- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of the Iron Monger from the Marvel Cinematic Universe film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Iron Monger (Marvel).
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| “ | For 30 years I've been holding you up! I built this company from NOTHING! And nothing is gonna stand in my way! Least of all... you! | „ |
| ~ Iron Monger to Iron Man. |
| “ | Stane: How ironic, Tony! Trying to rid the world of weapons... you gave it it's best one ever! And now, I'm gonna kill you with it! You ripped out my targeting system. Tony: Time to hit the button! Pepper: You told me not to! Stane: Hold still, you little prick. |
„ |
| ~ Obadiah Stane's last words to Tony Stark. (excluding the deleted scene) |
Obadiah Stane, also known as Iron Monger, is the main antagonist of the 2008 superhero film Iron Man, the first installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as the Iron Man trilogy. An alternate version of him also appears as a minor antagonist in "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?", the sixth episode of the Marvel animated anthology series What If...?.
He was the interim CEO of Stark Industries, Howard Stark's business partner and Tony Stark/Iron Man's personal mentor and business partner, who is later revealed to be the one who orchestrated Tony Stark's kidnapping by the Ten Rings. After Stark built a prototype suit of armor to escape The Ten Rings, Stane decided to steal the prototype and redesign it into a suit of his own, the Iron Monger, in order to destroy Stark and take control of his company. He is also Iron Man's first archenemy.
He was portrayed by Jeff Bridges, who also portrayed CLU 2 in TRON: Legacy and Barney Cousins in The Vanishing. In What If...?, he was voiced by Kiff VandenHeuvel, who also voiced Zachary Hale Comstock in BioShock Infinite.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Obadiah Stane was a businessman who worked in partnership with Howard Stark in Stark Industries for many years. Together, they were responsible for supplying many weapons to the U.S. military. Stane also worked alongside Stark and Anton Vanko in the development of the first Arc Reactor, but the massive prototype seemed impossible to develop further.
In 1967, Vanko was found to be guilty of espionage. After Howard deported him with a heavy heart, Stane comforted his friend, stating that it was sad but necessary. He told him to take it as a sign that maybe the Arc Reactor wasn't ready to be published into the world. He decided they should continue just making weapons, promising to stand by his side.
On December 16, 1991, Howard and his wife Maria were ultimately killed in a car accident. As quoted by a newspaper, Stane expressed his condolences to the Stark family and lamented Howard's loss, stating that such news filled them with grief. Due to Howard's death, Stane took over as interim CEO of the company. His brief tenure made him highly egotistical, as Stane took great pride in his work and the respect it gained him.
Shortly after, Stane was forced to step down from his position to become Stark Industries' second-in-command when Tony Stark officially took over as CEO. Stane remained with the company and became a mentor to Stark, helping him with the day-to-day operations. On July 18, 2006, the oldest university bell tower in the United States of America was rededicated to Stane and renamed as Stane Tower.
Iron Man[]
After nearly two decades as second-in-command, Stane grew tired and jealous of the younger Stark, and decided to turn against him. He began by cooperating with the Ten Rings, among other groups, selling them Stark weapons illegally behind Stark's back. Eventually, Stane felt it was time to eliminate Stark for good, so he betrayed him by contacting the Ten Rings, led by Raza to kill Stark during the Jericho presentation in Afghanistan. However, he kept the target's identity a secret. However, upon discovering who Tony really was, Raza and his men decided to kidnap him instead and hold him for ransom, intending to get him to create a Jericho missile. However, Tony used his expertise to build himself an armor, dubbing himself "Iron Man". With this new armor, Tony was able to defeat several of the Ten Rings men before returning back to business.
At first, Stane felt excited to see that Tony is alive and well, but soon learns about the new armor that Tony made to escape. To that end, he confronted Raza before betraying Raza and his men by having them killed to cover his tracks, and subsequently stealing the prototype armor. He then gets several scientists (led by William Ginter Riva) to build a new armor (known as the Iron Monger) and steals Tony's Arc Reactor by using a Sonic Taser to paralyze him, revealing his betrayal and true colors.
Eventually, Pepper Potts soon learned about Stane's crimes and exposed them in the computer system before bringing in several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to arrest him. Anticipating this, Stane dons his Iron Monger suit to kill them all. Just before Stane is about to kill Pepper, Tony (having been saved by his robot DUM-E with his first Arc Reactor) shows up with his Iron Man armor to fight back and finish off Stane for good.
The two then engaged in a huge final battle over the Stark Industries building and both combatants displayed the fullest extents and limitations of their suits' capabilities and weaponry, and destroyed vast amounts of public property across the city. Stane easily overpowered Tony in every way, but Tony ordered Pepper to activate the building's prototype large-scale Arc Reactor located at the complex underneath them. As a result, Stane is electrocuted to his death, and his armor and body fell into the reactor, resulting in a massive explosion.
Spider-Man: Far From Home[]
Stane was only seen in a flashback as Riva recalls his backstory of his allegiance with Stane that got him fired, remembering when Stane called out him for being unable to replicate Stark's Arc Reactor. It was also told that Riva (along with other former Stark Industries employees) joined Mysterio to stage many terrorist attacks (via the Elementals) so that Mysterio can 'foil' them and usurp Tony as the world's greatest hero.
What If...?[]
In the sixth episode "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?", a variant of Obadiah Stane plays a similar role to the one his original counterpart had in an alternate universe where Erik Killmonger rescued Tony Stark from the Ten Rings ambush in Afghanistan, preventing Tony from meeting with Ho Yinsen, realizing his mistakes and ever becoming Iron Man. After Killmonger returns with Tony to the United States of America, Obadiah feigns happiness at Tony's return and accompanies him to the press conference where Tony speaks about his attempted kidnapping, promises to make more weapons to defend the country and praises Erik for rescuing him by making him Stark Industries' new chief security officer.
However, when Christine Everhart asks why Erik was present at the Kunar province, Erik reveals that he went there due to uncovering Stane's plans to kill Stark. Stane denies this, but Erik exposes his receipts, wire transfers, bank documents and phone records which link Stane to the Ten Rings. Disgusted at Obadiah's actions, Tony calls his security, leading Stane to push away a security guard before Happy Hogan knocks him out, having never liked Stane. Stane was arrested and taken into custody afterwards, though Tony later would end up dying by Killmonger's hands once his usefulness was fulfilled.
Personality[]
| “ | TONY STARK WAS ABLE TO BUILD THIS IN A CAVE... WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS! | „ |
| ~ Stane's most famous line, as he angrily shows his inferiority complex, and his villainous breakdown. |
To the public, Obadiah Stane was forced to step down, and he and Tony still remained close friends though. Stane even gave an affectionate speech and covered for Tony by claiming that he was working too hard, when, in reality, he was gambling. However given his true nature, it is likely that he only covered for Tony, so people wouldn't suspect him or so he could keep the award for himself.
Just near the end of the film was when Stane's true personality was revealed: he was was a traitor willing to do whatever it took to get back to the top even if it meant killing his former friend and anyone who would dare to get in his way-going so far as to try and crush Tony with a car filled with a woman and her four children. He was also willing to kill Pepper to cover his tracks.
In addition to his greedy and ruthless nature, Stane is also rather reckless and arrogant. While he did manage to improve the first Iron Man suit, he never learned to properly train himself on how to use it before fighting Tony. This is best shown when he was unaware of the "icing problem" that Tony figured out how to beat.
Quotes[]
| “ | Raza: Compliments of Tony Stark. Stane: If you’d killed him when you’re supposed to, you’d still have a face. |
„ |
| ~ Stane berating Raza when he failed to kill Tony Stark |
| “ | Technology. That's always been your Achilles heel in this part of the world. Don't worry, it'll only last for fifteen minutes. That's the least of your problems. | „ |
| ~ Stane used Sonic Taser on Raza |
| “ | Crate up the armor and the rest of it. Alright, let’s finish up here. | „ |
| ~ Stane ordering his men to execute the hostages |
| “ | Your services are no longer required. | „ |
| ~ Stane attempting to kill Pepper Potts. |
| “ | I've never really had a taste for this kind of thing, but I must admit I'm deeply enjoying the suit! You finally outdid yourself, Tony! You'd have made your father proud! | „ |
| ~ Stane comments on Tony |
| “ | Hold still, you little prick! | „ |
| ~ Stane as he is firing a missile in his suit at Tony. |
Trivia[]
- The film's novelization by Peter David takes Obadiah Stane's heinous acts a bit further. As he and Tony are fighting, Stane becomes aware that the Arc reactor is about to explode, but is willing to let it happen anyway, which would result in the deaths of thousands of innocent people. He then attempts to kill Tony and Pepper for intervening.
- Before the release of Iron Man, it was rumored that the Mandarin would be the main antagonist of the film, because the trailer revealed the appearance of The Ten Rings.
- He was the first main antagonist of a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, serving as the first main antagonist of the Phase One in the MCU overall. However, chronologically, the first main antagonist of an MCU film was Red Skull.
- Stane was originally supposed to appear again in Iron Man 2 and in Iron Man 3, as Jon Favreau originally conceived the idea of Obadiah Stane becoming Iron Monger in the sequels after the first film. However, at the end, Favreau chose to use Stane only in the first film, while Whiplash and Aldrich Killian were used as the main villains of the sequels.
- In a deleted scene, the final battle between Iron Man and Iron Monger ended in another way different from the movie itself:
- Stane did not fall into the Arc Reactor immediately and survived being electrocuted.
- Stane tried to manipulate Stark into thinking that he was redeeming himself.
- Stane wanted Stark to help him, but then Stark released his hand and allowed Stane to fall into the reactor.
- In David Hayter's 2004 script for Iron Man, instead of Obadiah Stane, a still alive Howard Stark would have been the main antagonist, ultimately adopting the role of War Machine. However, given the similarities to David Banner from Hulk, the idea was scrapped and Stane was used as the main villain in his place.
External Links[]
- Iron Monger (novelization only) on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Iron Monger (Marvel Cinematic Universe) on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
- Iron Monger on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
- Iron Monger on the Marvel Wiki
- Iron Monger on the Marvel Movies Wiki
- Iron Monger on the VS Battles Wiki
