JAMES RHODES IRON MAN 1 FREE
Rhodes managed to free himself and teamed up with Stark to defeat Killian's army of Extremis Soldiers and save President Ellis before Killian could publicly execute him, as Rhodes also uncovered Vice President Rodriguez's role in Killian's plan. However, Rhodes had soon discovered that the Mandarin was in fact a ruse created by Aldrich Killian by hiring actor Trevor Slattery to portray the role, as Killian managed to capture Rhodes and steal the Iron Patriot Armor, as Killian's henchman, Eric Savin, then used it to kidnap President Ellis as part of his ongoing Mandarin ruse.
When a terrorist named the Mandarin was claiming responsibility for a string of domestic terrorist attacks, Rhodes was dispatched to hunt him down. In response to the Chitauri Invasion, Rhodes took on the identity of the Iron Patriot and worked directly for President Matthew Ellis. However, just when War Machine was being presented to the world, Ivan Vanko returned and attacked the Stark Expo with an army of Hammer Drones, as War Machine teamed up with Iron Man to bring him down, resulting in Rhodes keeping the armor for himself, despite Stark's continued objections. However, as Stark's reckless behavior got even worse, Rhodes had no choice but to take the Mark II before handing it over to the military, with Justin Hammer upgrading it with his new weapons to rebrand Rhodes as War Machine. With Iron Man's identity known, Rhodes found himself under pressure from the United States Congress and the military to take possession of the armor for himself, something that he was against. Despite all of his fears for his friend's safety, Rhodes still joined Iron Man in bringing down Obadiah Stane's schemes, while trying to keep Stark's secrets, only for Stark to reveal them to the media himself. However, upon their return, Rhodes saw Stark moving away from developing his weapons for the military and soon discovered that he was instead focusing on becoming a hero known as Iron Man. When Stark had been kidnapped by the Ten Rings, Rhodes personally led a mission to rescue his best friend. Because the fight needed to be fought." ―James Rhodes to Tony Stark Ĭolonel James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes is an officer with the United States Air Force and liaison between the military in the Department of Acquisitions and Stark Industries, where he became close friends with Tony Stark. Every one of them could've been my last, but I flew 'em.