WHY WAS WAR MACHINE SO UNDERUTILIZED IN THE MCU?

[KevTravels]

Why was War Machine so underutilized in the MCU? Yes he's not an OG Avenger but dude has been in the MC U sincd the beginning but what do we know about him? What are his notable moments?

Okay so he's essentially Iron Man's sidekick in the comics but they didn't have to convey that in the films did they? Heck, Falcon is Cap's sidekick but he comes across as charismatic and badass in several appearances.

You have a guy like Cheadle playing someone who is essentially one-dimensional. Would it have hurt to have a scene or a few lines of dialogue that gave insight into his life beyond the fact he was an Air Force colonel?

I enjoyed him a lot in the Avengers films though why wasn't he in the first film? Not even a cameo. He sure brings more to the table than either BA or Hawkeye. In Age of Ultron, he's in the beginning and then disappears for the whole film and is never explained. Surely, he would have been useful at any point prior to Sokovia. In Infinity War he has a small role like so many. In Endgame he has a bunch of screentime and one liners but no action sequences.

Did the writers just feel they needed to downplay him to ensure Iron Man was the Bomb? I wish we got some more dialogue or another scene in Infinity War mentioning his post-recovery injury. Like was he afraid putting on the armor again? Was he worried he was only Avenger left when he lost contact with Tony?

I feel the MCU missed out big time. Upgrading War Machine some wouldn't have meant downplaying other characters. Does War Machine have his fans? What are your thoughts on the character? What is tour favorite scene of his? Do you prefer him in the Iron Man films or in the Avengers?

I wanted to see more of him kicking ass in Infinity War and also in Endgame especially since he had that new armor. I mean you have a paralyzed military officer using his armor to save the planet. Says a lot to the audience. I just wish we got to focus a bit on that subplot

 

[MadVillainy]

Writers didn't have time. I think it's that simple.They can't fit a proper story, motivations, etc. for everyone.

I'd say the same thing happened with The Warriors 3, Sif, The Howling Commandos, Mantis...Hell to a lesser extent Falcon wasn't properly utilized other than being Cap's lackey until FatWS.

That being said Iron Man 2 or Iron Man 3 really should've been "Iron Man and War Machine" or "Iron Man vs War Machine"

 

[Scarlet Spider]

 

[metaphysician]

The better question to ask is "Who or what would you sacrifice from the movies as they exist, in order to fit a larger Rhodey storyline?" Because that is essentially what "They should have done more with War Machine" means, since there are only a finite number of screen-hours available.

 

[KevTravels]

The better question to ask is "Who or what would you sacrifice from the movies as they exist, in order to fit a larger Rhodey storyline?" Because that is essentially what "They should have done more with War Machine" means, since there are only a finite number of screen-hours available.

To be fair, he just needed a few more scenes or dialogue. Most of the time he's purposely downplayed which kinda makes no sense since he's supposed to be akin to a badass.

 

[BarryAllen]

Also it was hard fitting him in since he technically wasn't an Avenger. He could've played a bigger role in AOU or Civil War.

 

[Herofan]

The better question to ask is "Who or what would you sacrifice from the movies as they exist, in order to fit a larger Rhodey storyline?" Because that is essentially what "They should have done more with War Machine" means, since there are only a finite number of screen-hours available.

I would have liked to have seen less of the Hulk, wouldn't have minded less Scarlet Witch too.

 

[NHawk19]

Well you wouldn't have used him in IM because IM was just being established. He did get the suit in IM2 which was nice. IM3 was the real waste. Avengers I could see, but a One Shot or Avengers 2 put Colonel Rhodes in the Middle East didn't it? Also War Machine works for the Air Force up through End Game in the MCU so he's subject to a chain of command that the Avengers really don't have until the Accords.

Avengers 2 we maybe could've used a little more War Machine. Civil War was fine. For IFW the Black Order just sort of shows up in NYC after chasing Hulk to Earth. War Machine doesn't really get a chance to show up, especially if he's still west coast based, by the time Tony is off world. When End Game rolls around could Rhodes have had a more prominent roll maybe.

There's also the option that he's now currently running the Avengers and given the current state of things and we'll see more of him. It would make sense. Tony, Nat, & Vis (sort of) are dead. Cap & Hawkeye are retired. Fury is off world/presumed dead. Bucky & Sam are working as contractors to the military. That really leaves Rhodey as the only one with any government experience to run this sort of thing. We see Bruce is working in a facility in some promos. Maybe it's a re-built Avengers compound that's funded by merch sales like lunch boxes.

 

[Drizzle]

For IFW the Black Order just sort of shows up in NYC after chasing Hulk to Earth. War Machine doesn't really get a chance to show up, especially if he's still west coast based, by the time Tony is off world.

Unless Rhodey was on the west coast when the invasion happened and caught a flight to New York, I'm assuming he was at the Avengers Compound upstate when everything went down but maybe didn't have time to join the fight downtown since everything happened fairly quickly. I've never thought about it before but it would have made sense for Rhodey to be there with Tony, Bruce, Strange and Wong in the beginning of IW since he more than likely was the only other Avenger around and not all that far away either.

 

[NHawk19]

Unless Rhodey was on the west coast when the invasion happened and caught a flight to New York, I'm assuming he was at the Avengers Compound upstate when everything went down but maybe didn't have time to join the fight downtown since everything happened fairly quickly. I've never thought about it before but it would have made sense for Rhodey to be there with Tony, Bruce, Strange and Wong in the beginning of IW since he more than likely was the only other Avenger around and not all that far away either.

Yeah I was thinking last we saw him after CW he was rehabing with Tony which I thought was at Tony's place in Malibu for some reason, but yes it was Avengers Compound. Either way my point was it happened so fast that he couldn't be notified, suit up, locate the battle, and get down there before Tony was off world. Also when Cap and crew show up at the compound War Machine is there getting briefed by Ross. Then heads to Wakanda.

Given all that I think it still makes sense that he's the one running Avengers now. He was in uniform in FatWS, but I could still see him retiring based on his injuries, leaving the military, and running Avengers.

 

[Drizzle]

Yeah I was thinking last we saw him after CW he was rehabing with Tony which I thought was at Tony's place in Malibu for some reason, but yes it was Avengers Compound. Either way my point was it happened so fast that he couldn't be notified, suit up, locate the battle, and get down there before Tony was off world. Also when Cap and crew show up at the compound War Machine is there getting briefed by Ross. Then heads to Wakanda.

Given all that I think it still makes sense that he's the one running Avengers now. He was in uniform in FatWS, but I could still see him retiring based on his injuries, leaving the military, and running Avengers.

Pretty much. Just for the sake of adding screentime for Rhodes, I think that there still could have been a way to include him in the beginning by having Tony give him a call and telling him to come down to the Sanctum when they're being briefed by Strange and Wong about the Infinity Stones, provided he was in New York state at the time. I guess the writers either just didn't think of it because of all the other characters they had to juggle or figured it wasn't necessary at that point. He did have a cool intro in the movie by essentially telling Ross to eff off.

 

[psylockolussus]

Not interesting enough. Looks wise, he's just Iron Man 2.0 with that tech suit.

 

[metaphysician]

Not interesting enough. Looks wise, he's just Iron Man 2.0 with that tech suit.

Its not *about* looks, is the thing, its about character. Rhodey is ultimately the Loyal Soldier, which is pretty much the diametric opposite of Tony's devil-may-care rebelliousness. Its just, there are a million other things that the MCU can spend time on, so there's always going to be choices over what gets screentime.