The first three episodes of Ironheart are here, and give or take a “Thanos was right” the show is mostly self-contained, at least compared to other MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) projects. That is until Episode 3, “We In Danger, Girl,” when we get the reveal of the death of an iconic MCU character, and the reveal of a surprise new one. Spoilers past this point, but Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is dead, and Alden Ehrenreich isn’t playing a character named Joe McGillicuddy… His name is Ezekiel Stane, aka the son of Obadiah.
To take a big step back here, in case you forgot Obadiah Stane was a the big villain in the first Iron Man movie, way back in 2008. He was the guy who ran Stark Industries while Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was in captivity… But was also the guy behind his captivity in the first place. Late in the movie he built his own iron suit, called himself Iron Monger, and attempted to kill Tony, again.
In fact, Obadiah got the upper hand, up until Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow) overloaded a massive Arc Reactor below them, electrocuting Obadiah, and blowing up the reactor. In the aftermath of the fight, Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) covered up Obadiah’s death by saying he was on a vacation, and that a malfunction on his plane would explain him being gone, permanently.
…Except since then, fans have speculated under the “bodies or it didn’t happen” protocol that maybe Stane could, in fact, be alive. Adding fuel to the fire, in 2017, Bridges revealed the original ending of Iron Man, noting that, “In the original script they were supposed to open my suit after, and I was gone! But then, no. I read the scene we were shooting, and they said, ‘No, you’re dead.’ And I said, ‘Oh…’ Then they said, ‘Well, it’s a comic! Maybe you’ll come back!’ I don’t know.”
Ah, a classic “I don’t know.” Well, now we do know. Stane is dead. And not only is he dead, he was cremated, and his ashes are in a Ziploc bag in his son’s kitchen cabinet.
Who Is Ezekiel Stane From Marvel Comics?
Part and parcel with this particular reveal, which Joe explains to Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), is that his real name is Ezekiel Stane, he and his father weren’t particularly close, and he knows that Obadiah died fighting Iron Man. That’s part of why Joe/Zeke was initially so nervous about touching the tech he was keeping in his silo in Episode 2: he didn’t want to end up like his dad. However, meeting Riri changed that, and right before discovering Obadiah’s ashes, Riri found Joe trying to insert biotech into his own arm. Gross!
Here’s the interesting thing about Zeke Stane from Marvel Comics… He was only introduced about a month before Iron Man debuted in theaters, back in April of 2008. Created by writer Matt Fraction and artist Barry Kitson, the younger Stane first popped up in The Order #8. Unlike “Joe,” Zeke Stane is a supervillain through and through, considering himself Tony Stark’s better in every respect.
There is one aspect that comics Zeke and TV Zeke share, which is that they are obsessed with upgrading their body with tech, rather than external armor. In the comics this takes the form of increasing his brain’s intelligence capacity through mechanical means, before moving on to other parts of his body. He can also shoot biological repulsor rays, can create force fields, and has superhuman strength and healing. Whether TV Zeke will get that too is TBD.
Interestingly, Zeke Stane was in one of the early drafts of Avengers, though didn’t survive (obviously) until the movie’s final form. But now, here he is on TV. Will he continue to be an ally to Riri, or turn to the dark side? Given he’s already getting weird? Well, it doesn’t look good.
Ironheart‘s first three episodes are streaming now, with the final three streaming on Disney+ on July 1, 2025.
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