Uncategorized
https://nerdist.com/article/is-james-rhodey-rhodes-a-skrull-in-the-mcu-secret-invasion-series/
Secret Invasion is full of Skrulls. There are so many, in fact, that we don’t know who is human and who is not. Like Nick Fury, we truly don’t trust anyone, especially James “Rhodey” Rhodes. The pair’s tense and powerful conversation in episode two, a few story hints, and Rhodey’s general vibes had everyone like hmmmm. But is Rhodey a Skrull in Secret Invasion? In episode four, we discover that the answer is a resounding yes. Rhodey is, in fact, a Skrull, at least in this Marvel series, even though Rhodey was never a Skrull in the comics. But how long has Rhodey been a Skrull on Secret Invasion and in the MCU, and how did he get replaced? Let’s take a look at what we know so far about Rhodey and how we discover he’s a Skrull.
Rhodey’s Slip of the Tongue Pointed to Him Being a Skrull
Long before we got our Rhodey Skrull confirmation in Secret Invasion episode four, there was a lot of evidence in Rhodey and Fury’s not-so-friendly chat in episode two of Secret Invasion. Not only was the potential Skrull wildly disrespectful (even for Rhodey) when he volunteered to fire his comrade, he called Fury “Nick.” As we all know, no one calls Nick Fury by his first name except his mother. In episode three, Fury affirms this when he catches a Skrull who imitates Talos because he calls him Nick. The real Rhodey knows Nick is the incorrect address for Fury, a person he’s known for a long time… but a Skrull doesn’t know this.
Rhodey Was the Mysterious Voice on the Phone in Secret Invasion Episode Three
At the end of Secret Invasion‘s third episode, Fury’s wife (and known Skrull) Priscilla gets a mysterious phone call from someone. She tells this person that she needs to speak to Gravik, but the voice says that her only choice is to talk to him.
That person sounded a lot like Rhodey, further hinting at him being a Skrull. And, of course, we discover in episode four that it was Rhodey or at least the Skrull version of him. Secret Invasion brings Rhodey and Priscilla together, and he asks her to kill Fury. She doesn’t do this, of course, and Fury hears their plan, which leads him to Rhodey’s house for a confrontation.
Rhodey Is Indeed a Skrull… and Nick Fury Surely Knows It
We see a Skrull hopping out of the shower. The alien being looks in the mirror, and its face transforms into James Rhodes. Yep, we were right. Rhodey is indeed a Skrull in Secret Invasion. He comes out of the bathroom and is shocked to see Fury sitting at his dining room table. (Should anyone be shocked by Fury breaking and entering at this point?) Once again, Fury asks him about getting his job back, and Skrull Rhodey isn’t trying to hear it. He even shows Fury a video of when Gravik (disguised as Fury) shoots Maria Hill and says he will use it if needed. Fury leaves without causing a ruckus, but surely he knows the truth about this James Rhodes.
How Long Has James Rhodes Been a Skrull in the MCU?
So, how long has Rhodey been a Skrull in the MCU? Once again, it’s hard to know for sure at this point. But we’d wager not long. We highly doubt Rhodey has been a Skrull since the beginning of his time in the MCU, and he probably wasn’t even one when we saw him last in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He was likely still himself and not a Skrull before the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, which took place in 2024 before G’iah knew about her mom’s death. (For context, this show takes place in 2026.) So, the clearest answer at this point is that it took place during this gap, which is after the Blip.
Where is the real Rhodey now? Most likely, we’ll find Rhodey trapped with the other humans whose forms the Skrulls take in Gravik’s compound. Since he’s a main character though, there’s probably a little more to it than that.
Either way, the truth about Rhodey being a Skrull in Secret Invasion is finally confirmed.
Originally published on July 5, 2023.
The post Is James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes a Skrull in SECRET INVASION? appeared first on Nerdist.
Secret Invasion is full of Skrulls. There are so many, in fact, that we don’t know who is human and who is not. Like Nick Fury, we truly don’t trust anyone, especially James “Rhodey” Rhodes. The pair’s tense and powerful conversation in episode two, a few story hints, and Rhodey’s general vibes had everyone like hmmmm. But is Rhodey a Skrull in Secret Invasion? In episode four, we discover that the answer is a resounding yes. Rhodey is, in fact, a Skrull, at least in this Marvel series, even though Rhodey was never a Skrull in the comics. But how long has Rhodey been a Skrull on Secret Invasion and in the MCU, and how did he get replaced? Let’s take a look at what we know so far about Rhodey and how we discover he’s a Skrull.
Rhodey’s Slip of the Tongue Pointed to Him Being a Skrull
Long before we got our Rhodey Skrull confirmation in Secret Invasion episode four, there was a lot of evidence in Rhodey and Fury’s not-so-friendly chat in episode two of Secret Invasion. Not only was the potential Skrull wildly disrespectful (even for Rhodey) when he volunteered to fire his comrade, he called Fury “Nick.” As we all know, no one calls Nick Fury by his first name except his mother. In episode three, Fury affirms this when he catches a Skrull who imitates Talos because he calls him Nick. The real Rhodey knows Nick is the incorrect address for Fury, a person he’s known for a long time… but a Skrull doesn’t know this.
Rhodey Was the Mysterious Voice on the Phone in Secret Invasion Episode Three
At the end of Secret Invasion‘s third episode, Fury’s wife (and known Skrull) Priscilla gets a mysterious phone call from someone. She tells this person that she needs to speak to Gravik, but the voice says that her only choice is to talk to him.
That person sounded a lot like Rhodey, further hinting at him being a Skrull. And, of course, we discover in episode four that it was Rhodey or at least the Skrull version of him. Secret Invasion brings Rhodey and Priscilla together, and he asks her to kill Fury. She doesn’t do this, of course, and Fury hears their plan, which leads him to Rhodey’s house for a confrontation.
Rhodey Is Indeed a Skrull… and Nick Fury Surely Knows It
We see a Skrull hopping out of the shower. The alien being looks in the mirror, and its face transforms into James Rhodes. Yep, we were right. Rhodey is indeed a Skrull in Secret Invasion. He comes out of the bathroom and is shocked to see Fury sitting at his dining room table. (Should anyone be shocked by Fury breaking and entering at this point?) Once again, Fury asks him about getting his job back, and Skrull Rhodey isn’t trying to hear it. He even shows Fury a video of when Gravik (disguised as Fury) shoots Maria Hill and says he will use it if needed. Fury leaves without causing a ruckus, but surely he knows the truth about this James Rhodes.
How Long Has James Rhodes Been a Skrull in the MCU?
So, how long has Rhodey been a Skrull in the MCU? Once again, it’s hard to know for sure at this point. But we’d wager not long. We highly doubt Rhodey has been a Skrull since the beginning of his time in the MCU, and he probably wasn’t even one when we saw him last in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He was likely still himself and not a Skrull before the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, which took place in 2024 before G’iah knew about her mom’s death. (For context, this show takes place in 2026.) So, the clearest answer at this point is that it took place during this gap, which is after the Blip.
Where is the real Rhodey now? Most likely, we’ll find Rhodey trapped with the other humans whose forms the Skrulls take in Gravik’s compound. Since he’s a main character though, there’s probably a little more to it than that.
Either way, the truth about Rhodey being a Skrull in Secret Invasion is finally confirmed.
Originally published on July 5, 2023.
The post Is James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes a Skrull in SECRET INVASION? appeared first on Nerdist.
The Supreme Court has invalidated President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief plan, meaning the long-delayed proposal intended to fulfill a campaign promise will not go into effect. The justices, divided 6-3 on political lines, rejected the Biden administration’s arguments that the plan was lawful under a 2003 law called the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, or HEROES Act. The law says the government can provide relief to recipients of student loans when there is a “national emergency,” allowing it to act to ensure people are not in “a worse position financially” as a result of the emergency.
Biden said the ruling was disappointing and vowed to take additional steps to relieve the financial burden on those holding student loan debt. “I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families,” he said. “My administration will continue to work to bring the promise of higher education to every American.”
Biden has been talking a good game for quite a while now, and we have to ask ourselves why we’ve been so supportive of him. It could be because he was President Obama’s right hand, which, for some, gave him an automatic stamp of approval. Or, it could be because in the 2020 election he was the lesser of two evils, which caused us to be more receptive to the storyline he was feeding us. Biden has always hooked us in, but he has a long history of being disconnected on the issues of race and economic development in the Black community.
Biden won 92 percent of the Black vote in 2020, and he needs just as much to win re-election next year. But the reality is that he hasn’t honored the current soil or done the real work to fulfill promises that he made. The truth is, he’s made no difference in Black people’s lives.
Student loan debt has been the culprit for making the racial wealth gap wider over the past few decades. Black families had 25 cents for every dollar of white family wealth, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Because Black families have less wealth, their children typically need to borrow more for their education. Nearly 85 percent of Black students graduate with their bachelor’s degree holding student debt, compared to nearly 70 percent of white bachelor’s degree recipients.
Because of historic racial and economic inequities, Black student loan borrowers struggle to repay their debt more than their white peers. Without student loan forgiveness, these challenges will only get worse.
Biden’s Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona called out Republicans by name for their hypocrisy on student loan forgiveness and for accepting “millions of dollars” for their businesses through COVID-era loans. “It’s outrageous to me that Republicans in Congress and state offices fought so hard against a program that would have helped millions of their own constituents,” Cardona said.
I had the opportunity to attend a virtual White House briefing with Cardona, Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal, and Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council Bharat Ramamurti to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision and what happens now.
The administration has three immediate focal points.
- First, under an alternative authority, the Higher Education Act, they will seek to provide debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible. The first step is a public hearing to take place later this month that will be in partnership with the public’s opinion.
- Second, with loan repayments beginning in the fall, they are focused on the most vulnerable borrowers who may not be able to make their payments. It’s a 12-month on-ramp period in which payments will be due and interest will continue to be accrue. However, if a borrower misses a payment or two, they will not be put into delinquency, go into default, or be reported to a credit agency.
- Third, they are rolling out an income-based repayment plan which they call “extraordinarily generous” plan for lower income and middle-class borrowers. Under this plan, those who had been making significant monthly payments before will be paying substantially less and, in some cases, nothing at all. These borrowers would also still qualify to have their loans forgiven under any new plan.
Honestly, I didn’t hear anything hopeful within this briefing. It’s more of the same, and these are not permanent solutions. The alternative plan they are aligning with now is from 1965. I don’t understand why they continue to force a square into a circle.
Student debt as a means of running a mass higher education system dependent on tuition has failed. The income-based plan, in particular, will not work in my opinion. As student loan balances escalate, repayment has become increasingly difficult. The solution for student loan default has been complex, including refinancing defaulted loans with loans that are not yet in default. Perhaps, they believe the answer is to simply reduce required payments to a give back a percentage of disposable income. What I see is converting the short-term problem of delinquency into a long-term problem of nonrepayment.
I believe that Black voters are just tired of being tired; tired of being disappointed whenever our issues are never addressed. The seeds always seem to get planted — to pacify us — but the soil is never tended to. Biden has been pandering to us for years, especially when it’s time to vote. His pledge to achieve his first-term promises have forced most of us into frustration because those promises have fallen by the wayside. The fact that he will not directly and progressively address this student debt issue is a disgrace. When things don’t go according to what you said publicly, Joe, you can’t just sweep them under the rug and think we’ll forget.
Canceling student loans completely will grow the economy. Student debt changes how Black households decide where to live, what type of career to have, and whether to start a family or a business. Biden has to create a progressive plan that will cancel student loan debt and not just temporarily remediate it.
Soon the world will meet a new Clark Kent in Superman: Legacy. DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are rebooting the most famous superhero in the world as they transition the franchise from the DCEU to the DCU. Who will play the Man of Steel on the big screen this time around? What kind of story will we see him in? And who will bring it to life?
Gunn also neither confirmed nor denied whether Lex Luthor will appear in his Superman movie. But he did agree with Rosenbaum that if Lex Luthor does appear in the DCU, he’ll be grounded and real.
Here’s everything we know about Superman: Legacy…so far.
Title
The DCU’s first official movie (though not its first official release) is titled Superman: Legacy. That will kick off the film side of what James Gunn has called the franchise’s first chapter, “Gods and Monsters.” He has also called Superman: Legacy “the true beginning” of the DCU.
Superman: Legacy‘s Plot
While the film still has no official synopsis, Warner Bros. did provide a description of what we can expect from the story, which James Gunn says is not an origin tale.
Superman: Legacy tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.
Gunn announced the film with art from the cover of All-Star Superman by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely. Whether or not that means the story is influenced, inspired by, or adapted from the 12-issue comic series in any way is unclear. What Gunn has said is the movie will focus on “an earlier part of Superman’s life,” where he is still old enough to already be working for the Daily Planet.
In a recent interview, Gunn did tease that a potential fan-favorite character might be part of the movie. The idea of Krypto the Superdog appearing in Superman: Legacy was batted around by James Gunn and Chris Pratt. But whether everyone’s favorite heroic canine will really appear is yet to be 100% confirmed.
Superman: Legacy‘s Cast
We now know who will play both Superman and Lois Lane in the movie! While the last several weeks saw James Gunn dropping hints about the process, like on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, Gunn confirmed on June 27 that he’d found his Clark and Lois. Deadline reported Gunn and co-CEO Peter Safran have selected David Corenswet to play Superman. The actor has a number of credits, including Pearl and We Own This City, however this will be his first leading role in a major studio movie.
As for Lois Lane, while other names like Emma Mackey and Phoebe Dynevor were on the finals list, Gunn chose Emmy-winner Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) to play the intrepid reporter. Honestly, you absolutely need someone brassy and self-assured to properly assay the role of the star Daily Planet journalist, and Brosnahan has that for days. Excellent choices.
In addition, four more actors have joined the cast of Superman: Legacy. Isabela Merced will play Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi will play Mister Terrific, Nathan Fillion will play Green Lantern Guy Gardner, and Anthony Carrigan will play Metamorpho.
Behind the Scenes
James Gunn wrote the (definitely completed) script and is directing. On Twitter he also announced pre-production has already begun on the film.
For fans worried about possible interference from Warner Bros. Discovery executives, Gunn said his DC Studios operates independently and he won’t be getting any notes on his script from them.
Superman: Legacy‘s Release Date
Superman: Legacy will soar into theaters faster than a speeding bullet on July 11, 2025.
Originally published on April 11, 2023.
The post Everything We Know About the DCU’s SUPERMAN: LEGACY appeared first on Nerdist.
We love ourselves some Judy Greer here at Nerdist. Put her in more things. Put her in everything! She’s always good. When she was in Halloween (2018)? We loved it! (And subsequently we did not love what happened in Halloween Kills.) Greer takes center stage in Aporia, a new sci-fi thriller which is set to premiere at the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. In it, Greer deals with debilitating grief by messing with time. It doesn’t go how she wants. Take a look at the trailer below.
Aporia feels like a mix of Primer and The Butterfly Effect, but completely centered around loss. Greer’s character so badly wants her husband (Edi Gathegi) back that she allows a machine to send a “bullet” through time. The results aren’t just as clean as “yay, my husband’s back!” Wouldn’t be much of a movie if they were, yeah?
The movie comes from writer-director Jared Moshe and also stars Payman Maadi. Gathegi, as you probably recently learned, will play Mister Terrific in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. Check out the cool poster below as well.
Aporia will have its world premiere at Fantasia Film Festival on July 27 ahead of the film’s August 11 US theatrical release.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.
The post Judy Greer Messes with Time Travel in Sci-fi Thriller APORIA appeared first on Nerdist.