IRONHEART Twist Unexpectedly Revives an Iconic IRON MAN Villain in a Whole New Way
The MCU loves throwing a good curveball, and Ironheart just threw one that might catch fans off guard. While the show’s core leans into Riri Williams’ journey of ambition, science, and self-definition, the first few episodes also carry a slow-burning mystery that unexpectedly resurrects the legacy of one of Iron Man’s most iconic villains.
This isn’t some multiverse remix, this twist digs into the aftermath of Obadiah Stane. Early in the series, Riri reluctantly partners with Anthony Ramos’ Hood and his gang of Young Lords.
Her drive to outshine Tony Stark pushes her into morally murky territory, and somewhere in the mix, she crosses paths with a jittery black-market tech dealer going by “Joe McGillicuddy,” played by Solo’s Alden Ehrenreich. It doesn’t take long before things crack wide open.
By Episode 3, it’s revealed that Joe is actually Ezekiel Stane, son of Iron Man’s very first MCU villain, Obadiah Stane. The reveal came with a bag of ashes labeled “Obadiah S.” tucked away in his kitchen. Suddenly, all the pieces line up with his obsession with tech, his buried shame, and the effort to keep his identity hidden.
Zeke eventually opens up to Riri, explaining that Stark Industries, along with S.H.I.E.L.D., buried the truth about his father’s death. Obadiah didn’t die in a tragic crash; he went down in flames as a failed murderer in a weaponized suit.
Zeke’s entire life has been lived in the shadow of that secret, but what’s interesting is that, unlike his comics counterpart, this Zeke doesn’t want vengeance. “He went full supervillain,” Zeke says of his father, and that’s exactly the path he’s determined to avoid.
In the comics, Ezekiel Stane is a next-gen threat, a genius inventor who augments himself with cutting-edge biotech, basically the anti-Tony Stark with a vendetta. He enhances his body, builds advanced weapons, and sets his sights on toppling Stark’s empire.
But the MCU’s take is a softer, more internalized Zeke. He’s still brilliant, still tinkering, but more interested in healing than harming. When Riri visits his place, he’s experimenting on a neurolink chip for prosthetics.
What makes this twist work is how it echoes and challenges Riri’s own journey. Both she and Zeke are reacting to legacies, Tony and Obadiah, respectively, but from totally different vantage points. Riri’s ambition is forged in scarcity and struggle, and Zeke’s in privilege and guilt. They both want to build something new, but the paths they’re on may not stay so friendly.
By resurrecting the name “Stane,” Ironheart manages: to honor the past without repeating it and breathes life into what legacy means for the next generation of geniuses, one who might carry the weight of their fathers without becoming them. Or maybe, inevitably, because of them.