The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced plenty of villains over the years, but only a relatively small handful of them have actually survived their encounters with the MCU heroes. This trend began all the way back in Iron Man, but what a lot of people don’t know is that the film almost spared its chief villain. The conclusion of the first Iron Man saw the film’s antagonist, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) suffer an inglorious fate at the conclusion of his duel with the titular hero. But considering the character almost survived the film in an early draft of the script, it’s worth considering how his survival could have influenced the future of the universe.
In the original Iron Man film, Obadiah Stane was initially introduced as Tony Stark’s business partner. A former friend of Howard Stark, Stane was eventually revealed to have been responsible for hiring the Ten Rings to dispose of Tony. After his survival and subsequent construction of the Iron Man armor, Tony’s position within his own company was upended by Stane’s machinations. Having grown tired of his scientists failing to recreate the Arc Reactor, Stane confronted Stark and stole his — using it to power a massive Iron Monger armor. Iron Man’s arrival set off a massive fight with the pair that concluded at a Stark Industries laboratory, where, on Tony’s order, Pepper utilized the massive Arc Reactor to overload Stane’s armor, leaving him stunned as he fell into the reactor.
But according to a 2017 Q&A with IGN, Bridges revealed that Stane almost actually survived the events of the film. Bridges recalled how “When I was hired on, it was scripted that Obadiah would live, that when they opened his Iron Monger suit… he was not in it. Then, they decided to kill my ass off. Telling me ‘it’s a comic-fantasy, so who knows, your character could come back.'” It’s interesting to consider what the future of the MCU could have looked like with Obidiah Stane still on the board, though. Coming at the beginning of the overarching MCU storyline, Stane’s presence and place as a counterpoint to Tony and his inventions could have empowered plenty of other antagonists from across the franchise, especially if he went on the run and retained his weapons dealing.
Stane’s Iron Monger armor could have been a natural counterpoint to heroes like the Hulk or Iron Man, providing assistance to the likes of Thunderbolt Ross and Justin Hammer. His presence in Iron Man 2 could have also provided Hammer and Ivan Vanko more knowledge and expertise over Stark technology, giving them an edge over Iron Man and War Machine and potentially doing more damage. And then there’s the chance that Stane could have become a more overt ally to nefarious forces like the Ten Rings from Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings or even the Hydra conspiracy hidden within SHIELD in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Beyond the Iron Monger experience he gained, Stane’s willingness to use far more dangerous weapons — such as the Sonic Taser — could have provided the villains with a major edge.
Come the events of Captain America: Civil War or Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Stane’s expertise on the inventions of Stark inventions could have made him a valuable ally to the likes of Thunderbolt Ross, or potentially allowed him to work briefly alongside the heroes to deal with the renegade Stark creation Ultron. As a brutal counterpoint to Tony — who, as the films progressed, became more concentrated on scientific and charitable endeavors — Stane could have provided the more morally flexible or outright villainous the kind of weapons that would counter the Avengers. While redemption is a key element of the MCU, it’s likely a good thing in the long run that Stane’s influence on the world came to a fiery end at the conclusion of Iron Man, before he could have complicated the world in some unexpected ways.
About The Author
