Prior to production commencing on the Disney+ Ironheart series, character breakdowns did the rounds online, and one description sounded a lot like the son of the late Iron Man villain Obadiah Stane, the equally megalomaniacal Ezekiel Stane.
When the news broke that Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story) had joined the cast of the Marvel Studios show, it was generally assumed that he'd be playing "Zeke," but a recent Marvel U.S. Copyright listing named his character as "Joe McGillicuddy."
So, which character is Ehrenreich playing? If a new report from CWGST proves accurate, it's both.
Just in case this is supposed to be a big plot twist, potential spoilers follow.
According to the scooper, The Solo star is indeed playing Stane, but will be introduced under the alias of Joe McGillicuddy. Zeke is described as a "tech ethicist," who Riri Williams seeks out to get her hands on some black market tech to upgrade her armor.
Zeke is a pretty ruthless villain in the comics, so we assume any alliance or cooperation between the two will be short-lived.
Star Dominique Thorne recently confirmed that shooting has officially wrapped.
Producer Nate Moore said that he viewed the Ironheart series as a direct sequel to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever during an interview last year.
"That show is an outgrowth of how much we liked her in this movie and even on the page. So, when we talked with [Dominique Throne] initially, obviously the character had been written to the script and she was the one and only person we talked about for the role. When she said yes and we were down the road with the script, we also started talking with [Ryan Coogler] about what the show could be."
"So, the show is a direct sequel to the movie," he continued. "And [Riri Williams] is carrying the experiences she had in this movie back home to MIT. And there are some interesting repercussions to her adventures that will set her on a fun course."
In the comics, Riri is encouraged to suit-up and fight crime by Tony Stark, who becomes a mentor of sorts to the young hero. Stark's death in Avengers: Endgame would obviously make that particular dynamic very difficult to replicate, but Ironheart is expected to carry on Iron Man's legacy (to some extent, at least).
As for the other villains, Anthony Ramos (In The Heights, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) will play The Hood, and even though his casting still hasn't been officially announced, Sacha Baron Cohen (Sweeney Todd, Borat) is expected to make his MCU debut as Mephisto (unless he shows up in Agatha: Darkhold Diaries first).
Ironheart was recently removed from Marvel's release schedule altogether, but a new premiere date should be announced fairly soon.