Tony Stark's death in Avengers: Endgame was arguably the biggest emotional punch in the entire MCU – and a recent retcon helps explain one of the most confusing stories surrounding his death. Stark was the heart and soul of the MCU timeline, kicking it all off with Iron Man in 2008. Before his death, when he thought it was possible that he wouldn't survive, Tony Stark made some decisions that would change the course of MCU history forever. One specific decision was apparently to leave Rhodey out of any of his posthumous plans.
Rhodey (War Machine) was by Tony's side from the beginning, playing a larger role as the universe progressed and eventually joining the Avengers. During the MCU show Secret Invasionit was revealed that Rhodey wasn't who everyone thought he was for quite a while in the franchise, forever changing what happened before Tony Stark's death. Because of this notion, it strangely justifies a major decision made by Tony Stark that, honestly, was quite baffling.
Avengers: Endgame retcon helps justify why Iron Man gave EDITH to Spider-Man
After his death in Avengers: Endgame, Tony gives Peter Parker control over his defense and AI system called Even Dead, I'm The Hero – or EDITH for short. The entire plot of Spider-Man: Far From Home revolves around Mysterio gaining Peter's trust so that he eventually receives EDITH's keys. For something so incredibly dangerous and powerful, it seemed like an odd move on Tony's part to hand it over to Peter instead of someone like Rhodey.
With Rhodey retroactively transformed into a Skrull during the events of Avengers: Endgameit's possible that Tony knew something was wrong.
As seen in Spider-Man: Far From HomeTony's decision to give Peter EDITH ended up being a bit misguided, even if he did stop Mysterio in the end. Mysterio was able to use this technology to convey to the world who Spider-Man was, forever changing the character's future. With Rhodey's new twist, it makes sense that Iron Man chose Peter.
Endgame's Skrull Retcon Explains Other Iron Man Story Details
Secret Invasion promised that the MCU would change forever, revealing that some characters were actually Skrull impostors. Rhodey was the most significant character to be retconned into a Skrull, apparently becoming one sometime between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame. While the ramifications of this have not been explored since, it did happen retroactively alter part of Iron Man's history throughout the MCUand clarifies some of the decisions Tony made.
The most striking change in the story comes back to EDITH's situation. Of course, if Tony Stark had any idea that something was wrong with Rhodey before his death, it makes sense that he would be hesitant to provide him with that kind of technology. With Rhodey retroactively transformed into a Skrull during the events of Avengers: EndgameIt's possible that Tony knew something was wrong, given how long they had known each other.
The MCU has the perfect way to explore what Skrull Twist really meant for its Iron Man story
The MCU hasn't really explored the ramifications of replacing key figures with the Skrulls outside of a few scenes in various projects, and of course, Secret Wars. It's unclear how much Marvel Studios wanted to include them in the future, and it's very possible that the story won't actually be followed up due to the series' poor reception. Still, there's a perfect project the MCU could use to really explore what the Skrull twist means for Rhodey.
Armor Wars is an upcoming MCU film with Don Cheadle reprising his role as Rhodey. Set postEnd of the gamewill likely explore Rhodey trying to figure out his own legacy now that Tony Stark is no longer around. It's also the perfect opportunity to deal with the fallout that arose from Rhodey's replacement with a Skrull for a period of the MCU timeline. This could also help clarify how Tony Stark viewed Rhodey before his death.
Rhodey has been an important part of the MCU and Tony Stark's history since Iron Maneventually becoming War Machine in Iron Man 2. Despite being one of Tony's best friends, it seemed that he was not even considered by Stark as the one responsible for taking on EDITH. With Secret Invasion reconfiguring Rhodey into a Skrull before Tony died in Avengers: Endgamehowever, Stark choosing someone else to take on the mantle instead of him now feels different.