A piece of Avengers: Infinity War concept art released by artist Phil Saunders shows James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine remotely piloting a suit to aid in the Edinburgh battle with Thanos' Black Order.
"Another scene that didn't make it into Avengers: Infinity War," Saunders said about concept art shared on Instagram. "Rhodey and Bruce Banner in Hulkbuster were initially planned to be part of the Edinburgh battle. Rhodey, still suffering PTSD from the crash in Civil War would have been piloting War Machine remotely." Saunders went on to explain that the scene would have been too similar to a scene in 2013's Iron Man 3.
Avengers: Infinity War originally released on April 27, 2018, and showed Don Cheadle reprising his role as Rhodes. There is no official word on War Machine returning for a future Marvel Cinematic Universe project, though Cheadle did recently speak on a possible next step for the character.
War Machine made his first comic book appearance in 1979's Iron Man #118 and has appeared in several Marvel animated series, including the 1994 Iron Man series, the X-Men animated series and the Spider-Man animated series. The character was created by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Bob Layton.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston and Josh Brolin. The film is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD and streaming.