10 Times The MCU FRUSTRATINGLY Held Back

2. Crippling War Machine

No matter how intense Civil War got, it was always clear that not much was at stake, as there was no way that Marvel was going to have their biggest heroes killing each other. Smartly, the filmmakers got around the inherent lack of stakes by showing that, yes, while nobody is in danger of dying, people can still be harmed by the superhero squabble.

The most notable casualty was War Machine, who was shot out the air by a rogue blast from Vision. Though not dead, Rhodey suffers an injury so great that he actually loses the ability to walk, ending the flick going through an advanced form of physical therapy in order to get him back on his feet.

While that injury does admittedly follow through to Infinity War, the impact it has on Rhodey's character isn't really explored. There's one scene where he's talking about what the Sokovia Accords "cost" him, but he doesn't actually seem to be all that impacted by the events of the previous movie.

Not only is he straight away back in the War Machine suit when the film starts, but he's not shown to be any less skilled while piloting it. Similar to Thor's eye, Rhodey's injury being brushed over isn't a huge deal in theory, but it's another example of how supposedly major moments have their impact retroactively reduced in later movies.