We recently got confirmation that Dominique Thorne will make her MCU debut as Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before going on to lead her own Disney+ series, and we may now know which villain will be opposing her on the show.
The Illuminerdi has heard that the son - or daughter - of Iron Man baddie Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) will make their Marvel Cinematic Universe debut during Ironheart. The character is described as being "in their 40s, brilliant, and comedic."
This is most likely a version of Iron Monger's son Ezekiel “Zeke” Stane from the comic books, but based on this report, it seems there's a chance he'll be gender-switched. With Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) no more, Stane would have no reason to seek vengeance for his/her father's death, but Williams taking Stark's place as the Armored Avenger might be enough to trigger some ill feelings.
We still don't know a whole lot about Ironheart, but the show is expected to stick pretty closely to Riri's comic book origin as "the creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man." There's also been some speculation that the character could be retconned as a Wakandan since she'll feature in the Black Panther sequel, but we don't have anything to back that up.
What do you guys make of this rumor? Do you think introducing the child of Iron Monger to face-off against Ironheart is the right move? Drop us a comment down below.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.