A confusing line from James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, aka War Machine (Don Cheadle), to Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in Avengers: Endgame makes much more sense thanks to an Avengers: Age of Ultron deleted scene. The second MCU ensemble project marked the final project with director/writer Joss Whedon with the franchise. Following the success of 2012’s The Avengers, its sequel brought together the original six heroes, alongside new allies including the involvement of Tony Stark/Iron Man’s (Robert Downey Jr.) long-time pal who also goes by the superhero persona, War Machine.

As one of the surviving MCU heroes aside from the original six Avengers from Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Rhodey kept himself busy in the five years leading up to the idea of the Time Heist. He continued his responsibilities as War Machine, roaming the world to help re-establish peace and order after the Decimation - a job that led him to believe that Clint took a dark turn as Ronin. However, when the opportunity to bring back all those who perished in the blip came up, Rhodey convened with his old allies to travel back in time and collect their assigned Infinity Stone.

Teamed-up with Nebula (Karen Gillan), Rhodey went to space alongside Nat and Clint, who were tasked to get the Soul Stone on Vormir. Using the Guardians of the Galaxy’s Benatar, Rhodey and Nebula were first dropped off in Morag around the time of Guardians of the Galaxy, but before Black Widow and Hawkeye boarded the ship back to continue their journey, Rhodey told them “you guys watch each other’s six.” The line is derived from the phrase “watch your six” - something typically used by military to advice their comrades to watch their backs. Linked to the use of wrist watches as a directional tool, the number six’s orientation points toward someone’s blindspot. This makes sense considering that Rhodey is a United States Air Force officer, but the line was too esoteric and it may have confused some Avengers: Endgame viewers.

This wasn’t the first time Rhodey used this line, however. In a deleted Age of Ultron scene where the Avengers were scrambling in the aftermath of Ultron slipping away, Rhodey briefs them about every country on the planet is fighting off a cyber attack. He then says that he’s being deployed to the Middle East in case a war breaks out. Nat asks him to relay any pertinent information to them if he hears anything, and just before they end the call, Rhodey tells her “watch your six”, which she reminds him to do as well.

Admittedly, Nat and Rhodey’s relationship wasn’t as developed as their other respective friendships in the MCU, so it’s easy to forget that both characters debuted their  superhero personas in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2. Granted that Rhodey was technically introduced in Iron Man, while Widow didn’t arrive in the franchise until its sequel, they lived through with almost every single major Avenger battle in the universe until Nat’s tragic death in Avengers: Endgame. If anything, this deleted  Avengers: Age of Ultron scene reminds fans that they had a long history of working together, so they had an easy understanding of each other.

More: War Machine Originally Had ANOTHER Suit In Avengers: Endgame

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