‘Ironheart’s Ezekiel Stane Almost Joined the MCU 17 Years Ago

This feature contains SPOILERS for Ironheart.Four years after Marvel Studios confirmed that Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) would be getting her own MCU Disney+ series, Ironheart has finally debuted on Disney+. Introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri Williams/Ironheart has been positioned as the successor to Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, Ironheart has largely stayed separate from the world of the Armored Avenger. It is set in Chicago and features a supporting cast largely tied to Riri Williams and the mystical side of the MCU.

Yet, in the first three episodes released on Disney+, Ironheart reveals one character’s surprising ties to the larger MCU history, specifically those of Iron Man. Alden Ehrenreich‘s character has been shrouded in mystery, but the series has finally revealed his true identity, which is significant. This character not only ties back to the very first Iron Man film but also has comic book origins connected to the birth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and was almost one of the franchise’s big Avengers-level villains: Ezekiel Stane.

Alden Ehrenreich’s Ezekiel Stane Explained

Alden Ehrenreich, best known for playing Han Solo in the Star Wars prequel Solo, was cast in Ironheart back in July 2022. For the series’ promotional material and his first two appearances, he is Joe McGillicuddy, a seemingly ordinary man who also happens to collect illegal weapons as a hobby. Right off the bat, Riri Williams clocks that Joe McGillicuddy sounds like a fake name, an early indication that he is not who he says he is.

Then, in Episode 3, Joe reveals that his name is Ezekiel Stane and that his father is, in fact, Obadiah Stane, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first villain, from 2008’s Iron Man. Obadiah Stane, played by Jeff Bridges, was Howard Stark’s business partner. Obadiah was a mentor to Tony Stark before he ordered a hit on him so he could take over Stark Industries. Stane reverses Stark’s original Mark I Iron Man armor and turns it into Iron Monger, where he and Tony Stark have a climactic battle before Stane dies thanks to Pepper Potts reloading the arc reactor, and Stane falls to his death. S.H.I.E.L.D. created a cover story that Stane died in a private jet accident. Despite Tony Stark revealing his identity as Iron Man, Ironheart confirms that the public still believes Stane died in a plane crash and seemingly didn’t know he became the Iron Monger.

As of this moment, not much more is revealed about Ezekiel’s background as Obadiah’s son. Ezekiel mentions that he is 36. Ironheart reportedly takes place in 2025, shortly after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. If he did not get blipped in Avengers: Infinity War, that would suggest he was likely born in 1989. This means Ezekiel Stane was about 19 years old during the events of Iron Man when his father died. The MCU has never referenced Obadiah as having a wife or ex-wife, suggesting that Ezekiel was born out of wedlock, which could indicate that neither Obadiah nor Tony Stark knew of his existence.

Ezekiel Stane’s Comic Book History

Ezekiel “Zeke” Stane was created by writer Matt Fraction and artist Barry Kitson and made his Marvel Comics debut in April 2008, just one month before Iron Man was released in theaters and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born. Similar to The Red Hulk, Marvel partially created Ezekiel Stane to help promote the titular heroes’ comics as their feature film was being released (making it fitting that both Ezekiel Stane and The Red Hulk made their MCU debuts in the same year). Given that Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger, the main villain of Iron Man, had been dead in the comics for years, they decided the comics would partially connect to the movies in a bit of brand synergy by having Iron Man fight a Stane, but a newly revealed son.

Ezekiel Stane was the son of Obadiah Stane. Ezekiel Stane was interested in bioweapons and began making weapons when he was nine years old. Stane was created as a dark mirror for Tony Stark/Iron Man and built upon the recent Extremis storyline. Stane doesn’t have a traditional supervillain name, though he has been referred to as Iron Monger, the same moniker his father used.

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The Ezekiel Stane introduced in Ironheart is certainly different from the comics version, at least on the surface. In Marvel Comics, Stane was introduced as pulling the strings of other super villains to get revenge on Tony Stark for killing his father. While the MCU version of Ezekiel Stane does feature a wide array of black market weapons, he doesn’t seem to have any use for them and does it as a way to be close to his father, Obadiah Stane, with whom he was reportedly not very close in life. He does seem to have an aversion to Stark technology, particularly Iron Man-type suits, since it drove his father mad, and also, it was Iron Man who killed him.

The MCU’s Ezekiel Stane appears to be trying to avoid being like his father and is essentially someone who tends to avoid conflict. He is depicted as being mild-mannered and often overlooked. Yet the final moment of Episode 2, “Will the Real Natalie Please Stand Up,” sees him taking Riri’s advice to stand up for himself to a dark implication. He also exploits Riri Williams to help him with his experiments. Then he is seen experimenting on himself, trying to implant weapons into his skin like his comic book counterpart. While he seems to support Riri Williams’ intent, the series hints at him taking a villainous turn. Will this be a last-minute swerve for the series, having him be the true villain in the final episode, or is this planting the seeds for a future storyline?

Ezekiel Stane Almost Joined the MCU in 2012

Ironheart marks Ezekiel Stane’s MCU debut 17 years after appearing in the comics. Yet he almost leaped to the big screen much sooner. In fact, Stane nearly appeared in 2012’s The Avengers, meaning he would have made the transition from comic to film within a short four years. When Joss Whedon began development on The Avengers, he was hesitant that Loki would be a large enough threat to warrant bringing the team together. In one of Whedon’s original script drafts, he included Ezekiel Stane as one of the co-villains. This certainly made a certain level of sense, given that Iron Man was the most successful MCU film at that point.

However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige rejected Ezekiel Stane’s inclusion in The Avengers, though his reason has never been made clear. Part of it might have been Feige wanting to draw from the classic Avengers set up, as the two main villains of the 2012 film are linked to the team’s classic origins (Loki) and the newer Ultimate Universe (The Chitauri). Either way, Ezekiel Stane was scrapped from the MCU.

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Despite Iron Man’s continued presence in the MCU, no rumors ever surfaced about future appearances by Ezekiel Stane. It wasn’t until the announcement of Iron Man-related MCU Disney+ series like Armor Wars or Ironheart that the idea of Ezekiel Stane making an MCU appearance started to gather momentum. Since Alden Ehrenreich was cast, fans have been speculating he would be Ezekiel Stane, but they never confirmed anything, instead focusing on the Hood as the series’ main villain.

17 years after Marvel Comics revealed that Obadiah Stane had a secret son, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done the same, tying Ironheart further back to Iron Man and the very beginnings of the MCU. Ezekiel Stane could be a one-off villain for Ironheart, a larger threat that could return in future storylines like Armor Wars, or, like Loki, Nebula, and Ghost, a former comic book villain turned anti-hero. Only time will tell. But whatever the case, having Ironheart feature both the successor to Tony Stark and also the son of his first villain, Obadiah Stane, makes Ironheart a great legacy-esque sequel to the original Iron Man. Ironheart is now streaming on Disney+.