THE FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER Deleted Scene Foreshadows Big SECRET INVASION Twist

A deleted scene from the Blu-ray release of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has been shared online, and the sequence appears to foreshadow the big twist from Secret Invasion...

By MarkCassidy - Apr 30, 2024 01:04 PM EST

Filed Under: Falcon and The Winter Soldier

Marvel Studios' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is now available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray Steelbook, and IGN has shared a deleted scene from the first episode of the Disney+ series.

Titled "Flight Lesson," the sequence picks up after Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) gives his speech at a ceremony where Captain America's shield is being put on display at a museum. Wilson still has some reservations about taking up the mantle that was passed to him by Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Avengers: Endgame, and speaks to Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) about it.

Wilson notes that his former teammate appears to be fully recovered from the accident which left him almost paralysed in Civil War, and Rhodey says he doesn't "need the hardware" any more thanks to a new procedure. Sam then apologizes for his part in what happened (Falcon avoided Vision's blast, which then struck War Machine), and Rhodey assures his friend that there are no hard feelings.

Of course, we now know that this wasn't actually Rhodey at all!

In Secret Invasion, it's revealed that War Machine was replaced with a Skrull agent who has seemingly been doing the fanatical Gravik's bidding for quite some time. In the season finale, we see the real Col. Rhodes being rescued from Gravik's facility, and it's clear that he still needs help to walk.

We don't know for sure that Marvel planned to unveil Rhodes as a Skrull when this TFATWS scene was filmed, but even if it wasn't intentional foreshadowing, it still serves as a fun Easter Egg.

Check out the scene below, and let us know if you plan on picking up the Blu-ray in the comments section.

This exclusive Falcon and the Winter Soldier deleted scene reveals a key detail about Rhodey that's also a critical Easter egg for Secret Invasion: https://t.co/2szxjdlCAV pic.twitter.com/7P2oEUPL6Q
— IGN (@IGN) April 30, 2024

"The action-packed Disney+ MCU series follows unlikely partners Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) as they go up against the anti-patriotic terrorist organization known as the Flag Smashers. The pair will also have to deal with John Walker (Wyatt Russell), the new government-appointed Captain America, whose methods and tactics don't align with his distinguished title. Erin Kellyman, Danny Ramirez, Daniel Brühl, and Emily VanCamp also star.

6 episodes on 2 discs. 5 hrs. Widescreen; Soundtracks: English Dolby Atmos 7.1.4, DVS Dolby Digital stereo, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Spanish; featurette; gag reel; deleted scenes; documentary."

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73 Comments

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tylerzero - 4/30/2024, 1:04 PM

lvcl - 5/1/2024, 2:33 AM

Disney MCU, had SECRET INVASION, Ms MARVEL and THE MARVELS to tell the excellent Kree vs Skrulls saga of the comic-books in a coherent and complete way with a footage of 12 TV episodes and a feature film.

They could have done something big.

Instead they gave us 3 dull, forgettable and meaningless plots in favor of the woke gender ideology.

Interest in their productions has been completely lost, not even the creators themselves like such convoluted plots in case that they review the garbage they produce.

Kurban - 4/30/2024, 1:04 PM

So not only does the twist suck ass anyway but they couldn’t even foreshadow it right because they cut the one scene referencing it lmao

clintthahamster - 4/30/2024, 1:24 PM

@Kurban - But . . . this scene doesn't reference, hint at, or foreshadow Rhodey's status as a Skrull. As far as I can see, it's two dudes talking as though they are old friends. What am I missing?

eagc1995 - 4/30/2024, 2:19 PM

@clintthahamster - Rhodey talks about no longer needing the exosuit Stark built him so he can walk as he had some surgery, which foreshadows that this may not be Rhodey, given one of the big give aways that something was off with Rhodey is that he didn't had his exosuit under his legs.

On the other hand that could leave the door open that Rhodey was not kidnapped during CW as some think and instead was kidnapped in the middle of his surgery

clintthahamster - 4/30/2024, 2:43 PM

@eagc1995 - Right, but . . . "no longer needing the exosuit Stark built him so he can walk as he had some surgery" is also just a thing that could easily happen in MCU continuity. It doesn't imply some deeper mystery or foreshadow anything at all.

Now, if he'd thrown in something like "You could say I'm a CHANGED man," or "all the other dudes in the PT ward are GREEN with envy," or "Well, I'm not a SKRULL, if that's what you're asking!" then we'd have some grade A foreshadowing. As it is, this is is just two dudes catching up on what's new with them.

Kurban - 4/30/2024, 2:59 PM

@clintthahamster - Do you really need it to be THAT obvious to be foreshadowing?

eagc1995 - 4/30/2024, 3:12 PM

@clintthahamster - Doesn't need to be a deep, straight and obvious foreshadowing, it can just be something subtle that at first we will not think much about until it hits us.

Like the exosuit thing, if they had kept the scene we would've went "Oh neat he can walk again" and as you said it would make sense since how high tech this world is.

But then SI comes out and we see that the real Rhodey can't walk and that is when it clicks us "Oh wait......that was not Rhodes in Falcon".

clintthahamster - 4/30/2024, 3:27 PM

@eagc1995 - Okay. What if I put it this way: How is this deleted scene–wherein Rhodey provides a plausible, in-universe explanation as to why he no longer needs assistance walking–foreshadowing, when he was clearly shown walking without assistance AND without explanation throughout the show in the first place?

Actually I don't care. This is Wilding's world, we're just living in it.

Order66 - 4/30/2024, 1:04 PM

Completely forgot about Rhodes being held captive since Civil War. Crazy to think he’s missed out on so much and has no idea what happened to Tony.

SummersEssex - 4/30/2024, 1:10 PM

@Order66 - since Civil War? How do you figure? Rhodey was Rhodey all the way through Endgame.

Doomsday8888 - 4/30/2024, 1:13 PM

@SummersEssex
Wait for real? Dunno why i had the same impression, Secret Invasion was pretty ass so maybe i'm misremembering, lol.

RedFury - 4/30/2024, 1:19 PM

@SummersEssex - I was also under the impression he got swapped out a lot earlier than that. I hope it was after Endgame, because it makes everything with Rhodey in it feel so wrong if it wasn't him being a part of saving the universe.

Doomsday8888 - 4/30/2024, 1:21 PM

@SummersEssex
@RedFury

Ok, i quick google-search confirms that not even the directors know when he was out, lol.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/07/28/secret-invasion-director-reveals-how-long-rhodey-has-been-a-skrull/

THE ABSOLUTE STATE.

RedFury - 4/30/2024, 1:25 PM

@Doomsday8888 - lol well shit... I guess they're leaving it up to the writers of armor wars to drop that on us? I'd much rather him have been swapped out after Endgame. Don't rob us of the real Rhodey being a part of such a monumental event!

Doomsday8888 - 4/30/2024, 1:29 PM

@RedFury
Yeah i feel the same way tbh, i think they have Armor Wars on lock for ages, dunno why they are dicking around, maybe a certain movie needs to come out first? Heh.

RedFury - 4/30/2024, 1:34 PM

@Doomsday8888 - hopefully that's all it comes down to and we get some answers. This definitely isn't one of those plot threads you gloss over.

I can deal with Caps story having an ambiguous end, even though I want him back. But something like this absolutely has to be addressed with more than a passover explanation.

eagc1995 - 4/30/2024, 2:20 PM

@Order66 - If anything this opens the door that he wasn't, what if Rhodey was indeed going to take surgery to heal his legs and that is when the swap happened.

Order66 - 4/30/2024, 2:38 PM

@SummersEssex - they implied thru post interviews and the gown he’s wearing that he got picked up after his scan in Civil War.

Order66 - 4/30/2024, 2:39 PM

@RedFury - trust me I’d rather they not steal him away from the biggest event of all time, but I have a feeling they are going to by the way they talked about it and the same gown he was wearing in civil war.

Apophis71 - 4/30/2024, 3:21 PM

@Order66 - No reason it would need to be as far back as Civil War and wouldn't make much sense considering the snap cos there would be a fair chance if the Skrull wasn't Rhodey would have been...

...easy enough to say he was wounded in Endgame and the swap happened then as still long enough to have major muscle wasting and/or if the Stark tech was damaged then.

That isn't to say it couldn't have been after Civil War but that would be one heck of a long game to play over the course of several years pretending to still be a hero when the optimal time for him to go into politics would have been during the blip for the Skrull plans with all those vacant seats in Congress and all the other vacant spots in all government departments.

Apophis71 - 4/30/2024, 4:09 PM

@Order66 - He could end up in a gown at any point and his tech that allowed him to walk without the FULL armor WAS damaged in Endgame so...

...if they wanted to make it explicit it was pre-Endgame they could have but as it opens up more questions than needed it occuring when we were told Skrulls were on scene (as in with cleanup and genetic sample collection of the Endgame battle scene) makes way more sense and doesn't retcon anything beyond the one scene in FatWS out of it being Rhodey.

RedFury - 4/30/2024, 4:41 PM

@Order66 - yeah that gown gives me a bad feeling too.

Ha1frican - 4/30/2024, 1:09 PM

While the idea of a Skrull taking him over was cool, the execution was pretty ass imo. They were telegraphing they weren’t him to an insane degree with every interaction, I refuse to believe no one would notice

TheVisionary25 - 4/30/2024, 1:19 PM

@Ha1frican - I know I’m stupid but I just took it as him initially having to be the company man more since he was in a higher position of power in the government now

Plus , it’s not we haven’t seen Rhodey take the governments side before

bkmeijer1 - 4/30/2024, 1:23 PM

@Ha1frican - pretty much everybody who was a skrull, was made out to be one. There was no suspense at all about who could be one, since the show answered it for us

TheVisionary25 - 4/30/2024, 1:40 PM

@bkmeijer1 - I mean , since it was a self contained show rather then event..

I wasn’t surprised that they did that since we weren’t gonna get more of that in the future. So it made sense to reveal it all in the show unless I’m misinterpreting your comment.

bkmeijer1 - 4/30/2024, 4:54 PM

@TheVisionary25 - you got it right. Guess it does make sense within context of the show, and like you said in your other response they kept the timeline weird. That atleast injected some form of suspense

Doomsday8888 - 4/30/2024, 1:10 PM

Can you believe it...during Tony's last moments we had a f*cking Skrull beside him that...i mean...on one hand i guess he helped fight Thanos? So...nice?

But on the other hand...damn, shit was kinda lame, man...

Mrtoke - 4/30/2024, 1:33 PM

@Doomsday8888 - but he was unable to move on his own under all the rubble in endgame

Doomsday8888 - 4/30/2024, 1:34 PM

@Mrtoke
Maybe because the Skrull was Skrulling?

Mrtoke - 4/30/2024, 2:09 PM

@Doomsday8888 - I'm thinking he was captured after endgame. Caught him off guard, thinking it was sweet and then BAM! Best time to strike is when they think they won? Their guard is down, Thanos is dusted, the worst is behind them? Eh, Marvel themselves don't even know.

eagc1995 - 4/30/2024, 2:21 PM

@Doomsday8888 - If you ask me, this moment opens the door that Rhodey was Rhodey up to Endgame, cause if the real Rhodey was indeed going to take surgery to heal his legs, then maybe that is when the Skrulls got him.

newhire13 - 4/30/2024, 2:37 PM

@Mrtoke - I think if they absolutely want to go with Rhodey being a Skrull that’s the way to do it. Maybe he’s attacked during the battle when it’s so chaotic no one noticed. Ugh, I hate that twist so much 😑

ShimmyShimmyYA - 4/30/2024, 3:27 PM

@newhire13 - could literally just do it any moment post endgame where’s at the hospital. People with disabilities get routine exams all the time could’ve been switched out then

Apophis71 - 4/30/2024, 3:29 PM

@Doomsday8888 - Even if it was a Skrull Skrulling they would have fast found out he wasn't human when he went to the medics surely? The fact he was injured again in Endgame makes it a far more logical point for the swap to occur soon after when being before opens questions as to what he was doing during the 5yr blip and why he wasn't taking advantage of all those vacant spots in government/congress that would need filling during that.

mountainman - 4/30/2024, 1:11 PM

This scene wouldn’t have helped Secret Invasion being set up, but it was a nice interpersonal smaller moment between characters. Should have kept it in.

eagc1995 - 4/30/2024, 2:23 PM

@mountainman - The set up part comes from the fact that Rhodes in SI was walking around without his exo-suit that Stark built him after he got paralyzed. which was a give away that something was off with Rhodey

Now had this scene been kept it we would've not thought much of it at first and went "Oh neat he can walk again", then we when see SI we would've went "Waiiit a minute" especially since the real Rhodes couldn't walk when they freed him.

mountainman - 4/30/2024, 2:54 PM

@eagc1995 - Oh I get that and agree that it could have made that revelation in Secret Wars not come from nowhere. I probably should have said “this scene wouldn’t have made Secret Invasion not be a terrible show” to better explain where I’m coming from.

BlackStar25 - 4/30/2024, 1:15 PM

Mannnnnn....[frick] MCU for not confirming when Rhodey was replaced. That shit is wack...

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