Word is, regardless of what your eyes told you a few days ago concerning the leaked Iron Patriot images, the next installment of Marvel’s Iron Man movie series will not be featuring the Iron Patriot, not as comic book fans know the character, anyway.

But wait, you say. What about those Iron Patriot images we saw, including the one that this article is leading with? What gives? According to the Latino Review, an incredibly-thorough movie blog, while the armor may indeed look like the comic book version of Iron Patriot, the insider LR spoke to indicates the armor we all saw is, in fact, Don Cheadle’s new armor for Iron Man 3.

In case you forgot, Cheadle plays Colonel Rhodes, and he also dons the War Machine armor, as seen here:

Apparently, Cheadle’s War Machine armor in the IM3 receives a new paint job, but that’s not all. According to Latino Review’s insider, War Machine, because of the new paint job, may, in fact, be called the Iron Patriot, but it won’t be the same character from the comic books. LR’s post offers a little more insight, if you’re trying to stay spoiler-free for next summer’s offering, you might want to stop reading now (potential spoilers ahead):

The US Government has had their hands on this Stark suit for awhile, and apparently they’ve decided to make it more patriotic (especially with the nano-technology stuff I hear is going down in China these days, it’s important for America to look good, not like ‘Iron Man 2′s’ bulky grey War Machine). That’s why the set photo of “Iron Patriot” has the War Machine gun on his back, because it’s NOT Iron Patriot, it’s NOT James Badge Dale, it’s NOT Coldblood-7.

If you’re still reading but don’t know what to make of it, try this: if LR’s insider is accurate, the character wearing the Iron Patriot armor will not be an enemy of Tony Stark/Iron Man. I guess War Machine is too drastic of a name for someone the US Government is trying to portray as a hero, at least in the movies.

[Hat-tip to Slash Film]