Source: cinemablend.com

7. It has Consequences without Wasting Characters

So when Rhodey hit the ground (I WARNED YOU ABOUT SPOILERS TWICE ALREADY. DO NOT PRETEND LIKE I DIDN’T.), the air went out of my theater. I heard people behind me gasp. And this wasn’t an opening night, nerd-filled theater, this was 10:30 at night on a Friday in a beautiful, crowded theater (The Sherman Oaks Arclight, in case you were curious for some reason.).

And still, the audience felt scared and worried. I’ve heard people whine and whinge about how “no one died in this movie”. But I couldn’t have been happier with that outcome.

Killing a character needs to be done for that character’s sake, not to artificially manufacture drama (JLA AND STARMAN SPOILERS IN THE NEXT FEW SENTENCES). Aztek’s death in JLA World War III? That served the character. Ted Knight’s death in Starman? That was the payoff to his story. But axing War Machine would have been pointless.

And, since Marvel characters don’t tend to stay dead for long, paralysis feels like a way bigger deal. I’m glad Rhodey didn’t get fridged. You never break a toy unless you really need to. And this movie didn’t need to.