


That's because the comics version of the Armor Wars - originally the "Stark Wars" - was one of the all-time classic Iron Man events. While it's exciting enough that War Machine is getting his own Disney+ show, the addition of the title being Armor Wars is enough to make any old-school Iron Man fan erupt in applause. However, with so many Marvel projects in motion, it has often seemed that War Machine would forever be sidelined.
TONY STARK IRON WARS 80S MOVIE
Those same fans have long hoped for Cheadle's depiction of the character to finally get a starring role, particularly after it was revealed that Marvel Studios very seriously considered making a War Machine movie (with a concept pitched by Black Panther screenwriter Joe Robert Cole) back before Iron Man 3. And three, in the comics, Rhodes has long been a cult-favorite hero, who once took on the role of Iron Man himself, with some fans even preferring him to the original. Two, he's portrayed by a brilliantly talented Academy Award-nominated actor, Don Cheadle. For one, he was the MCU's first Black superhero. Colonel Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes has been a constant presence on the big screen since 2008, and while he's mainly been portrayed as a side character - namely, in his role as Tony Stark's (Robert Downey, Jr.) best friend - War Machine is so much more than that. Rhodey’s armor allows him to literally don the guise of a successful white man, to “pass” in the world of (mostly) white superheroes, but in this panel, even as Monica Rambeau is allowed the space to demand respect, Rhodey is still depicted as beholden to the exaggerated sexual desire associated with blackness and that threatens to give him away.War Machine's day in the spotlight has finally arrived.Īnd honestly, it's about time. Brown notes in the appeal of comic superheroes to young male fans (see Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans (2001)). Rhodey’s need for armor – the strength, protection and respect it provides him – echoes the elements of a hypermasculinity that Jeffrey A. I find it telling how the trope of the mask and hidden identity in superhero comic books reinforces divisions evident in our world dominated by a white hetero-patriarchy. In the next panel, after Iron Man leaves her, she wonders why he’s been acting so differently lately – and the reason, unknown to her, is because it is James “Rhodey” Rhodes in that armor, not Tony Stark (who kept up a secret identity in those days anyway).īut here’s the thing, why is Rhodey depicted this way? Or another question, since part of Tony Stark’s persona is his millionaire playboy lifestyle, if it were Tony in there – a white man, not a black man – would Monica been written as to demand the respect she deserves as a human being and a colleague? Hell, if it were Tony Stark would he ever even be depicted as coming on to a black woman at all? I love the way she demands respect from Iron Man, refusing to be called “babe” and pushing back with a sharp tongue.
TONY STARK IRON WARS 80S SERIES
Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel (though I vaguely remember her introduction in the 80s) never made a big impression on me, and aside from her inclusion in the bombastic Nextwave comedic series by Warren Ellis, I knew nothing of her between the her original stint as an Avenger and now.īut going by this panel alone, I like her – and if she was typically written this way I can see why she made an impression on those who resent the way she has repeatedly been deprived of agency regarding her name. I really can’t say I had much of an opinion on the matter.

It turns out that later she was deprived of even the Photon name, by some other white heir to Mar-Vell (alien, but still white), and she takes the name Pulsar. But I know some folks who objected to the name change on the grounds that Monica Rambeau, being African-American, was once again getting the shaft, forced to give up the iconic name and never really given her due, despite also having been an Avenger. It seemed to make more sense to me than for Monica to have the name, because Carol Danvers’s powers are (like Marvel’s original Captain Marvel Kree-warrior Mar-Vell) Kree-based, and because she has a military pilot background, thus the rank title in her name seems appropriate). Marvel to take on the Captain Marvel name. The Monica Rambeau version of Captain Marvel (later known as Photon) has been on my mind lately because of the recent renaming/rebooting of Ms. While looking for the panel from Secret Wars I wrote about a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this one.
