Marvel revealed a new actor set to play Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark, on Disney+. Howard Stark, the man behind Stark Industries, has been seen on-screen played by several big names over the years. MCU fans will likely recognize
Gerard Sanders, John Slattery, and Dominic Cooper for their portrayals of the character in hit titles like Iron Man, Avengers: Endgame, and Captain America: Civil War.
However, the world of Marvel's armor-clad hero has been getting a new look on Disney+ as of late with the release of the animated Iron Man and His Awesome Friends. The new series from the Spidey and His Amazing Friends team follows an animated Tony Stark and his super-powered friends, offering a more child-oriented look into the Iron Man mythos. Thanks to the new show, fans have gotten new takes on various Iron Man-related characters (e.g., Amadeus Cho and Riri Williams), a list that Howard Stark is about to join the ranks of.
Disney confirmed the latest addition to the forthcoming Marvel's Iron Man and His Awesome series, Howard Stark.
Iron Man's inventor father will be played by a new-to-the-Marvel Universe big star in Full House's John Stamos on the Disney+ preschool series (per Deadline). The new animated show will premiere on Disney Jr. on Monday, August 11, and then come to the Disney-owned streamer one day later, on August 12.
Iron Man and His Awesome Friends is the latest early childhood-based offering from the Marvel brand, joining the hugely popular Spidey and His Amazing Friends. The series centers on a younger Tony Stark/Iron Man and his best friends Riri Williams and Amadeus Cho as they save the world from evil, while introducing young kids to the expansive Marvel mythos.
The Future of Howard Stark at Marvel
John Stamos is a massive get for Iron Man and His Awesome Friends. The Hollywood A-lister lending his voice to a character as iconic as Howard Stark is an exciting prospect; however, most Marvel fans (at least those reading this) will likely never see his performance, as the series is clearly geared toward younger, preschool-age audiences and operates in its own universe outside of the MCU.
While Marvel Studios has not been shy in its use of the Multiverse over the last couple of years, someone like John Stamos returning to play a Multiversal Howard Stark Variant in the MCU seems highly unlikely.
In fact, at this point, Howard Stark coming back into the MCU seems highly unlikely.
The Iron Man story within Marvel Studios' interconnected on-screen universe seems over, with Robert Downey Jr.'s take on the character dying at the end of Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Of course, Downey is coming back for next year's Avengers: Doomsday, but he is doing so as the villain this time around, playing a version of the terrifying Doctor Doom.
But without Downey's Iron Man (or an Iron Man at all), the MCU does not really have any need for a Howard Stark.
There is always the chance that a Marvel Studios project will go back in time and fill in some more blanks featuring the character, like the franchise did with the Agent Carter series. However, as of now, there is nothing of that nature on the MCU slate.
