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Killmonger never got to confront War Machine in the prime MCU, but What If…? makes a good case for the idea they would have been the perfect foils.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If…? Season 1, Episode 6, “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?,” streaming now on Disney+.
Its alternative-timeline premise allows What If…? to consider how familiar figures from the Marvel Cinematic Universe would react to radically different events. That enables the Marvel Studios series to zero in the core elements of the characters. An example is the unique perspective given Erik Stevens in “What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?” and his way of thinking in regard to a classic MCU hero.
What If…? suggests T’Challa might not be Killmonger’s true foil; instead, it was James Rhodes, aka War Machine.
Rhodey and Killmonger are surprisingly similar on a base level: They’re two normal humans operating in a world that doesn’t blink at the existence of superhuman beings. Both are African-Americans who served in the U.S. military. However, they view the military from different perspectives. Rhodey is proud to serve in the Air Force, rising in the ranks and believing that, from the inside, the institution can change for the better. But Killmonger, defined by his anger at the world around him, decides it’s better to burn the institutions to the ground and start anew — which leads him to use his training as Navy SEAL to operate as a highly skilled killer.
The two never had the chance to confront each other in the core-timeline of the MCU, in which Rhodes became War Machine and Killmonger was dead by the end of Black Panther. However, that’s not the case in “What If… Killmonger Saved Tony Stark?” In this world, Killmonger enacted his plans far more insidiously, and much earlier, than in the so-called Sacred Timeline, allowing him to earn Tony Stark’s trust by saving him from being captured by the Ten Rings. After having more or less prevented the events of 2008’s Iron Man, Killmonger inserted himself into Stark’s life and quickly became a trusted ally. Rhodes, for his part, seemed to confirm Killmonger’s credentials, and is initially at peace with him becoming part of Stark’s inner circle.
But events take a deadly turn in What If…? when Killmonger manipulates Tony into building his automated mechs and claiming a store of vibranium controlled by Ulysses Klaue. Rhodey is roped into the mission as Stark Industries’ U.S. military liaison, giving the assignment formal clearance. But just as Black Panther has worked his way through Klaue’s soldiers and confronted Rhodes, both men are brought low by a sonic taser developed by Stark; Killmonger uses the weapon to murder T’Challa. Rhodes calls out Killmonger for his actions, and the two reveal their underlining philosophies: Killmonger is disgusted that Rhodey can fight for something like the American military given its history of being an arm for a nation that has such a dark history of mistreating African-Americans. By contrast, Rhodey firmly believes you have to fix the systems of the world.
That Killmonger actually takes the time to speak with Rhodes about this before murdering him with T’Challa’s Black Panther glove — successfully framing T’Challa for his death — suggests there’s innately something about the way Rhodes conducts himself that genuinely gets under Killmonger’s skin. It’s a major development for any version of the character and makes a strong case for Rhodes and Killmonger being true philosophical opposites. It’s just a shame that Killmonger will never get the chance to directly face-off with Rhodes in the core timeline of the MCU, with their potential conflict being an interesting one for the MCU to confront.
To see how Killmonger rose to power, the latest episode of What If…? is streaming now on Disney+.
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