The worst kept secret in the MCU is finally out in the open. After years of speculation, we know what role Sacha Baron Cohen is playing on Ironheart. And spoilers past this point: yep, it’s Mephisto, the big red devil from Marvel Comics. Thankfully, and true to the MCU, they bring in Cohen’s Mephisto in just the right way.
While there have been teases throughout that the demonically powered The Hood (Anthony Ramos) is, er, powered by a demon, the show attempts a swerve by having Zelma Stanton (Regan Aliyah) definitively tie The Hood to Dormammu. Zelma reasons that the strange lines growing on Parker Robbins (Ramos) and his demon powers are similar to those seen on Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) in the first Doctor Strange movie.
She’s incorrect, though. And in the finale of Ironheart, titled “The Past Is The Past,” we open with a scene of Parker escaping after attempting to rob his father, thanks to the help of a mysterious man in a cloak. That man is in fact Mephisto, as we later discover. And rather than the giant red demon wearing a diaper that is seen throughout Marvel Comics, he’s just Sacha Baron Cohen, eating pizza.
There’s a lot more from Mephisto throughout the hour, as he makes a deal with The Hood, shows up later to chastise him, and then shockingly makes a deal with Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) at the end of the episode. But the big takeaway here is that, per the Faust poster that’s been noticeably on The Hood’s office wall this whole time, Cohen’s Mephisto is a classic dealmaking demon. He’s suave, charming, and keeps code-switching accents depending on his mood. There’s no hell in the show, no big red throne. Cohen doesn’t exhibit any powers, nor burst into flame. It’s just him at a restaurant table selling people their dreams and when they ask the cost, noting that it’s no big deal, it’s something they won’t even miss.
And to make an annoying pun: hell yeah. Cohen is an enormously engaging actor probably best known for his outrageous comedy in roles like Borat. And while his movie roles have also been more flamboyant, from appearing as Signor Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd to M. Thénardier in Les Misêrables, he’s also shown a knack for quiet rage or simmering menace. Presenting him as simply a “man” in Ironheart doesn’t diffuse the power of the character, it only makes him scarier. He’s just a regular guy who likes ‘za, and happens to take human souls for unknown reasons. It’s that unknown aspect, too, that make this take on Mephisto feel like he comes out of a horror movie, and not a Marvel movie.
After speculation that Mephisto would be in WandaVision, and a tease in Agatha All Along, it’s actually a relief how Cohen just shows up here on Ironheart. There’s no puff of smoke or rigmarole, he’s just… There.
And before comic book fans cry out this seems non-canonical, when Stan Lee and John Buscema introduced the character in 1968’s Silver Surfer #3, he was explicitly inspired by Faust. So taking him back to his roots here for his MCU debut feels like a tribute, not a betrayal.
Will Cohen appear as Mephisto again? Maybe. A lot of Ironheart unfortunately feels like it’s trapped in 2022, aka the year most of it was filmed. But the demon does seem like a perfect fit for, say, a Doctor Strange 3, if that ever happens (which it likely will), as they’ve tussled multiple times in the comics. If Cohen does play Mephisto on screen, it’s also likely that we will get the big flaming demon wearing his undies from the comics. But frankly? This simmering, unsettling TV take was absolutely the right way to go… The best special effect Ironheart has isn’t a giant demon; it’s Sacha Baron Cohen.
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