Iron Monger
Real Identity: Obadiah Stane
Iron Man (2008)
Characteristics and Powers: Stane is a large bald man, about fifty years old, with a long CV of business, business, business. He worked on the arc reactor prototype and directed the company into weapon-manufacturing, which led it to becoming the powerhouse it is today.
Stane is a duplicitous, two-faced old sod. He can glad hand the press one day, then stab you in the back the next–not unusual for businessmen. Profit is his Achilles heel. So much that he gets reckless trying to duplicate Tony’s success with the Iron Man suit.
Speaking of which, let’s talk about the suit. Stolen from Tony, it can go toe-to-toe with the Mark III suit thanks to its size, ordnance complement, and the miniature arc reactor. Much like a anime mechsuit, it adds increased strength, durability, and flight. Stane also made some upgrades like a better HUD, smart-targeting, and various armaments like a minigun, rocket launcher, and missiles.
But back to human form, Stane’s best advantage is a “sonic taser”, some kind of device that affects anyone who uses it by paralyzing them for fifteen minutes. I guess it was invented by Stark Industries but never “got approval” (from who?) and it’s never seen again in the MCU. Could it have been used on Thanos? Damn you, federal bureaucracy!
Relationship to the Hero(es): Bowing down to the younger Stark, cleaning up his mistakes and gaffs, assuming his duties but never his praise, really boils his potato. He’s tired of having to be the voice of reason in the company, having almost all the power but not quite. He’s been a leader of Stark Industries for thirty years and is probably greatly responsible for bringing it to the state that it’s in today. It certainly wasn’t Tony with his gambling and philandering, playing with toys in the garage. His attempt to covertly “off” him is what starts the whole MCU in the first place.
It’s frustrating babysitting a spoiled playboy, waiting for your turn at the throne, like Scar. But in truth, Tony is just another version of Stane. That’ll be a common theme we see through these Marvel movies. The heroes are constantly fighting versions of themselves. In this case, Stane is just Tony with a not-absent father.
Goals/Motivation: When we meet Obadiah Stane, he is the leader of the wealthiest technology company in the world. And the reason that company is so wealthy is because they’re war profiteers, like Halliburton and Boeing combined. Their business is weapons and business is good. Stane has been CEO before, acting as interim leader until Tony Stark, son of the company’s founder, took control. But you know how people in power hate to give up that power.
Relatability: The common man certainly recognizes people like Obadiah Stane in their lives. We see them on TV all the time, on CNN and FOX News, because there’s no scandal like a billionaire scandal. And there’ll be more Stanes to come as they are born into power. They have no need to scratch and claw for it. All they want to do is keep it, maybe add a little more if it becomes available. It certainly makes him easy to hate.
Fun Factor: I think there’s no denying that any version of an Iron Man suit would be totally fun. But an Iron Monger suit? Stane calls it a “masterpiece of death”, but it seems like a step backwards. Like you want a hot rod Dodge Firebird, but you get something that looks like a grizzled Mad Max car.
It’s like a fox fighting a gorilla–too slow, too bulky, too unadaptable.
Fatal Flaw: Stane didn’t do the work. He couldn’t figure out how to make an Iron Man suit like Tony’s so he just stole it. Which is why he didn’t realize the icing problem at high altitudes. Tony knew this and uses it to his advantage, letting Stane fall incapacitated to earth. When you cut corners, the work suffers. The only way to make the Great Wall of China is to put one brick in at a time. There’s just no other way to do it. And there’s no other way to know something so intimately.
Method of Defeat: Once they both land on the ground, Tony tells Pepper (who’s hiding in the building below) to overload the reactor. Tony knows it (foreshadowing? just suicidal?). Tony lures Obadiah into position and invokes the blast. Stane slumps over, dead in his suit. SHIELD covers it up, and Tony tells the world “I am Iron Man.”
The screenwriters didn’t need to write a moment like this. They could have had Tony finish it on his own, but I love it because it shows his dependence on Potts. He never hasn’t been.
Final Rating: ★★★
