One of Marvel Studios' first-ever villains was recently crowned a hero in the MCU. The event took place in Disney+'s latest Marvel release, Ironheart. The Riri Williams-focused show explores the young inventor's attempts to build her own iron suit, similar in style to Tony Stark's, which gives the show several connections to the original Iron Man film.
Iron Man was the film that started the MCU in 2008, and its major villain was Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) business partner-turned-rival, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Throughout the film, Stane is shown to be Tony's friend and mentor, until the Stark prodigy returns from his abduction in Afghanistan with the idea of pulling Stark Industries out of the weapon manufacturing game. Stane tries to talk Tony out of this idea, warning him that it will cause the company to go bankrupt. When Tony fails to listen to him, Stane reverse engineers his iron suit of armor to fight Iron Man, but he ultimately dies in the battle.
While audiences who watched the film know that Stane was undeniably a villain, this is not how he was portrayed to the public after the events of Iron Man. This plot point is revisited in Ironheart Episode 3, when Riri (Dominque Thorne) learns that her friend Joe (Alden Ehrenreich) is secretly Ezekiel "Zeke" Stane, the son of the deceased Obadiah. Riri's knowledge of Stane is that he "died in that horrible plane crash," which she confirms by pulling up a news article with the headline "Obadiah Stane dies in Plane Crash."
Riri: "Obadiah Stane. COO of Stark Industries. BFF to Howard Stark. Mentor to Tony Stark. Died in that horrible plane crash. That Stane?"
The plane crash narrative was fabricated by Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the agents at SHIELD to misdirect suspicion from the Iron Man/Iron Monger battle, but at the same time, it hid the truth about Stane being a villain and painted him in a heroic light instead. However, Zeke reveals to Riri the truth that "the plane story is a lie" and that his father "went full supervillain:"
Ezekiel: "The plane story is a lie. The truth is, Dad died trying to kill Tony Stark. And I've spent my whole life trying to be nothing like him. He went full supervillain in a suit a lot like yours."
This reveals that some of those closest to the situation still know the truth about Obadiah Stane (now including Riri), but that the majority of the MCU public lives with the belief that the notable villain died a hero.
The Stane Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree
With the inclusion of both Riri and Zeke, Ironheart explores the legacies of both Iron-suited characters in many ways. Where Riri goes on to build an iron and magic-infused suit that establishes her as her own hero, Zeke falls into the same traps as his father.
After Zeke's true identity is revealed to the public, thanks to a careless mistake from Riri, he forms a grudge against the young prodigy and teams up with Parker Robbins/The Hood to get revenge. The Hood's gang implants bionic enhancements in Zeke's body, which give him enhanced strength and manipulation over electricity.
The younger Stane goes "full supervillain" and attacks Riri with his new powers, destroying her suit. He ultimately spares her life, showing more mercy than his father did. This backfires on Stane when his implants become tools of the Hood and he becomes a remotely controlled weapon who is forced to fight Riri again, this time against his will. In the end, Riri is able to reset Stane's bionics and free him from the Hood's control, but the beef between the two is unresolved.
It's unclear whether Zeke will be seen again in the MCU and if he will remain a villain like his father, or if he has a chance to become a hero and live up to the public's image of the Stane family.
