The comedian e-book origins of Ezekiel Stane return to lengthy earlier than his 2008 debut in The Order #8, following on from Tony Stark’s eventful showdown with Obadiah Stane in 1985’s Iron Man #200. Kitted out in his Silver Centurion armor, Stark bested Stane, with the latter selecting suicide over a life in jail. After the demise of his father, Zeke sought revenge on Iron Man, however as a substitute of wanting to kill him, Stane vowed to make the billionaire playboy out of date. Whereas Tony Stark is in the end a person in a go well with, Zeke fused himself with biometric enhancements to bridge the hole between human and machine. It was this that led to the liquid-esque Bleeding Edge armor that we see Avengers: Infinity Battle and Endgame adapt as the Mark L and Mark LXXXV.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Ironheart creator Chinaka Hodge defined the large Zeke twist and the way the sequence brings issues again round for the MCU: “Total, the character of Zeke Stane as a tech ethicist … is attention-grabbing to me. [Riri and Zeke] are [both] battling lots of the identical, ‘Am I good or am I unhealthy? And what’s the level of being both?’”
We’ve already seen this as Riri buddies up with Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins/The Hood. As for whether or not Bridges may return to the function of Zeke’s daddy dearest, Hodge admitted, “One can all the time hope for a Zeke Stane-Obadiah Stane flashback crossover, I don’t know. It simply was a lot enjoyable to open up that field of worms.” As just lately as September 2024, Bridges addressed a possible MCU return when he advised the Happy Sad Confused podcast a couple of totally different model of the Iron Man script that he presumably signed on for: “In the script I learn and agreed to do, they pull my go well with out and open it and I’m not there. However who is aware of? It’s all science fiction and I may pop up once more.”
At the moment, Ironheart’s Ezekiel is a toned-down model of his comedian e-book counterpart, though it stays to be seen how for much longer this stuttering “Dwell, Snicker, Love” persona will final and whether or not he actually is a mild-mannered tech ethicist or destined to proceed his father’s legacy. The opposite large query is about whether or not we’ll lastly get Sacha Baron Cohen’s (rumored) Mephisto after the demonic overlord was lastly talked about in Agatha All Alongside. Government producer Sev Ohanian has previously teased that Riri will ‘break bad’, suggesting she may type a Faustian discount with Mephisto. Not like Riri’s potential villain arc, Ezekiel claims he desires nothing to do together with his father’s shadowy previous and is solely involved for what the likes of Stark and Williams are doing with this ever-advancing tech.
Zeke Stane could be an Iron Man rogue, however with Thorne stepping up as the de facto Iron Man of the MCU’s future and a possible Younger Avengers recruit, it is smart to retool him to slot in along with her story. Though the already bulging forged listing of Avengers: Doomsday makes Ehrenreich’s rapid return unlikely, having him lock horns with RDJ’s Physician Doom as a likeness of his father’s mortal enemy could possibly be an attention-grabbing arc. Whereas that appears unlikely, Ezekiel Stane’s affiliation with the Hellfire Membership may discover him a spot in the upcoming Mutant Saga if Ironheart doesn’t get renewed for a second season. Whether or not good friend or foe to Riri, we think about she’ll quickly be crossing paths with Zeke Stane earlier than too lengthy.