Marvel’s Armor Wars Could Have A Falcon vs War Machine Battle

Marvel may have plans to deliver a showdown between Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) in its new Armor Wars show. The upcoming Disney+ series will be the first Marvel project to center on James Rhodes. The show will adapt the classic Iron Man story of the same name which focused on Tony Stark going after enemies that were in possession of his armor designs in the late 1980s.

There’s no word on which MCU characters will be joining War Machine in his new show, but one candidate is Sam Wilson, who will be one of the two central characters of his own show, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, early in Phase 4. The series will explore what happens when the government ignores Captain America’s wishes for Sam to succeed him and instead makes U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) his replacement, not Falcon. Regardless, it seems likely that by the time the show ends, the shield will once again be back in the hands of Falcon, who may finally assume the mantle of Captain America in the MCU.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier making Falcon the new Captain America could set him up to play out Steve Rogers’ story in Marvel’s live-action adaptation of Armor Wars. In the comic books, Steve had to clean up Iron Man’s mess when his crusade against people using his armor led him to the guards watching over a supervillain prison. After Iron Man inadvertently caused a prison break, Steve angrily returned a replacement shield Stark had made him and tried to arrest him. A fight broke out in Stark’s home between Captain America and Iron Man. Knowing that Iron Man wouldn’t unleash his full power within his own walls, Steve was able to give him a good fight. However, refusing to use his shield out of principle puts the odds in Iron Man’s favor. As a result, Stark won the fight and escaped.

Unfortunately, the MCU can’t give Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) their “Armor Wars” stories from Marvel Comics, but they can be replaced by War Machine and Falcon, since they represent the legacies of the two heroes in Phase 4. War Machine vs. Falcon is a fight that was teased in artwork for Captain America: Civil War, but it wasn’t really a big part of the movie. They chased each other around in the air, but not much more took place between them. Also, it was Falcon that was pursuing War Machine when Vision got involved and caused Rhodey’s severe injury.

A proper fight with a conclusive winner could happen in Armor Wars, especially if War Machine goes down a path that’s similar to Iron Man’s in the Marvel Comics event. In the comics, Iron Man alienated both Captain America and the Avengers with his relentless and reckless efforts to keep his armor out of the wrong hands. Attacking both heroes and villains without evidence put him on the wrong side of the law, and the same thing could happen to Rhodes in Phase 4. It may be that as the new Captain America, Falcon will take it upon himself to end War Machine’s mission in Armor Wars.

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