Iron Man 2: Warmachine
The long-awaited sequel to Iron Man is just a few days away. It will feature a handful of superheroes from the Marvel universe. Other than Iron Man, the Black Widow, Nick Fury, and the villain, Whiplash will be featured. Additionally, Iron Man's friend and head of security, Jim Rhodes will don his War Machine armor.
This time around Don Cheadle will play the role of War Machine instead of Terence Howard who had a contract dispute before the movie began production.
Who is War Machine?
Tony Stark made various models of the Iron Man armors (basic models Mark I, Mark II, Mark III), all of which were customed for his personal use. By that I
mean more than just the height and weight, there were also biometrics,
like heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, and brainwaves to calibrate.
For
a time, Jim Rhodes wore the armors made for Tony Stark and it had a bad
effect on him. Eventually, Tony created the War Machine armor
custom-tailored for Rhodes. It's based-off the Mark II model. All in
metallic color, that's how most of us tell War Machine apart from Iron
Man when the two are fighting bad guys together.
What I like
about Warmachine are the shoulder armaments. Comic book covers and
drawings often show War Machine with a missile launcher on one shoulder
and a cannon on the other. They're huge and ominous. And they swivel
and can be controlled independently to attack targets in different
directions. In some comic book issues, War Machine uses repulsor rays
and laser swords to fight. But what defines him to me are the
shoulder-mounted weapons. That's why the War Machine action figure will
look great for anyone's collection.
Marvel Comics Dark Reign Series: War Machine
Click thumbnail to view full-sizePictures of War Machine Cosplay
Click thumbnail to view full-sizeWho is Jim Rhodes?
In the comic book, Jim Rhodes was a US Marines fighter
pilot who was shot down in the jungle of Vietnam around the time Tony
Stark had invented the very first Iron Man suite, the grey and
cumbersome, but nevertheless, powerful Mark I from metal scraps and
weapon parts.
As Tony Stark was making his escape, he ran into
Jim Rhodes and the two had to steal a helicopter from a Viet Cong
garrison in order to make it back to the American lines. They've been
friends ever since then and Tony offered Jim Rhodes a position as Tony's
personal pilot within Stark Industry as soon as Jim's stint with the
military was over.
In several comic book issues, Jim Rhodes
donned the Iron Man armor to protect Stark International. He had to do
so because Tony Stark was unable to continue as Iron Man because of
alcoholic abuse.
In the movie, the backstory between Jim Rhodes
and Tony Stark has yet to be revealed.