As the buzz for his performance as Guile in Street Fighter built over the past several months, there’s been a lot of chatter about Cody Rhodes joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It stems from the photo above, which Rhodes posted to his Instagram Story in late August. That presumed Marvel Studios’ visit led to a lot of speculation about Cody’s possible casting, ranging from a multiversal Steve Rogers or Captain America, to various X-people and X-antagonists. The three-time WWE champ inspired more
fantasy-casting when he posted an autograph-signing clip with the X-Men ‘97 theme playing over it.
Marvel’s mutants are a big part of the Disney-owned brand’s upcoming plans, with much of the main cast in place. So whether it’s a substantial role or a cameo, it’s a logical spot for Rhodes. It certainly seems to make sense to Cody’s Street Fighter co-star Andrew Schulz, who’s been teasing the American Nightmare about it on the press tour for their box office-topping video game adaptation. Schulz calling attention to Rhodes saying “I’m into X-Men” when talking about his fandom on the Nerdist podcast resulted in numerous “Cody confirms Marvel casting” posts around the interwebs.
And especially with the question edited out, it really does sound like he said “I’m in X-Men”:
The comedian fed the rumor mill another confusing clip by name-dropping a characters who are soon-to-be portrayed by Obsession’s breakout star Inde Navrette and trying to get Rhodes to say the franchise/team name again:
Now, doing an interview with Brandon Davis solo, Rhodes was asked about the rumors. He alluded to Schulz’s ribbing, and admitted he couldn’t say anything even if he had been cast:
“There’s one guy [Andrew Schulz] in particular, who was sitting next to me on this couch pretty much all day, who is teasing things that aren’t real, and if they were real, I wouldn’t say anything. And guessing characters that are great, great characters, because I grew up — I mean, I learned every Marvel character you could from the trading cards, and then, of course, I had the animated series, and we have it again now. It’s been heavily discussed, but I never discuss it. That’s the beauty. I’ve said nothing, other than that was just a photo at a wonderful office, after a wonderful meeting, with wonderful people.”
To me, saying he learned the characters from an animated series that we have again now is another tell that Cody will be involved with the X-Men. Lots of Marvel superheroes have had cartoons, but the one referred to as “the animated series” is typically the one about Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. And that’s the one that recently returned and was a big hit.
So that’s why the wrestle web keeps talking Cody Rhodes and the MCU. Tell us what you make of it all, and if he should be Bastion or Havok, in the comments below.
