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Along with the Hood and Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen), Ironheart also debuted Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy – an alias used by Ezekiel Stane, the son of original Iron Man villain Obadiah Stane. Surprisingly, Joss Whedon originally planned for Ezekiel Stane to show up during The Avengers. “I wrote a huge draft with Ezekiel Stane,” Whedon noted during a 2018 interview with Thrillist. “Kevin [Feige] looked at it and said, ‘Yeah, no.’ Louis D’Esposito actually at that point said, ‘Yeah, Kevin, it’s all wrong, but look how good it is. Like this is really good wrong.’ That was a nice boost.”
Had Ezekiel Stane appeared in The Avengers, it would have been only four years since his father’s death at the hands of Tony Stark in 2008’s Iron Man. Obadiah Stane became the Iron Monger in Iron Man, and was seemingly killed by Stark after their battle at Stark Industries HQ. Ezekiel “Zeke” Stane made his Marvel Comics debut in 2008’s The Order #8, and he sought revenge on Tony Stark for the death of his father. The Avengers’ original plan presumably would have followed this story, but it’s good that Marvel Studios waited to introduce Zeke until Ironheart.
