Don Cheadle on How War Machine Rebounds for Infinity War

CBR

Avengers: Infinity War: How War Machine Rebounds from Civil War

By Renaldo Matadeen

Published Apr 24, 2018

Don Cheadle teases how War Machine rebounds from the events of Civil War to join the fight against Thanos' forces in Wakanda.

Fans were surprised to spot Don Cheadle's War Machine when the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War first hit last year, especially because he was seen in Wakanda fighting alongside Steve Rogers' "Secret Avengers."

Given that he was on Team Stark in Civil War, fans were wondering why he chose to ally with Cap's squad, and, oh: How exactly did he recuperate after a stray blast from Vision damaged his spine? CBR was at the Infinity War press conference yesterday, where Cheadle teased how his character bounces back -- emotionally, at least -- without giving away the specifics of his return to superhero action.

"What I think is really great about having something like this to anchor a lot of the other things that are happening in the story, and getting to continue it forward through both of the films, is that we always get to have these sort of down notes -- in a good way," Cheadle said. "I think there's always a lot of eye candy, and very dramatic things happening, and big spectacular fights, and really amazing things that we see on screen. And then it comes down to these characters, and their interpersonal situations with one another, and their personal journeys that they have."

Cheadle went on to explain how the extremes of blockbuster action and quiet, personal narrative affected his character, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, specifically.

"Where it comes to Rhodey, I'm glad that this is something that's carried through, and wasn't just dropped," Cheadle said. "It's a line that actually goes through both of the films, and comes into play in a very important way -- I won't give it away, but it's something that factors in all the way through. It's nice to have something that's cohesive and continues, and keeps me grounded and keeps the character grounded."

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, 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 arrives April 27.