When devastating personal problems caused Tony Stark to abuse alcohol and become incapable of using the Iron Man armor responsibly, Rhodes put it on in order to defend Stark International from the criminal Magma. He offered to return it but Stark insisted that Rhodes take on the responsibility of being Iron Man for a while to enable Stark to enjoy himself. Reluctantly, Rhodes agreed to this arrangement leading to him becoming the new Iron Man. (Iron Man v1 #170)

Rhodey issued notice to the Avengers that Iron Man would be on a leave of absence for the foreseeable future, unaware that several of the Avengers knew Iron Man was Tony Stark. When Cap and Wasp arrived seeking answers, Rhodey was forced to explain the real reason why Stark was no longer available. (Avengers v1 #232)

With Morley Erwin and his sister Clytemnestra, Rhodes embarked upon a brief career as a mercenary in order to obtain funds with which they could begin a new business venture. By the time they succeeded in raising sufficient capital, Tony Stark had recovered from his several months-long alcohol binge, and offered to join them. The four moved out to Silicon Valley, California, where they founded Circuits Maximus, a small electronics design firm. (Iron Man v1 #184)

War Machine

During this time, Rhodey had also taken Tony's place in the Avengers West Coast. Despite cutting ties with Stark, Rhodes remained with the Avengers, revealing his identity to them and adopting War Machine as his superhero alias. (Avengers West Coast v2 #94)

Rhodes was later approached by Vincent Cetewayo, noted activist from the African country of Imaya and founder of the human rights organization Worldwatch Incorporated. (War Machine v1 #1) Cetewayo offered Rhodes the position of Worldwatch's Executive Director, but the offer was declined. Cetewayo was kidnapped by Imayan forces led by the dictator President Eda Arul. Receiving no aid from S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers, Rhodes traveled to Imaya as War Machine to free Cetewayo. Joined by Deathlok, the two evaded capture from a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit led by Major Bathsheva "Sheva" Joseph and joined the fight to liberate Imaya. (War Machine v1 #3) Rhodes successfully led Imayan rebels into combat against Arul's forces, but failed to save Cetewayo from being killed by the Advisor, the apparent mastermind of Arul's rise to power. Shaken by the death of Cetewayo and finding something worth fighting for, Rhodes takes the position of Worldwatch's Executive Director and hired Sheva Joseph, who left S.H.I.E.L.D. after her assignment in Imaya. (War Machine v1 #4)

While their armor was rebooting, the Mandarin captured Rhodes and Stark, discovering their identities. Century of the superhero team Force Works rescued Rhodes, but his armor was useless thanks to the Mandarin's anti-technology field. Rhodes and Stark reconciled and joined with Force Works to stop the Mandarin and his Avatars from using the Heart Of Darkness for their plans of conquest. (Iron Man v1 #312) Stark gave Rhodes the blueprints to the War Machine armor and a fully upgraded armor with new armaments was made. (War Machine v1 #12)

Rhodes returned to civilian life, but he ended up acquiring a brand new alien armor known as the Eidolon Warwear after meeting a mysterious woman named Skye and fighting an alien known as a Lictor. (War Machine v1 #18) Skye was sent to teach Rhodes to use the Warwear and revealed that Rhodes was chosen to fight against Stark who was under the control of Immortus disguised as Kang the Conqueror. (War Machine v1 #23) Sheva Joseph began to rapidly age and soon died, as a side effect of their earlier time travel. Jim's Eidolon was discovered while he was being examined for the same condition, and he briefly got into a quarrel with S.H.I.E.L.D. who wanted to quarantine him and study the armor. Skye was fatally wounded by Dirge, another Eidolon Warrior sent by Immortus, and Rhodes defeated him in combat. Stark eventually breaks free of Immortus' control and sacrificed his life while Rhodes foiled Immortus' plot by using Dirge's Warwear to destroy the Starcore satellite armed with a chronographic weapon. S.H.I.E.L.D. was made aware of down, but Rhodes evaded capture. To protect Worldwatch, he resigns as executive director. (War Machine v1 #25)

As War Machine, Jim Rhodes discovered that Fujikawa was trying to gain access to some of Tony Stark's old technology. In order to save that technology from falling into another person's hands and to preserve the legacy of his old friend, he purged the computers of Fujikawa in order to destroy all the information about Stark's armor technology. In doing so, he sacrificed his alien costume by downloading it into the computers and sending it on a "search and destroy" mission. (Tales of the Marvel Universe v1 #1)

He later established his own business named Rhodes Recovery that worked in the field of marine salvage. (Iron Man v3 #1)

Retirement

James was hired by ONE and served as a Direct Command Officer and combat instructor for Sentinel Squad ONE. (Sentinel Squad O*N*E v1 #1)

The Initiative

Secret Invasion

Shortly before being vivisected, Rhodey was able to trigger a laser in his eye and escape his bonds, getting enough of his armor back on to keep himself alive and defend against the Skrulls still onboard the ship he had been taken to. Rhodey, with help from Suzi Endo, used the Skrull ships to destroy one another and return to the Russian air base Tatishchevo where he had been captured and continued aiding the Winter Guard in defending Russia's nuclear arsenal from the Skrulls. Despite Crimson Dynamo's previous denials, he chose to ignore his commands and aid Rhodey when he saw the help he was offering without their aid. Working alongside the Winter Guard they took down the Skrulls air support and their Super-Skrulls on the ground, with Rhodey risking his own life to prevent a detonating Super-Skrull from setting off the warheads before being aiding in his escape from Russia by Crimson Dynamo. (Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #35)

Dark Reign

He received word that his old friend Glenda Sandoval had been captured in Aqiria by her employers in Eaglestar International. This led to Rhodey abducting Parnell Jacobs to help manage his operations whilst War Machine went to rescue Glenda. With his armor, he was easily able to decimate the private military outfit though they called for assistance from Norman Osborn who sent Ares to fight War Machine. (War Machine v2 #2)

Heroic Age

A government contract between Stark Resilient and the Pentagon led to War Machine being assigned to the U.S. military as their own 'Iron Man'. He was thus assigned to the U.S. Department of Defense and given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel under the command of General Babbage who had a personal grudge against Rhodes for his actions against Ultimo and Norman Osborn. His first assignment was to investigate the death of former DARPA weapons designer Palmer Addley who was charged with committing terrorist acts around the world yet had been dead for months. War Machine confronted the supposedly dead Addley who dropped a nuclear weapon on him with Rhodes barely managing to survive though his armour was badly damaged. In response, Tony Stark replaced the War Machine armor with a more advanced stream-lined armor that was named 'Iron Man 2.0.' Armor. (Iron Man 2.0 v1 #3)

Secret Avengers

After A.I.M. stole a fleet of Iron Patriot Drones, the drones' low-level A.I. was grown considerably, creating a sentient army which A.I.M. used to incriminate the United States in numerous international attacks. S.H.I.E.L.D. Intel came to the conclusion the androids could be reasoned with, and agent Phil Coulson asked Rhodey to talk to them, as he had experience and military training. (Secret Avengers v2 #4) Using holographic communication, S.H.I.E.L.D. hacked into A.I.M.'s network and allowed Rhodes to talk to the suits, who recognized him as 'the Pilot', and Tony Stark as 'the Maker'. Rhodey managed to make the Iron Patriot army understand their actions of abruptly attacking tactical points of enemies of the US were unacceptable, and stated he could teach them better if he could just show them, for what the androids sent Rhodes a different version of the Iron Patriot Armor. (Secret Avengers v2 #6) With the army of droids at his command, Iron Patriot helped the Secret Avengers in their assault on A.I.M. Island. (Secret Avengers v2 #7)

He was later recruited into the Secret Avengers initiative by Phil Coulson who required his assistance to help control the Iron Patriot armours that had been given sentience by A.I.M. and let loose on targets around the world. Escorted to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Tages research station, he was allowed access to a holographic access terminal that allowed him to communicate with the Iron Patriot drones. The machine intelligences recognised Rhodes as the 'pilot' and accepted his authority where one equipped him in armour and allowed him to take command of them in the field. (Secret Avengers v2 #6) He led the Iron Patriot drones in defence of Earth when it came under attack from the Mad Titan Thanos. In the fight, he worked alongside newly activated Inhuman Sarah Garza who was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. During the fight, Rhodes and his team were captured by another newly activated Inhuman who had control over metal. (Secret Avengers v2 #10)

Second Civil War

Rhodey's death was one of the many factors that sparked the second superhuman civil war over making use of Ulysses' visions, with Iron Man opposing the idea, while Captain Marvel endorsed it. In the end of the conflict, Tony was fatally injured in battle against Carol. The different genetic modifications Stark had subjected himself to in order to run the Iron Man Armor saved his life. Instead of dying, Tony fell into a coma. (Civil War II v1 #8)

Stark later used bio-engineering techniques to reboot the body of James Rhodes thus restoring him back to life. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #600)

Stark Unlimited

Jim joined Stark's new endeavor, the think tank known as Stark Unlimited, and served as a liaison with the Armed Forces. Tony additionally gifted Rhodey a new War Machine Armor. (Tony Stark: Iron Man v1 #2) However, minor deviations in Rhodey's genetic code from the process that returned him to life caused him to develop a pathological fear for armoring up. (Tony Stark: Iron Man v1 #6) He found an alternative in the Manticore, a multi-purpose weaponized vehicle which allowed Rhodey to fight more comfortably. (Tony Stark: Iron Man v1 #2)

When Ultron returned and set out to transform humanity into cyborgs, Jim joined Iron Man's efforts to stop him. Rhodey was confronted with a dark reflection of his past, in the form of Ultron's cyborg brute test subjects, causing him to panic when fighting them. His mettle was further put to the test when Tony had to withdraw from battle after being accidentally subjected to Ultron's bonding process, merging him to his armor. With no backup available, Rhodey called his armor and gathered the strength to suit up again as War Machine. (Tony Stark: Iron Man v1 #16)

In the aftermath of Ultron's attack, Tony was delegitimized as a human being due to his body having been artificially regrown in the procedure that woke him from his coma, which allegedly entailed that he was an artificial construct of the real, late Tony Stark. Stark Unlimited was seized by his adoptive brother Arno. Displeased with the new management, Rhodey resigned. (Tony Stark: Iron Man v1 #18)

During the subsequent robot revolution, Rhodey continued getting accustomed to wearing the War Machine Armor. He joined the reinstated Force Works, which was set up by Maria Hill as a task force to neutralize A.I.-related acts of terrorism. (2020 Force Works v1 #1)

After Tony desisted from the idea that he was not the real Tony Stark, he reclaimed his life from his brother. In the aftermath, Tony found out the true root of Rhodey's armor phobia. Using a restoration bio-pod and DNA obtained from Rhodey's living relatives, Stark Unlimited managed to correct the aberrations in his body, putting an end to Rhodey's psychological problems. (Iron Man 2020 v2 #6)

Overview

Personality and attributes

He had said that his friends knew him by the nickname of Rhodey. (Iron Man v1 #144) At the request of Stark, he came to don the Iron Man Armor and operate secretly for a time as Iron Man. (Iron Man v1 #170)

When Rhodey was brought back to life after his death at the hands of Thanos, the process caused minor deviations in Rhodey's genetic code. (Iron Man 2020 v2 #6) Due to this, he developed a pathological fear of suiting up, and has described that armor feels like a coffin to him. In one occasion, he became agitated wearing the armor and ejected out of the suit as soon as he came under fire. (Tony Stark: Iron Man v1 #2) After discovering the root of Rhodey's phobia, Tony had him undergo a procedure that corrected the aberrations in his body, doing away with his fear of armoring up. (Iron Man 2020 v2 #6)

Powers and abilities

The War Machine Armor in Iron Man v4 #33.

From a young age, he came to train physically so that he could better protect himself in a fight. (Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #34)

He was noted for being an impressive pilot whose skills could put others to shame. (Iron Man v1 #144)

At one point, Rhodes body was badly damaged and he was transformed into a cyborg. (War Machine v2 #1) The suit was equipped with magnolocks allowing him to draw on other machinery and attach it to his own frame allowing it to replace lost mechanical limbs. (War Machine v2 #3)

Later, he was provided a new health cloned body. (War Machine v2 #12)

A variant of the War Machine Armor was created that was made into the Iron Man 2.0 Armor that stripped away most of the weapons. This stream lined armor was equipped with a chameleon mode that provided invisibility, camouflage and holographic projection without any side effects of the earlier version of the system. It was also outfitted with Ghost Tech that was multi-dimensional bridge technology allowing the wearer to pass through solid objects. A scanner invisibility was an added feature that made the user undetectable to tracking systems. There is also a combat mode that amplified strength and weapon systems to take out a target. The various add ons could only operate one at a time with it not possible to engage two different systems such as Chameleon and Ghost. A limitation on the armor was that these add-on features placed a strain on the repulsor that prevented for sustained heavy use. As a result, it meant that the Iron Man 2.0 operated by being fast and hitting the target with heavy weapons rather than constant use. (Iron Man 2.0 v1 #3)

Whilst fighting Ultimo during the robot revolution, M.O.D.O.K. outfitted War Machine with a weapon of his creation which used War Machine's arc reactor to deliver a final blow to Ultimo. (2020 Force Works v1 #3)

James once established his own business named Rhodes Recovery that worked in the field of marine salvage. (Iron Man v3 #1)

At one point, he was made the commanding officer of Sentinel Squad O*N*E. (Sentinel Squad O*N*E v1 #1)

Notes

James Rhodes was created by David Michelinie and Bob Layton where he made his first appearance in Iron Man v1 #118 (January, 1979).

Alternate Versions

In Ultimate Marvel Team Up v1 #4 (2001), an alternate version of James Rhodes appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse.

In other media

Television

In Iron Man, James Rhodes appeared as War Machine in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor James Avery for most of season one and then by actor Dorian Harewood for the remainder of the series.
In Spider-Man, James Rhodes appeared in a guest role in the 1990s animated television series in the episodes "Venom Returns" and "Carnage" where he was voiced by actor James Avery.
In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes was part of the main cast of characters in the animated series where he was voiced by actor Daniel Bacon. This version was re-imagined as a young teenager who lived with his mother Roberta Rhodes who was a lawyer. Rhodes was the best friend of tge teenage Tony Stark with the two attending the same school together with them also being friends with Pepper Potts. After the seeming death of Howard Stark, Tony Stark began to live at the Rhodes residence who acted as a foster family for him.
In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, James Rhodes appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Bumper Robinson.

Films

In The Invincible Iron Man, James Rhodes appeared in the 2007 animated film where she was voiced by actor Rodney Saulsberry.
In Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, James Rhodes appeared in the anime film where he was voiced by English actor James C. Mathis III and Japanese actor Hiroki Yasumoto.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, James Rhodes made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting:
- In Iron Man, James Rhodes made his first appearance in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Terrence Howard. Rhodes was invited to attend an award ceremony at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in order to present Tony Stark with an award for all of his work. As Rhodes stood on the stage, he told the audience that he felt that it was an honor to be the liaison between Stark Industries and the United States Armed Forces, calling Stark a true patriot and a close friend. However, as it turned out, Stark was not in attendance as he did not come to the stage when Rhodes called him. As the entire audience applauded for Stark, Obadiah Stane had instead accepted the award from Rhodes in Stark's honor. While Rhodes stood to the back of the room, he listened while Stane claimed that the reason Stark was not at the ceremony to collect the award in person would be because he was still working, which Rhodes knew would be highly unlikely. Heading back in Las Vegas, Rhodes had eventually found his friend while he was still partying in one of the casinos and scolded him for not attending their award ceremony, although Stark just denied any knowledge that Rhodes was the one who would present the award, sarcastically claiming that he was deeply honored that Rhodes had done it. He continued to show little sign of taking anything seriously as he continued to joke, gamble and flirt with the beautiful women around him, even teasing Rhodes by asking him to blow on his dice; before long, Stark had lost his bet for ten million dollars and decided that it was time to go home, much to the great relief of Rhodes. As they exited the casino with Happy Hogan and Stark's entire team of personal bodyguards, Stark shook hands with Rhodes while they then agreed upon the time to meet to leave for Afghanistan onboard the Stark Industries Private Jet, while Rhodes had insisted that Stark could not turn up late. Once Rhodes had left, Stark then handed over the award to a member of the casino's staff before leaving to return back to Malibu with Hogan and the rest of his entourage. The next day, Tony Stark had indeed arrived late to his meeting with Rhodes at the Stark Industries Aviation Division, due to spending the night with Christine Everhart. Rhodes attempted to chastise his friend but was simply ignored as Stark claimed that he was caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair while Happy Hogan loaded his bags. Although Rhodes had continued to try and chastise Stark, he was told that he was now the one holding up the plane. During the flight on Afghanistan onboard the Stark Industries Private Jet, Rhodes talked with Stark and made it clear that he was unhappy about Stark's lax attitude, and Stark tried to get his friend to relax. Rhodes, however, insisted that Stark viewed him as nothing more than his babysitter, to which Stark then responded by requesting that the stewardesses bring them some drinks, although Rhodes insisted that they should not be drinking but should focus on their work.
- In Iron Man 2, James Rhodes appeared in the live-action sequel film where he was portrayed by actor Don Cheadle.
- In Iron Man 3, James Rhodes appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Don Cheadle.
- In Avengers: Age of Ultron, James Rhodes appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Don Cheadle.

Video games

In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, James Rhodes as War Machine appeared as an alternate costume for Iron Man in the 2006 video game.
In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, James Rhodes as War Machine appeared as a boss character in the 2009 video game.
In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, James Rhodes as War Machine appeared as a character with a Dossier in the Facebook video game.
In Marvel Heroes, James Rhodes appeared as a playable character in the MMORPG where he was voiced by again actor James C. Mathis III.
In Marvel: Contest of Champions, War Machine appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game.
In Marvel: Future Fight, War Machine appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game.

Appearances

Iron Man v1: (1979)
War Machine:
War Machine v2:
Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. v1:
Iron Man 2.0 v1:
Secret Avengers v1:
Secret Avengers v2:
Iron Patriot v1:
Invincible Iron Man:
Civil War II v1:
Tony Stark: Iron Man v1:

External Links

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