Iron Monger
Encyclopedia
The Iron Monger is an identity used by several fiction
al supervillain
s published by Marvel Comics
. The first and most notable person to take up the identity is Obadiah Stane. He first appeared in Iron Man
#200 (November 1985), and was created by Dennis O'Neil
and Luke McDonnell.
Actor Jeff Bridges
portrayed Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Iron Man
film.
in the same issue.
was a degenerate gambler and Obadiah's mother died of unknown reasons. One day, his father, who considered himself on a "lucky streak"; played a game of Russian roulette
and shot himself in the head. This trauma
caused Obadiah to lose all of his blond hair and go bald and shaped him for years to come. From there on, Obadiah Stane was a ruthless manipulator who studied his adversaries to find weaknesses to exploit. Stane enjoys chess
, and lives his life with the same kind of methodical logic that he uses in the game. In addition, he is a strong believer in using psychological manipulation
to his advantage. For instance, in a childhood chess match against another boy whose skill at least equaled his own, he killed the boy's dog so that the other would be distracted from the game.
In adulthood, as a wealthy financier, Obadiah Stane becomes the president and CEO of his own company (Stane International) as a munitions dealer. He also goes into business with Howard Stark
. After Stark and his wife
died in a car accident, Stane turns his sights on acquiring control of Stark International, the industrial corporation he had worked with, now owned by Tony Stark
(the son of Howard Stark). Stane has his agents, the Chessmen, attack Stark Industries and assault James Rhodes
, a confidant of Tony. He also confronts Tony Stark in person. Stane also sets up Indries Moomji as Stark's lover without Stark knowing that Moomji is actually the Chessmen's Queen. Meanwhile, Stane and his associates conspire to lock Stark International out of various business deals. Stark eventually learns that Stane is the mastermind behind these attacks, but is unable to confront him. The assaults on Stark, his business, and his friend push Stark to the edge, and he catastrophically relapsed into alcoholism
. With the help of S.H.I.E.L.D.
, Stane buys out Stark International, which he then renames Stane International. Stark, having fallen off the wagon, relinquishes his armor to Jim Rhodes and disappears to be a homeless
vagrant. Rhodes becomes the new Iron Man while ignoring Stane's demands to relinquish the armor. Rhodes, as the new Iron Man, eventually thwarts Stane in his attempt to take over the Iron Man battle-suits.
Stane proceeds in manufacturing and supplying munitions and weapons to S.H.I.E.L.D. and others who could pay for them. When Tony Stark left, he left behind notes and information on the Iron Man armor. These notes are incomplete and hard to analyze, but Stane assigns a team of scientists to decipher them; they eventually create the Iron Monger armor which, according to Stane, is "far superior to Stark's Iron Man armor". He even considers selling them to the highest bidder or creating an army of Iron Mongers, using them to "take over any country he wanted".
Stane assigns the Termite to sabotage
another business rival. He also forms an alliance with Madame Masque
.
While living on the streets, Stark befriends a pregnant
homeless woman, Gertl Anders. She dies in childbirth
, whereupon Stark promises to protect the child. This vow helps Stark overcome his alcoholism. When Stark recovers, he joins Rhodes, along with twins Morley and Clytemnestra Erwin, in starting a new company in Silicon Valley
, which is eventually dubbed Circuits Maximus. Stark builds a new prototype armor, resembling his original gray suit, in order to test new designs; Stark ends up using the armor to stop an out-of-control Rhodes, and then to assist the West Coast Avengers
against Doctor Demonicus
, while using the Avengers' facilities to construct an advanced armor, the Silver Centurion.
Realizing that Stark is once again a potential threat, Stane orders the abduction of Bethany Cabe
, and plans an attack to take out Iron Man, whom Stane has deduced is currently either Rhodes or one of the Erwins. He sends an attack drone, the Circuits Breaker, to destroy Iron Man, but both Rhodes and Stark are able to defeat it. Stane further plots against Stark by switching the minds of Masque and Cabe, and by abducting Stark's old friends Happy Hogan
, Pepper Potts
, and Bambi Arbogast. He also has a bomb planted inside the Circuits Maximus dome
, killing Morley Erwin and wounding Rhodes and Clytemnestra.
When Cly confronts Stark at the hospital, Tony realizes he has to face Stane directly; he collects his newly-completed Silver Centurion armor from the Avengers compound, and flies to Long Island
. Stark confronts Stane on the property of Stane International and defeats Stane's agents, including the Chessmen, who had proven a match for his previous armor. Stane dons the Iron Monger armor and confronts Stark personally. The Iron Monger is more powerful than the previous Iron Man armor, but not the Silver Centurion model, which includes such features as the ability to absorb the heat from the Iron Monger's thermal rays and channel it into the armor's own energy supplies. Stane tries to defeat Stark by tricking him into entering a room where Happy, Pepper, and Mrs. Arbogast are being held in suspended animation tanks that could sustain them for months; the walls of the room were covered with photo-electric cells that would trigger a circuit sending 200,000 volts into their bodies if Stark moved, leaving him with no choice but to stand in the room and starve to death to keep them alive. Refusing to give up, Stark calmly uses his armor's sensors to discover that the trap's power source is located within the firing arc of his chest-plate's uni-beam weapons, allowing him to destroy it.
Having freed his friends, Stark then confronts Stane and the villain learns that even in his armor, he is no match for Stark's genius and practiced skill with his own tools. Finally, Stane uses his last card: Gertl Anders' infant son, whom Stane had abducted from an orphanage. Stane tells Stark to remove his helmet or he would crush the baby between his palms. Stark, having detected interfering frequencies in his armor's systems throughout the battle, deduces that Stane isn't experienced enough to pilot the armor without some help in the form of an external computer. He uses his armor's pulse bolts to destroy the nearby building containing that computer, causing Stane's Iron Monger armor to seize up and fall to the ground as Stark swoops in to catch the baby; since Stane based the armor on Stark's old designs, Stark knew that the armor would freeze if it lost the control of an outside source. Stane then removes his helmet and confronts Stark. Stane says defiantly that he has one thing left; the ability to deprive Stark of the enjoyment he'd receive in his enemy's humiliation and defeat. Refusing to be arrested and humiliated, he then raises his hand to the side of his head and, using the repulsor ray beam, disintegrates his skull. Stark later obtains complete control over his own company, which he renames Stark Enterprises.
During the Dark Reign
storyline, Obadiah Stane in his Iron Monger armor was chosen as a member of Pluto's jury of the damned to decide the fate of Zeus. When the lord of Hades power was undone, it was Iron Monger who laid the first blow upon him, accompanied by the sound effect 'SHTAAANNE'.
During the Chaos War
storyline, Obadiah Stane is among the dead characters in the Underworld that Pluto released in order to defend the Underworld from Amatsu-Mikaboshi
.
. General Lewis Haywerth has one of the Guardsmen
use it to test the combat skills of a U.S. Agent
.
later has one of his own agents use a suit of Iron Monger armor in an assassination attempt against the Viper
, but the suit's wearer is apparently killed by the Viper's men.
officers calling themselves 'the Cabal' commissions Stane International to design a suit of combat armor that they would use to hunt down and kill criminals as their own personal Punisher
agent. Various members of the Cabal wear the resulting Savage Steel
armor at different times, coming into conflict with Iron Man and Darkhawk
.
#8, as the brains and financial backing of a secret conspiracy to destroy the titular group, which has close ties to Stark. He would return in The Invincible Iron Man #1 to continue his vendetta against Stark in his father's name. He gradually adapts his body to become a complete cyborg
to the extent he, for instance, regenerates injuries very quickly, no longer needs to breathe, and generates at least as much energy as Iron Man. He constructs a special exoskeleton
to help him deal with excess heat (and turn it into even more usable energy).
As Iron Monger, Stane also used the Circuits Breaker, a flying robotic weapon that fires air-to-surface missiles. He also used a device created by Dr. Theron Atlanta for exchanging the consciousness of two human subjects.
The Iron Monger armor, manufactured by Stane International and code-named I-M Mark One, is an armored battle-suit of "omnium steel" (a fictional alloy), containing various offensive weaponry including a powered exoskeleton that amplified the user's strength, repulsor rays fired from the gauntlets, and an intense laser beam housed in the battle-suit's chest unit. The suit provides the user with the ability of subsonic flight, thanks to magnetically powered turbine boot jets. Since the Iron Monger armor was based on a modified version of Tony Stark's Iron Man design, the armor's abilities are very similar to the original red and gold armor, but with increased power. The repulsors were more powerful and the armor was also larger than the armor of Iron Man. It was presumably proportionally stronger as well. The Iron Monger (unlike the Iron Man armor) was also externally computer-controlled, Stane attempting to use the remote control to compensate for his lack of experience in using the armor, a vulnerability Stark exploited to disable the suit.
first shows a young Obadiah Stane in Ultimate Iron Man
with Loni Stane (his mother) and visiting Zebediah Stane
(his father) in jail (for kidnapped young Tony Stark
, whose covered in the blue skin-armor that the elder Stane wanted to manufacture). During the visit, Loni tells Zebadiah that she'll divorce him and get half while Obadiah (their son) gets the other half after Zebadiah's death. The story then fast forwards to Obadiah being enrolled in a special school
at his mother's personal request. Shortly after their arrival, Obadiah murders a pair of students (Link and Dodge) and make it look like an accident. This incident hardens Tony's resolve to improve his armor and punish Obadiah. At this point, he has already begun to build a suit that closely resembles a traditional Iron Man suit.
Later, Obadiah visits Howard Stark
(who apparently murdered Zebadiah) and has the guards attempt murder Stark, but they failed. Obadiah reveals that he's working with Dolores, who is responsible for the earlier terrorist attack on the Stark building, and Dolores convinces Obadiah to try and murder Howard. Obadiah drugs a prison guard with a "hypnotizing" bio-drug, and the guard tries to kill Howard. He fails, but Howard gets shot in the process and is in ICU and Tony sends one of his "robots" to protect his father in the hospital.
Tony (in his Iron Man armor) goes to Obadiah’s house and confronts him on setting up Howard and sending him to prison for Zebediah's murder. Obadiah says it was all Dolores' idea, and sets up a meeting with Dolores and Tony. Obadiah also figures out that the armor is not a robot, and that Tony is actually inside, a fact he shares with Dolores before he meets with Tony.
Dolores and Tony make a deal. Dolores will give Tony the information about the terrorists with nukes who plan to bomb the city, and Tony will give Dolores one of his "robots". Tony, knowing that Dolores knows he wears the armor personally decides to trick him and actually bring an Iron Man suit that is remote controlled. Dolores and Tony meet on a place together, holding each other hostage while their friends confirm each others end of the bargain. Dolores is skeptical because the Robot isn't walking smoothly and is clumsy, and Tony is skeptical because the feds found a nuke but no terrorists with it, and the deal for terrorists. Dolores men plan to kill the feds who delivered them the robot, but Rhodes shows up to save them.
Tony then realizes that Dolores is no longer on the plane, and upon breaking into the cockpit he sees another nuke. He can't disable it, because then a separate bomb will go off, destroying the nuke and plane. War Machine goes to Dolores' Mansion, only to find him dead. Someone booby trapped his piano, and it blew up in his face while he was playing. Tony flies the plane low enough to the water that Obadiah can jump off into the water. He then gets his nanobots to disarm the nuke and set off the smaller bomb while he attempts to jump off the plane. They realize that another arms dealer was out to kill everyone (Dolores, Obadiah, and Tony).
Meanwhile, Howard is recovered enough to go to prison, but the guards sent to escort him were not sent by the Police Department. Howard fights them off and escapes. Tony meets with him, and says that he thinks it was Loni that is the mastermind behind the scenes trying to kill them. Tony, Rhodes, Nifara, Howard, and Obadiah set off to Utah to find Loni. They arrive and their chopper explodes, injuring Rhodes. Obadiah falls off a cliff, but Iron Man catches him as terrorists arrive on the scene. Iron Man flees, but follows them as they take Obadiah to his mother, Loni, and their hideout. Iron Man breaks into the compound and Loni floods it with poison gas trying to kill him, abandoning Obadiah. After Tony beats Loni and tends to Howard, Obadiah (mad that his mother abandoned him for dead with the poison gas) enters the room and kills her. However, he decides not to attack Tony, stating that he had save his life several times and that they are now even. They are all picked up by the feds and go home.
In Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars
, the mastermind behind the said events was Howard Stark Sr., whose human/machine armor slightly resembles the Iron Monger armor.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. The first and most notable person to take up the identity is Obadiah Stane. He first appeared in Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
#200 (November 1985), and was created by Dennis O'Neil
Dennis O'Neil
Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil is an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement....
and Luke McDonnell.
Actor Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
portrayed Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Iron Man
Iron Man (film)
Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron...
film.
Publication history
Obadiah Stane, who would become the first Iron Monger, debuted in Iron Man #163 (October 1982). He dons the Iron Monger armor in issue #200 (November 1985), and commits suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in the same issue.
Obadiah Stane
As a child, Obadiah's father Zebediah StaneZebediah Stane
Zebediah Stane was the father of Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger .-Biography:Zebediah Stane was a degenerate gambler who lived with young Obadiah...
was a degenerate gambler and Obadiah's mother died of unknown reasons. One day, his father, who considered himself on a "lucky streak"; played a game of Russian roulette
Russian roulette
Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a single round in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger...
and shot himself in the head. This trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
caused Obadiah to lose all of his blond hair and go bald and shaped him for years to come. From there on, Obadiah Stane was a ruthless manipulator who studied his adversaries to find weaknesses to exploit. Stane enjoys chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, and lives his life with the same kind of methodical logic that he uses in the game. In addition, he is a strong believer in using psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
to his advantage. For instance, in a childhood chess match against another boy whose skill at least equaled his own, he killed the boy's dog so that the other would be distracted from the game.
In adulthood, as a wealthy financier, Obadiah Stane becomes the president and CEO of his own company (Stane International) as a munitions dealer. He also goes into business with Howard Stark
Howard Stark
Howard Stark is a fictional person in the . He is the father of Tony Stark and the founder of Stark Industries. His name came from Howard Hughes, whom he was named after. -Biography:...
. After Stark and his wife
Maria Stark
Maria Stark is a fictional character in the . She is the mother of Tony Stark and the wife of Howard Stark.-Fictional character biography:Maria Stark was born Maria Collins Carbonell, although her young life is unknown. In her adulthood, Maria married Howard Stark and together they had a son:...
died in a car accident, Stane turns his sights on acquiring control of Stark International, the industrial corporation he had worked with, now owned by Tony Stark
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
(the son of Howard Stark). Stane has his agents, the Chessmen, attack Stark Industries and assault James Rhodes
War Machine
War Machine is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in comic books set in the Marvel Comics universe. The character of James Rhodes first appeared in Iron Man #118 by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Bob Layton...
, a confidant of Tony. He also confronts Tony Stark in person. Stane also sets up Indries Moomji as Stark's lover without Stark knowing that Moomji is actually the Chessmen's Queen. Meanwhile, Stane and his associates conspire to lock Stark International out of various business deals. Stark eventually learns that Stane is the mastermind behind these attacks, but is unable to confront him. The assaults on Stark, his business, and his friend push Stark to the edge, and he catastrophically relapsed into alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. With the help of S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
, Stane buys out Stark International, which he then renames Stane International. Stark, having fallen off the wagon, relinquishes his armor to Jim Rhodes and disappears to be a homeless
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
vagrant. Rhodes becomes the new Iron Man while ignoring Stane's demands to relinquish the armor. Rhodes, as the new Iron Man, eventually thwarts Stane in his attempt to take over the Iron Man battle-suits.
Stane proceeds in manufacturing and supplying munitions and weapons to S.H.I.E.L.D. and others who could pay for them. When Tony Stark left, he left behind notes and information on the Iron Man armor. These notes are incomplete and hard to analyze, but Stane assigns a team of scientists to decipher them; they eventually create the Iron Monger armor which, according to Stane, is "far superior to Stark's Iron Man armor". He even considers selling them to the highest bidder or creating an army of Iron Mongers, using them to "take over any country he wanted".
Stane assigns the Termite to sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
another business rival. He also forms an alliance with Madame Masque
Madame Masque
Madame Masque is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by Marvel Comics. She is an occasional love interest, and sometimes enemy of Iron Man within the Marvel Universe...
.
While living on the streets, Stark befriends a pregnant
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
homeless woman, Gertl Anders. She dies in childbirth
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
, whereupon Stark promises to protect the child. This vow helps Stark overcome his alcoholism. When Stark recovers, he joins Rhodes, along with twins Morley and Clytemnestra Erwin, in starting a new company in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
, which is eventually dubbed Circuits Maximus. Stark builds a new prototype armor, resembling his original gray suit, in order to test new designs; Stark ends up using the armor to stop an out-of-control Rhodes, and then to assist the West Coast Avengers
West Coast Avengers
The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes that appear in publications published by Marvel Comics. The team first appear in The West Coast Avengers #1 and was created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall.- Publication history :...
against Doctor Demonicus
Doctor Demonicus
Doctor Demonicus is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Universe. He possess advanced knowledge of genetic engineering, though is not as versatile as Arnim Zola or the High Evolutionary...
, while using the Avengers' facilities to construct an advanced armor, the Silver Centurion.
Realizing that Stark is once again a potential threat, Stane orders the abduction of Bethany Cabe
Bethany Cabe
Bethany Cabe is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. She is a supporting character from the pages of Iron Man.-Publication history:Bethany Cabe first appeared in Iron Man Vol...
, and plans an attack to take out Iron Man, whom Stane has deduced is currently either Rhodes or one of the Erwins. He sends an attack drone, the Circuits Breaker, to destroy Iron Man, but both Rhodes and Stark are able to defeat it. Stane further plots against Stark by switching the minds of Masque and Cabe, and by abducting Stark's old friends Happy Hogan
Happy Hogan
Harold "Happy" Hogan, is a fictional character who appears in books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in books featuring Iron Man.-Fictional character biography:...
, Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts
Virginia "Pepper" Potts is a fictional character, a supporting character and a love interest of Iron Man in the Marvel Comics Universe...
, and Bambi Arbogast. He also has a bomb planted inside the Circuits Maximus dome
Geodesic dome
A geodesic dome is a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles on the surface of a sphere. The geodesics intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the structure. When...
, killing Morley Erwin and wounding Rhodes and Clytemnestra.
When Cly confronts Stark at the hospital, Tony realizes he has to face Stane directly; he collects his newly-completed Silver Centurion armor from the Avengers compound, and flies to Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. Stark confronts Stane on the property of Stane International and defeats Stane's agents, including the Chessmen, who had proven a match for his previous armor. Stane dons the Iron Monger armor and confronts Stark personally. The Iron Monger is more powerful than the previous Iron Man armor, but not the Silver Centurion model, which includes such features as the ability to absorb the heat from the Iron Monger's thermal rays and channel it into the armor's own energy supplies. Stane tries to defeat Stark by tricking him into entering a room where Happy, Pepper, and Mrs. Arbogast are being held in suspended animation tanks that could sustain them for months; the walls of the room were covered with photo-electric cells that would trigger a circuit sending 200,000 volts into their bodies if Stark moved, leaving him with no choice but to stand in the room and starve to death to keep them alive. Refusing to give up, Stark calmly uses his armor's sensors to discover that the trap's power source is located within the firing arc of his chest-plate's uni-beam weapons, allowing him to destroy it.
Having freed his friends, Stark then confronts Stane and the villain learns that even in his armor, he is no match for Stark's genius and practiced skill with his own tools. Finally, Stane uses his last card: Gertl Anders' infant son, whom Stane had abducted from an orphanage. Stane tells Stark to remove his helmet or he would crush the baby between his palms. Stark, having detected interfering frequencies in his armor's systems throughout the battle, deduces that Stane isn't experienced enough to pilot the armor without some help in the form of an external computer. He uses his armor's pulse bolts to destroy the nearby building containing that computer, causing Stane's Iron Monger armor to seize up and fall to the ground as Stark swoops in to catch the baby; since Stane based the armor on Stark's old designs, Stark knew that the armor would freeze if it lost the control of an outside source. Stane then removes his helmet and confronts Stark. Stane says defiantly that he has one thing left; the ability to deprive Stark of the enjoyment he'd receive in his enemy's humiliation and defeat. Refusing to be arrested and humiliated, he then raises his hand to the side of his head and, using the repulsor ray beam, disintegrates his skull. Stark later obtains complete control over his own company, which he renames Stark Enterprises.
During the Dark Reign
Dark Reign (comics)
"Dark Reign" is a 2008–2009 crossover comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It deals with the aftermath of the "Secret Invasion" storyline, which led to a shift of power in the Marvel Universe toward Norman Osborn. The title "Dark Reign" refers to Osborn's rise to national power and the...
storyline, Obadiah Stane in his Iron Monger armor was chosen as a member of Pluto's jury of the damned to decide the fate of Zeus. When the lord of Hades power was undone, it was Iron Monger who laid the first blow upon him, accompanied by the sound effect 'SHTAAANNE'.
During the Chaos War
Chaos War (comics)
"Chaos War" is a Marvel Comics storyline that began publication in October 2010 across nine comic book series: the five-issue miniseries Chaos War, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, supplemented by seven branded miniseries or one-shot publications, and by three issues of Incredible Hulks, a...
storyline, Obadiah Stane is among the dead characters in the Underworld that Pluto released in order to defend the Underworld from Amatsu-Mikaboshi
Amatsu-Mikaboshi (comics)
Amatsu-Mikaboshi is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe, a supervillain and demonic god of evil who is best known as an enemy of Hercules...
Simon Steele's employee
Industrialist Simon Steele constructs another Iron Monger suit, and has an employee wear it in battle against Dominic FortuneDominic Fortune
Dominic Fortune is a fictional comic book character, owned by Marvel Comics.Created by Howard Chaykin and based on the Scorpion, Chaykin's character for the failed Atlas/Seaboard Comics company, Dominic Fortune was originally a 1930s costumed, fortune-seeking adventurer.-Publication history:Dominic...
.
Guardsman
After Stane's death, the original Iron Monger armor was obtained by the United States governmentFederal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. General Lewis Haywerth has one of the Guardsmen
Guardsman (comics)
Guardsman was the name of a superhero in the Marvel Universe, but was later applied to a small squad of agents. He/they wear suits of power armor while working security at the Vault; the suits were designed by Tony Stark, better known as the superhero Iron Man....
use it to test the combat skills of a U.S. Agent
U.S. Agent
U.S. Agent is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually those starring Captain America and the Avengers. He was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary in Captain America vol...
.
Slagmire
Stark's former college classmate Joey Cosmatos builds a third Iron Monger suit, working from Stane's plans. This suit is worn by the criminal Slagmire, an operative of underworld boss Mr. Desmond.Cristoph Pfeifer
The Red SkullRed Skull
The Red Skull is a name shared by several fictional characters, all supervillains from the Marvel Comics universe. All incarnations of the character are enemies of Captain America, other superheroes, and the United States in general....
later has one of his own agents use a suit of Iron Monger armor in an assassination attempt against the Viper
Viper (Madame Hydra)
Viper, formerly known as Madame Hydra, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe who is a foe of the Avengers and the X-Men...
, but the suit's wearer is apparently killed by the Viper's men.
The Cabal
A group of renegade New York City Police DepartmentNew York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
officers calling themselves 'the Cabal' commissions Stane International to design a suit of combat armor that they would use to hunt down and kill criminals as their own personal Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
agent. Various members of the Cabal wear the resulting Savage Steel
Savage Steel
Savage Steel is an identity used by several fictional characters in the Marvel Universe, most notably Jimmy Zafar.-Fictional character biography:...
armor at different times, coming into conflict with Iron Man and Darkhawk
Darkhawk
Darkhawk is a fictional comic book superhero who first appeared in his own self-titled series, Darkhawk #1...
.
Ezekiel Stane
Obadiah has a son named Ezekiel "Zeke" Stane who is introduced in The OrderThe Order (comics)
The Order is the name of two fictional comic book superhero teams in the Marvel Comics universe. The first team was a brief offshoot of the team Defenders, and the second is part of an initiative to place a superhero team in each state of the United States....
#8, as the brains and financial backing of a secret conspiracy to destroy the titular group, which has close ties to Stark. He would return in The Invincible Iron Man #1 to continue his vendetta against Stark in his father's name. He gradually adapts his body to become a complete cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
to the extent he, for instance, regenerates injuries very quickly, no longer needs to breathe, and generates at least as much energy as Iron Man. He constructs a special exoskeleton
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
to help him deal with excess heat (and turn it into even more usable energy).
Obadiah Stane
Obadiah Stane was a genius with an M.B.A. He was a master of psychological warfare, a cunning business strategist, and a champion chess player. However, he had a classic narcissistic complex; his ego was his greatest vulnerability.As Iron Monger, Stane also used the Circuits Breaker, a flying robotic weapon that fires air-to-surface missiles. He also used a device created by Dr. Theron Atlanta for exchanging the consciousness of two human subjects.
The Iron Monger armor, manufactured by Stane International and code-named I-M Mark One, is an armored battle-suit of "omnium steel" (a fictional alloy), containing various offensive weaponry including a powered exoskeleton that amplified the user's strength, repulsor rays fired from the gauntlets, and an intense laser beam housed in the battle-suit's chest unit. The suit provides the user with the ability of subsonic flight, thanks to magnetically powered turbine boot jets. Since the Iron Monger armor was based on a modified version of Tony Stark's Iron Man design, the armor's abilities are very similar to the original red and gold armor, but with increased power. The repulsors were more powerful and the armor was also larger than the armor of Iron Man. It was presumably proportionally stronger as well. The Iron Monger (unlike the Iron Man armor) was also externally computer-controlled, Stane attempting to use the remote control to compensate for his lack of experience in using the armor, a vulnerability Stark exploited to disable the suit.
Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate MarvelUltimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel is an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and updated versions of the company's superhero characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series...
first shows a young Obadiah Stane in Ultimate Iron Man
Ultimate Iron Man
Ultimate Iron Man is the name of two comic book miniseries written by Orson Scott Card and published by Marvel Comics. The stories tell the origins of the Ultimate Marvel version of Iron Man, who appears in Ultimates.-Publication history:...
with Loni Stane (his mother) and visiting Zebediah Stane
Zebediah Stane
Zebediah Stane was the father of Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger .-Biography:Zebediah Stane was a degenerate gambler who lived with young Obadiah...
(his father) in jail (for kidnapped young Tony Stark
Ultimate Iron Man (character)
Ultimate Iron Man , is the Ultimate Marvel version of the fictional superhero Iron Man that first appeared in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #4, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Mike Allred. He later appeared in the Ultimates and often appears in the same titles they do...
, whose covered in the blue skin-armor that the elder Stane wanted to manufacture). During the visit, Loni tells Zebadiah that she'll divorce him and get half while Obadiah (their son) gets the other half after Zebadiah's death. The story then fast forwards to Obadiah being enrolled in a special school
Baxter Building
The Baxter Building is a fictitious 35-story office building in Manhattan whose five upper floors house the Fantastic Four's headquarters in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:...
at his mother's personal request. Shortly after their arrival, Obadiah murders a pair of students (Link and Dodge) and make it look like an accident. This incident hardens Tony's resolve to improve his armor and punish Obadiah. At this point, he has already begun to build a suit that closely resembles a traditional Iron Man suit.
Later, Obadiah visits Howard Stark
Howard Stark
Howard Stark is a fictional person in the . He is the father of Tony Stark and the founder of Stark Industries. His name came from Howard Hughes, whom he was named after. -Biography:...
(who apparently murdered Zebadiah) and has the guards attempt murder Stark, but they failed. Obadiah reveals that he's working with Dolores, who is responsible for the earlier terrorist attack on the Stark building, and Dolores convinces Obadiah to try and murder Howard. Obadiah drugs a prison guard with a "hypnotizing" bio-drug, and the guard tries to kill Howard. He fails, but Howard gets shot in the process and is in ICU and Tony sends one of his "robots" to protect his father in the hospital.
Tony (in his Iron Man armor) goes to Obadiah’s house and confronts him on setting up Howard and sending him to prison for Zebediah's murder. Obadiah says it was all Dolores' idea, and sets up a meeting with Dolores and Tony. Obadiah also figures out that the armor is not a robot, and that Tony is actually inside, a fact he shares with Dolores before he meets with Tony.
Dolores and Tony make a deal. Dolores will give Tony the information about the terrorists with nukes who plan to bomb the city, and Tony will give Dolores one of his "robots". Tony, knowing that Dolores knows he wears the armor personally decides to trick him and actually bring an Iron Man suit that is remote controlled. Dolores and Tony meet on a place together, holding each other hostage while their friends confirm each others end of the bargain. Dolores is skeptical because the Robot isn't walking smoothly and is clumsy, and Tony is skeptical because the feds found a nuke but no terrorists with it, and the deal for terrorists. Dolores men plan to kill the feds who delivered them the robot, but Rhodes shows up to save them.
Tony then realizes that Dolores is no longer on the plane, and upon breaking into the cockpit he sees another nuke. He can't disable it, because then a separate bomb will go off, destroying the nuke and plane. War Machine goes to Dolores' Mansion, only to find him dead. Someone booby trapped his piano, and it blew up in his face while he was playing. Tony flies the plane low enough to the water that Obadiah can jump off into the water. He then gets his nanobots to disarm the nuke and set off the smaller bomb while he attempts to jump off the plane. They realize that another arms dealer was out to kill everyone (Dolores, Obadiah, and Tony).
Meanwhile, Howard is recovered enough to go to prison, but the guards sent to escort him were not sent by the Police Department. Howard fights them off and escapes. Tony meets with him, and says that he thinks it was Loni that is the mastermind behind the scenes trying to kill them. Tony, Rhodes, Nifara, Howard, and Obadiah set off to Utah to find Loni. They arrive and their chopper explodes, injuring Rhodes. Obadiah falls off a cliff, but Iron Man catches him as terrorists arrive on the scene. Iron Man flees, but follows them as they take Obadiah to his mother, Loni, and their hideout. Iron Man breaks into the compound and Loni floods it with poison gas trying to kill him, abandoning Obadiah. After Tony beats Loni and tends to Howard, Obadiah (mad that his mother abandoned him for dead with the poison gas) enters the room and kills her. However, he decides not to attack Tony, stating that he had save his life several times and that they are now even. They are all picked up by the feds and go home.
In Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars
Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars
Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars is an American comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics. The series is set in the Ultimate Universe, and is written by Warren Ellis and pencilled by Steve Kurth....
, the mastermind behind the said events was Howard Stark Sr., whose human/machine armor slightly resembles the Iron Monger armor.
Television
- Obadiah Stane appears in Iron Man: Armored AdventuresIron Man: Armored AdventuresIron Man: Armored Adventures is a 3D CGI cartoon series based on the Marvel Comics superhero Iron Man. It debuted in the USA on the Nicktoons on April 24, 2009, and has already begun airing on Canadian network Teletoon. The series is story edited by showrunner Christopher Yost, who also worked on...
voiced by Mackenzie GrayMackenzie GrayMackenzie Gray is a Canadian film, television, and stage actor. He is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Canada. He divides his time between Toronto and Vancouver....
. In this version, he is one of Howard Stark's associates. Unlike Howard, Obadiah wants to use the company to create weapons in order to make more profit without considering the deaths it will cause. He is the second-most prominent antagonist, after the MandarinMandarin (comics)The Mandarin is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain and the archenemy of Iron Man.In 2009, Mandarin was ranked as IGN's 81st Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.-Publication history:...
. After Howard Stark rejects Stane's plans to upgrade the "Earth Mover" project, he is believed to have caused the aircraft that the Starks ride to explode, killing Howard, but leaving Tony a survivor, and continues to deny any involvement in the action (which in the season 1 finale was proven fact, as Gene aka the Mandarin stated it was his doing). After this, Stane becomes the new CEO of Stark Industries, as Tony is too young to assume the post, and ignores the boy's request to be involved. When Tony Stark becomes Iron Man for the first time, Obadiah (who is unaware that Iron Man is actually Tony Stark) immediately becomes strongly interested by his armor and tries to get Iron Man to his side. In the episode "Iron, Forged From Fire (Part 2)", Obadiah tests out the modified Earth Movers on Iron Man only for the MandarinMandarin (comics)The Mandarin is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain and the archenemy of Iron Man.In 2009, Mandarin was ranked as IGN's 81st Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.-Publication history:...
to attack and target one of his rings that Obadiah is wearing. Obadiah quickly surrenders the ring to Mandarin. After a brief fight between Mandarin and Iron Man, Obadiah tried a last time to convince Iron Man to join him in vain. In the episode "Cold War", it is revealed that Obadiah was responsible for the disfiguration of the scientist who becameBlizzard (Donnie Gill)Blizzard is a fictional character, both a supervillain and superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. He is the second Blizzard.-Fictional character biography:...
BlizzardBlizzard (comics)The Blizzard is the name of three fictional characters that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics.The original version first appears in Tales of Suspense #45 as a supervillain and is currently deceased. The second version first appears in Iron Man #223 The Blizzard is the name of three...
in an attempt to create a new weapon. Blizzard and Iron Man make an alliance against him, but Iron Man (understanding Blizzard has no consideration in killing innocents in order to get Stane) eventually turns against his ally and reluctantly saves Stane from the freezing villain. Instead of thanking him, Stane expresses his disappointment that Iron Man was safe, and vows to find out who he is and take the armor from him. Losing patience with this threats, Iron Man just answers "Your time is coming Stane" before shooting Stane's camera. In the episode "Field Trip", Stane is revealed to have a daughter named Whitney Stane whom he has no serious interest for his daughter except for her homework, and she apparently dislikes him. This later causes her to become the show's incarnation of Madame MasqueMadame MasqueMadame Masque is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by Marvel Comics. She is an occasional love interest, and sometimes enemy of Iron Man within the Marvel Universe...
in the episode "Masquerade" and impersonate him. In the episode "Seeing Red", he makes a deal with Project PegasusProject PegasusProject Pegasus is a fictional scientific base in the Marvel Comics universe which has been the location of a variety of stories for superheroes and supervillains, most notably in the title Marvel Two-in-One...
scientist Anton Harkov to sponsor the research that Anton is working on. Obadiah has the Crimson DynamoCrimson DynamoThe Crimson Dynamo is the name of several fictional characters in the Marvel Comics Universe, most of whom have been supervillains. The various Crimson Dynamos have been powered armor-wearing Russian or Soviet agents who have clashed with the superhero Iron Man over the course of his heroic career...
armor upgraded before sending it with O'Brian (Obadiah's head of security) to get Iron Man. Though the Crimson Dynamo succeeds in capturing the hero, Iron Man is able to escape before they can open the armor thanks to a diversion caused by PepperPepper PottsVirginia "Pepper" Potts is a fictional character, a supporting character and a love interest of Iron Man in the Marvel Comics Universe...
. After the Crimson Dynamo has been defeated by Iron Man in his own Dynamo Armor and the Technovore virus eliminating the data on the Iron Man and Crimson Dynamo armors, Obadiah Stane had his secretary tell Anton that the offer is rescinded. In the episode "Chasing Ghosts," it was believed by Tony and Whitney that Obadiah hired Ghost to assassinate Tony. It turned out that Obadiah was actually tipping off the FBI about the assassination attempt. In the episode "Best Served Cold", Madame Masque makes one of her attempts on her father's life which is when Obadiah learns of her true identity upon being subdued. When Whitney falls ill from the effects of her mask, Obadiah calls in Tony to tell him about the mask. In order to obtain a cure for Whitney, Tony takes the Iron Man armor to an arctic base where an unrefined ore is located to help cure Whitney. Obadiah thaws out Blizzard and places an explosive on his costume in order to get him to obtain the ore first. When Blizzard goes back on the deal and freezes the explosive, he attacks Obadiah only to end up fighting Iron Man and Madame Masque. After Blizzard is defeated, Iron Man knocks out Obadiah so that Madame Masque couldn't kill him. After Whitney is cured, Obadiah thanks Tony for curing his daughter. In the episode "Invincible Iron Man: Disassembled," Obadiah Stane and Justin Hammer are kidnapped by Whiplash. In the episode "Ghost in the Machine," Obadiah Stane hires Ghost to steal the blueprints to the Iron Man armor. Ghost succeeds and Obadiah uses the blueprints to build the Guardsmen armors. In the episode "Armor Wars," Obadiah Stane makes a public service announcement about his Guardsmen making plans to bring down Iron Man and announces the Guardsmen Expo coming up. At the Stark International Guardsmen Expo, Obadiah Stane introduces Firepower as the third Guardsmen when Iron Man appears. Using the hacking of the televised screen at the expo, Iron Man reveals that Force and Shockwave were actually criminals, and Obadiah Stane is forced to feign surprise. He later makes a televised appearance stating that he had no idea the criminals used fake identities in order to get jobs at Stark International. Later, Stane was preparing to complete Project Monger as the field test for the Guardsmen is complete. In "The Might of Doom", Stane later contacted Doctor DoomDoctor DoomVictor von Doom is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak...
for technological help with the Monger's power core. However, Doom used the opportunity to sabotage the core, hoping to take out his competitors in the resulting explosion. The Iron Monger appears for real in the tenth episode of the second season "Enter: Iron Monger". There, it is a huge machine, actually referred to as "mechaMechaA mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
" during the test which was capable of easily destroying the Crimson DynamoCrimson DynamoThe Crimson Dynamo is the name of several fictional characters in the Marvel Comics Universe, most of whom have been supervillains. The various Crimson Dynamos have been powered armor-wearing Russian or Soviet agents who have clashed with the superhero Iron Man over the course of his heroic career...
3.0 armor. Its size was stated to be 30 feet, although RhodeyWar MachineWar Machine is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in comic books set in the Marvel Comics universe. The character of James Rhodes first appeared in Iron Man #118 by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Bob Layton...
later stated it to be 40 feet. Since the Board of Directors was skeptical about the practicality of such a costly machine, Stane decided to give a demonstration by having it demolish an abandoned city area. However, during the test, a man entered the area, and Iron Man along with War Machine interfered to save him. After the Iron Monger's test pilot O'Brien saw the reason for their action, he ceased the test and returned to base. Later, the Iron Monger (piloted by Stane himself this time) went to the same area again to fight Iron Man and War Machine. However, Tony has managed to download the Iron Monger's schematics and analysis has revealed that the mecha depends on an uplink to an external processing unit to function properly. After the uplink was disrupted, the Iron Monger was easily defeated. The next day, Tony was in the Board of Directors' room with Roberta Rhodes and Professor Zimmer (the old man that Iron Man rescued) where Roberta tells Obadiah that Professor Zimmer won't file charges if Obadiah leaves his building alone. In the episode "Heavy Mettle," Obadiah Stane has the Iron Monger armor tested against some tanks before some military officials. The demonstration is crashed by Iron Man who states that Obadiah Stane stole his Iron Man specs and ends up flying him up to the sky telling him that he will put an end to Obadiah Stane's "war." Obadiah states that the war has just begun. Obadiah Stane sells the military contract to the military surpassing Hammer Multinational's m. Using footage obtained by James Rhodes, Tony Stark and Roberta show footage of Obadiah Stane receiving the Iron Man specs from Ghost. The Board of Directors end up firing Obadiah Stane who vows to make Iron Man and the Board of Directors pay for this. Upon a comment made by Tony Stark, Obadiah Stane figures out that Tony Stark is Iron Man as he is dragged from Stark International by security. Obadiah Stane realizes that Tony Stark is Iron Man and later retaliates by stealing the Iron Monger armor after taking down the security guards that were guarding it with a self-defense gadget that Stark International developed. Justin Hammer then places a device that would make the Iron Monger armor go haywire as Obadiah Stane pilots the Iron Monger armor toward Roberta Rhodes' house. Iron Monger manages to take Pepper Potts hostage. At the suggestion of Sasha, Justin Hammer uses the Titanium Man armor to fight Iron Monger which doesn't go well. When Iron Man arrives in the Hulkbuster armor, Iron Monger pins down Iron Man and reveals that he knows his identity. Whitney Stane arrives and tries to convince her father to spare Iron Man for her. Iron Monger lifts his foot enough for Iron Man to escape as Justin Hammer orders Sasha to take control of the Iron Monger armor and send it on a rampage. Iron Man discovers that someone is remote-controlling the Iron Monger and suspects that Titanium Man is behind this. While Iron Man fights Titanium Man, War Machine tries to take out the Iron Monger's legs as the Iron Monger armor is controlled to try to eliminate Whitney. Iron Monger then falls off the building as Titanium Man laughs at this. Obadiah Stane ends up in a coma following what happened as Whitney arrives telling Tony, James, and Pepper to leave.
Film
- Jeff BridgesJeff BridgesJeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
plays Obadiah Stane as the main antagonist in the 2008 film Iron ManIron Man (film)Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron...
. This version of Stane is Stark's mentor, an old friend and business partner of his father's who handles the day to day workings of the company, while Stark serves mainly as "an idea man" (or "the Golden GooseGolden GooseThe Golden Goose is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm .-Story:The hero is the youngest of three brothers, given the nickname Dummling. His eldest brother is sent into the forest to chop wood, fortified with a rich cake and a bottle of wine. He meets a little gray man who begs a morsel...
", as Stane puts it). Obadiah Stane in the movie appears to have a keychain sized device that paralyses anyone in vincity who is not wearing ear protection for example ear plugs. Stane uses the device to steal the prototype armor and Stark's arc reactor that was keeping him alive. Although he at first appears to be a loyal and devoted friend to Stark, after the younger man returns from being held hostageHostageA hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
in AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, it is revealed that he has been secretly plotting to wrest control of the company from him for years, and in fact ordered the Afghanistan attack as part of a failed assassinationAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
attempt. Using Stark's public decision to shut down the company's weapons manufacturing division as a pretense, Stane gets an injunctionInjunctionAn injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
on behalf of the shareholderShareholderA shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
s to essentially have Stark thrown out of his own company and take over. He then uses the fragments of Stark's prototypePrototypeA prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
Iron Man armor, recovered from Afghanistan, to reverse engineerReverse engineeringReverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
a larger, more powerful version, which he hopes to mass produce and use to revolutionize modern warfare. However, his scientists are unable to duplicate the arc reactor, and Stane is forced to steal Stark's, which also serves as his life supportLife supportLife support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patient's life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...
system, exposing the extent of his treachery and leaving the hero for dead. Stark is able to install the first arc reactor that Pepper PottsPepper PottsVirginia "Pepper" Potts is a fictional character, a supporting character and a love interest of Iron Man in the Marvel Comics Universe...
had mounted in a display case. By this point, however, Potts has stumbled onto Stane's criminal activities and alerts the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.S.H.I.E.L.D.S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
. Although they move in to arrest Stane, they arrive too late to stop him from activating and donning his armor prototype, which he uses to crush them and escape. It therefore falls to Stark, using that obsolete arc reactor, to stop him as Iron Man. This results in a lengthy battle in and around Stark Industries' headquarters, but Stark is outmatched by Stane, as his old reactor is underpowered for his current suit. The battle climaxes when Stark lures Stane into an aerial melee, correctly gambling that his enemy would not be ready for the dangerous high altitude icing conditions he already accounted for. After the resulting fall, in which both men's armor are severely damaged (with Stark's armor now operating on only emergency back-up power), Stane is finally stopped when Stark orders Potts to overload the building's arc reactor. This unleashes a massive electrical surge that electrocutes Stane, after which he falls into the reactor itself, apparently killing him in the resulting explosion. His apparent death is subsequently covered up by S.H.I.E.L.D., which puts out a false story saying that he died in an airplane crashAviation accidents and incidentsAn aviation accident is defined in the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, in which a...
while on vacation abroad. In a deleted scene, Stane actually survived the blast and was still injured on the building next to the badly damaged Tony Stark and was stuck in the armor. Making a speech about his and Tony's relationship, he grabbed Tony's hand, saying that it was time for both of them to go. However, the glove Tony wore fell off, causing the Monger armor to slip and Obadiah to fall to his doom.
- While Stane does not appear physically in Iron Man 2Iron Man 2Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon...
, he's briefly seen on a magazine cover on a wall in Ivan VankoWhiplash (comics)Whiplash is the name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Each Whiplash is a minor supervillain in the Marvel Universe, with the first and latest appearing as prominent members of Iron Man's rogues gallery.-Mark Scarlotti:...
's room.
Video games
- Iron Monger is featured in the 20082008 in video gamingNotable events of 2008 in video gaming. See also history of video games. The release dates listed in this article are the games' original release dates.-Events:...
video game Iron ManIron Man (video game)The Nintendo DS, Wii, PS2 and PSP versions all received mixed critical scores on Gamerankings and Metacritic. These versions were generally well received by the fans, but suffer from gameplay, graphics and controls frustrations...
voiced by Fred TatascioreFred TatascioreFrederick "Fred" Tatasciore is an American voice actor who portrays secondary characters as well as monstrous-looking types...
. As in the movie, he persistently objects to Tony's new decision not to sell weapons any more. However, unlike in the movie, his resistance to this new strategy goes beyond developing the Iron Monger suit, contacting A.I.M.Advanced Idea MechanicsA.I.M. is a fictional terrorist organization in the . The organization first appeared in Strange Tales #146 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.-Publication history:...
to offer his services in helping them to develop weapons. With Stane's assistance, A.I.M. is able to create the Titanium ManTitanium ManThe Titanium Man is the name of two or more fictional characters, supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe. The original Titanium Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #69 . He was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.-Titanium Man I:Boris Bullski was born in Makeyevka, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union...
armor, but their inability to perfect the power source means that the armor must periodically recharge during a fight, and the Titanium Man is thus defeated by Iron Man. With Tony distracted by dealing with A.I.M., Stane is able to complete the Iron Monger armor, subsequently facing Tony in a final confrontation before he is apparently killed as the arc reactor overloads.
Toys
- Three Iron Monger figures are featured in the initial Iron Man film toy line by HasbroHasbroHasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
, one of which features an "opening cockpit" that reveals Jeff Bridges' character inside. The second has a smashing fist action, with less movie accurate red lights. The third figure has since been repainted and released to appear more like the comic version's blue armor. A repaint of the Fist Smash Attack Iron Monger mold called Battle Monger in the colors of Iron Man, is an upgraded model according to its bio. - A figure of Iron Monger, based on his appearance in the film Iron Man, was released in wave 21 of the Marvel MinimatesMinimatesMinimates are a block-styled miniature action figure originally created by Art Asylum in 2002 and now released by Diamond Select Toys. The basic Minimate figure design has a 2" tall body that resembles an extremely simplified human form with 14 points of articulation, higher than average for block...
line, and a battle damaged version was released as a retailer exclusive. - A figure of Iron Monger based on his film appearance was released in the Iron Monger Attacks 4-pack from the Marvel Super Hero SquadMarvel Super Hero SquadMarvel Super Hero Squad is an action figure line marketed by Hasbro beginning in 2006. The line features scale replicas of comic book heroes from the Marvel Comics universe. Each figure is portrayed in a cartoonish super-deformed-style. The line was designed for younger collectors but has become a...
line, packaged with 2 figures of Iron Man and one of War MachineWar MachineWar Machine is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in comic books set in the Marvel Comics universe. The character of James Rhodes first appeared in Iron Man #118 by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Bob Layton...
, and Titanium ManTitanium ManThe Titanium Man is the name of two or more fictional characters, supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe. The original Titanium Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #69 . He was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.-Titanium Man I:Boris Bullski was born in Makeyevka, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union...
. The same figure was released in the Crimson Dynamo Attacks 4-pack, packaged with 2 figures of Iron Man and one of War Machine. A second figure, based on his comic book appearance, was released in the Armor Wars: Part I 3-pack, packaged with Iron Man and War Machine. - 2 figures of Iron Monger were released in HasbroHasbroHasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
's 3.75" Iron Man 2Iron Man 2 (toy line)Iron Man 2 is a toy line manufactured by Hasbro, composed mainly of 3 3/4" scale action figures based on the movie of the same name. This is the company's second 3 3/4" line based on a Marvel movie following X-Men Origins: Wolverine and like that line will include figures modeled after characters...
movie tie-in line. A figure based on his appearance in the film Iron Man was released in wave 1, and a figure based on the comic book armor was released in wave 4.
Novels and Books
- In the novel Spider-Man: Venom's Wrath, an early scene features Spider-Man confronting a teenager named Daniel in a "cheesy exoskeleton" who calls himself the Iron Monger, and attempts to rob a movie theater (a police officer told Spider-Man that this was the third time he had attempted something like this). Spider-Man explains that "an ironmonger is someone who sells iron, not someone who wears it. Last guy to use the name was an industrialist, so it fit him." Daniel's suit includes a laser weapon he calls a "hydrogel blast", despite Spider-Man realizing that term makes no sense
External links
- Iron Monger at Marvel.com