War Machine

For the planned film, see War Machine (film).

"This lone gunslinger act is unnecessary... you don't have to do this alone!"

- James Rhodes to Tony Stark

Colonel James Rupert Rhodes, commonly known as Rhodey, is a U.S. military officer and jet pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He is known as War Machine when wearing his heavily-armed battlesuit. He is the best friend of Tony Stark and the liaison between Stark Industries and the military in the Department of Acquisitions.

Early life
James Rhodes first met Tony Stark at a young age and became best friends. When he grew older, he was made a colonel and became the liaison between Stark Industries and the U.S. Armed Forces.

Meeting Eloise and Celeste
"Is Rhodey coming along? He's cute."

- Celeste

Tony Stark represents the newest weapon to the US Military at the Yuma Proving Ground. Tony's secretary Pepper Potts gives the weapon's specifics to the generals while Tony and James Rhodes go to a night club. Tony enjoys the company of two girls while Rhodes tries to convince him not to go to Afghanistan. Tony is attacked by a man whose girlfriend he previously seduced, but Rhodes defeats the attacker. Later, Tony, Rhodes, and the girls go to Tony's house.

Tony misses his award
"As liaison to Stark Industries, I have a unique privilege of serving with a real patriot."

- Rhodey

Colonel James Rhodes attends a ceremony to present Tony Stark with an award for his work, but Stark is not in attendance. Obadiah Stane accepts the award in Tony's honor. Rhodes finds Tony partying in a casino and scolding him for not attending the award ceremony.

Losing Tony
Next day, in a flight, Tony talks with Rhodes. Rhodes is unhappy about Tony's lax attitude, and Tony tries to get his old friend to relax. Before long they are drunk and leering at the stewardesses.

Tony arrives at a military outpost in Afghanistan to demonstrate his company's latest project - the Jericho, a super-missile system. After the demonstration, Tony goes off with the convoy that is soon attacked by terrorists.

Months later, after his escape, Stark walks over more sand dunes when a couple of US helicopters fly overhead. A group of soldiers, led by Rhodes, come across Tony. Rhodes is overjoyed to find that his friend is alive.

Tony ending his weapons manufacturing
Shortly after, Tony appears before a group of reporters and cameramen and announces that he intends to shut down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division immediately, much to their surprise.

Tony comes to visit Rhodes and asks for help with a new private project. Rhodes does not agree with Tony's approach; he thinks Stark is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of his capture and needs time to recover.

Obadiah betrays Tony
In a Middle East village, terrorists are rounding up civilians for capture and execution when they are confronted by a mysterious figure in red and gold. Iron Man has arrived. Within seconds, he easily defeats the terrorists and destroys the weapons they had obtained.

As Iron Man leaves the area, two F-22 Raptor jets spotted him. Col. Rhodes is asked about the status of any new developments, which the others denied. He then contacts Tony, who claims that he knows nothing about what is happening. Iron Man tries to outrun the jets but they are too much for him. Tony calls Rhodes and reveals that he is responsible for the "unidentified craft." Rhodes is furious about Tony sending in unauthorized equipment in US airspace, and horrified when Tony explains that the "equipment" is actually himself. Iron Man is hit by one fighter jet, sending him flying into the wing of the second jet. The pilot is forced to eject, but the parachute fails to open. Iron Man, still under fire, manages to fly in and successfully deploy the parachute in time to save the pilot's life. Later, Tony convinces Rhodes to pass off what happened with the jets as a "training exercise."

Days later, Stane arrives at Tony's house and paralyzes him with a sonic weapon. Obadiah yanks out the arc reactor from Tony's heart, taunting him all the while. After he leaves, Tony realizes that he has only one hope for survival - the preserved Arc Reactor that Pepper Potts gave him in a display case. He gets the power source installed just as Rhodes arrives, who had been earlier informed on what was happening from Pepper.

Rhodes watches Tony suit up, awestruck at the Iron Man costume, saying that it's the "coolest" thing he has ever seen. As Tony flies away, Rhodes looks at the prototype silver suit Tony built earlier... then shakes his head and mumbles "Next time, baby." Acting on Tony's orders, he is able to prevent the military from getting involved in Tony's fight against Stane by passing it off as a routine training exercise.

Meeting Phil Coulson
After Tony Stark's battle with Iron Monger, Tony and Rhodes are taken to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base where they encounter Agent Phil Coulson. Coulson reviews Tony's technique from his fight against the Iron Monger, saying that it was good, but he needs to learn how become a real fighter, and that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents will teach him how to fight.

I am Iron Man
Days later, Rhodes holds a press conference about the incident with the two robots and tries to pass it off as a training exercise, just before Tony exposes himself as Iron Man, much to Rhodey's dismay.

Tony's meeting with the Senator
6 months after Tony tells the world he's Iron Man, James Rhodes is called upon to write a report analyzing Iron Man. He is used to try and get the Iron Man armor handed over to the US Government by Ben Stern.

Tony's Birthday Party
Later, Tony gets drunk at his birthday party because he knows he is dying of palladium poisoning and threw a party as his last moments. Rhodes puts on the Mark II armor to stop Tony, who is wearing the Mark IV, and putting his party guests at risk. After the brawl, Rhodes flies back to the airbase. The Mark II is upgraded into the "JRXL-1000 Variable Threat Response Battle Suit". Rhodes is selected as the pilot.

The final battle with Vanko
During Justin Hammer's display of Hammer Drones at the Stark Expo, Ivan Vanko takes control of the drones and the War Machine armor, trying to use them to destroy Iron Man. Agent Romanoff of S.H.I.E.L.D. manages to give Rhodes control over his armor, and he uses it to aid Iron Man in his fight against the drones.

Iron Man and War Machine are then faced by a improved Whiplash who they defeat. After the fight, Rhodes decides to keep the suit despite Stark's protests.

Stark and Rhodes are then awarded medals for their bravery from Senator Ben Stern.

Hunting the Ten Rings
Tony stripped the War Machine armor of everything that Justin Hammer had "upgraded" it with leaving the suit with no weaponry. When Rhodes pointed this out to Stark, Stark revealed that he had made Rhodes his own suit, the War Machine 2.0.

Rhodes began using this suit to take down Ten Rings terrorists in other countries finding that they had acquired Hammer Industries weaponry. Rhodes took out the terrorists and continued to investigate the mysterious Ten Rings. By the time of the Chitauri invasion of New York, Rhodes was busy fighting terrorists in Asia. Tony contacted him but Rhodes told him that even at supersonic speed it'd take over an hour for him to return so Tony told him not to bother. After dealing with the terrorists in Asia, Rhodes returned to New York, finding the battle already over he located Stark in a Shawarma restaurant where he was introduced to the Avengers. Some time later, Tony invited Rhodes to his workshop. He had realized that not even Iron Man and War Machine would be enough to protect the Earth. Tony revealed to Rhodey that he had developed several Iron Man armors that could be remotely controlled - an Iron Legion.

Search for the Mandarin
After continuing to carry out duties as the American government's personal Iron Man, Rhodey's War Machine suit is given a paintjob to further please the public. Due to the aggressive name of War Machine, the armor is redubbed as the Iron Patriot and painted in the motif of the American flag. The job is requositioned by A.I.M.

As Iron Patriot, Rhodey continues his battle against Terrorism and the threats made by the Ten Rings' Leader; the Mandarin who has been setting off bombs all around America. Later Rhodes meets with Tony at a Bar where they discuss the threat of the Mandarin. Tony also makes several jokes about Rhodey's new name. At one point two kids ask Tony to sign a hand dran picture of Tony entering a Wormhole which causes Tony to have a panic attack and leave the Bar.

Some time later, Rodey is sent by the President to find the Mandarin ASAP but is repeatedly given the wrong location. When arriving at an Afghanistan sweat shop, Rhodes is ambushed by an Extremis soldier who shuts down Rhodey's suit. Rhodey is then taken to a secret A.I.M. Base where Aldrich Killian uses his Extremis powers to remove Rhodey from his suit. Rhodes attempts to put up a fight, punching Killian's henchman, Savin to the ground before giving in when Killian breaths flames at him.

Stopping Killian
After witnessing Savin take control of the Iron Patriot Suit and leave to meet the President, Rhodey escapes and aids Tony in his Mark XLII who was also being held prisoner. Tony then introduces Rhodey to the Mandarin who is actually just a British actor who Killian paid to be a decoy while he carried out Extremis experiments. They learn that he knew nothing about any real threats and thought it was just a Part. Rhodey and Tony take his speed boat and warn the Vice President that Iron Patriot is actually Savin, the VP doesn't pass on the message however as he is secretly in league with Killian.

Learning that Savin is attacking Air Force One, Tony uses his remote controlled Mark XLII to fly onto the plane, kill Savin and rescue airborn passengers from death. All goes well, however Savin placed President Ellis inside the Iron Patriot suit and sent him to Killian's Hideout.

Rhodey and Tony then infiltrate the hideout to save both Pepper and President Ellis, the latter of which is encased in the Iron Patriot armor and suspended from a crane, awaiting live execution. Tony summons his Iron Legion as backup and directs them to attack the Extremis soldiers. While Tony rescues Pepper, Rhodey goes after Ellis. Fighting off several Extremist soldiers, Rhodey manages to secure Ellis, get his suit back and fly him to saftey.



Aftermath
After Tony and Pepper defeat Killian and his Extremis Soldiers, Rhodey further aids his government by outing the Vice President as a conspirator with Killian. He also attends Tony's surgery to have his Arc Reactor removed, alongside Pepper. It is unclear after this if Rhodey is still aiding the American government, although it very likley.

Powers and Abilities
Like Tony, Rhodes has no known superhuman powers. He is a military man who is in excellent physical condition. However, like Stark, Rhodes' power comes from using a modified Iron Man armor to become War Machine. The armor allows him to fly, possess superhuman strength and durability and contains various weapons for battle. The armor is more heavily armored and equipped than Stark's.

War Machine Armor

 * Mark I
 * Mark II

The War Machine armor is the only other powerful suit next to the Iron Man armor. Before weaponization of the suit, it was sufficient enough to battle an more updated, and powerful generation armor (the Mark IV). Upon weaponization of the armor, it was sufficient enough to nearly overpower the Mark VI (while under Vanko's control), battle hordes of Hammer drones and Vanko with his own armor.

Support Powers
Flight: The armor, like the Iron Man armor, can reach speeds as Mach 3 in moments. It is equipped with non-weapons grade repulsor based flight stabilizers that theoretically reach speeds of Mach 8 similar to the Mark IV's flight stabilizers. It was able to keep up with the Mark VI during the battle over the Stark Expo and catch Iron Man off-guard and tackled him into the Oracle building.

Superhuman Strength: When utilizing the armor, it increases Rhodes' natural physical abilities to superhuman levels, chief among them is his strength. Rhodes, inside his armor, is capable of overpowering normal humans and tear unmanned battle drones with ease. It also allows him to go toe-to-toe with Stark in his armor.

Superhuman Reflexes: The armor, like Stark's, has motors for movement. It is extremely fast and responsive in flight, and during combat.

Armor Systems: The armor has remote assistance, and a holographic HUD, with cellphone and computer connections in the helmet. The armor is powered by a miniature arc reactor and has an on-board generator for emergencies. The scanner systems are capable of scanning the environment, weather conditions and equipment for information. The armors also have variable control surfaces for active flight control. The Hull Pressure Transducers are onboard sensors that track external pressure based on altitude, speed, and temperature, and adjust internal settings appropriately.

Self-Contained Life-Support System and Environmental Protection: The armor can be sealed for operations in vacuum or underwater, providing its own life support, and is shielded against radiation.

Defensive Powers
Durability: The armor is made of a solar charged carbon-composite-based external plating armor and has a chestplate protecting the arc reactor. It is shown that it can withstand tremendous amounts of punishment. It had withstood a full-on fight with the Mark IV in Stark's house. It had withstood the full-on fight with the Hammer Drones and withstood the full-on ammo unloaded on both him and Stark while in their respective suits. It was able to withstand damage done on it by Vanko in his own suit. It protects the wearer from the effects of extreme g-forces.

Offensive Powers
Repuslors: A particle beam weapon in the palm gauntlets. Can repel physical and energy-based attacks. When combined with an attack from another repuslor, it can create an energy shockwave that decimate a small area like when he and Stark both fired their repuslors at each other and the resulting event destroy much of Stark's house.

Unibeam: A powerful Repulsor Beam. In addition to the physical capabilities and various weaponry it already possesses, it also utilizes laser guided munitions.

Mini-Gun: A 7.62-mm minigun is attached to the back of the suit on a swivel mount and typically fires over the right shoulder. It is governed by an automated targeting system and can track targets independently of the suit's wearer, including those targets to the rear. The ammunition feed for this weapon is a belt feed from the rear torso.

Gauntlets: The armor's armbraces each mount an underslung submachine gun.

Rocket Launcher: A box rocket launcher mounted over the left shoulder holds a Hammer-tech bunker busting rocket that Rhodes referred to as the "Ex-Wife" which was useless against the improved Whiplash.

Other Abilities
Rhodes is depicted in the film wearing a "Brass Rat", the MIT school ring, indicating that in the film, he and Stark were graduates of the same college, and on his other hand, he wears an Air Force Academy ring, suggesting that he received his masters degree from MIT after earning a "grad school slot" for high academic achievement while at USAF Academy.

Expert Pilot: He is a highly decorated Lieutenant Colonel Air Force officer and as such, he is a skilled fighter pilot as he's able to pilot the War Machine armor.

Skilled Tactician: He can create strategies that help him win in a battle. During his and Tony's attack on Killian, Rhodes was able to deflect several attacks from Extremis Soldiers with pure strategy.

Skilled Combatant: Rhodes' military training made him a very skilled hand to hand combatant. He was more than able to handle himself against Killian's Extremis Soldiers, even punching Eric Savin to the ground with a single punch.

Trivia

 * James Rhodes/War Machine is one of four characters who are played by a different actor between films. The others are Hulk, Howard Stark and Fandral.
 * In Iron Man 3, Rhodey is known as the Iron Patriot. However in the comics, it was in fact Norman Osborn who wore the Iron Patriot armor but due to Sony owning the film rights to Spider-Man(and everything Spider-Man related) and Norman Osborn also being the Green Goblin, who is part of Spider-Man's rogue gallery, Osborn can't appear in a Marvel Studios film.