Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, TV | Tagged: iron man, ironheart

Ironheart: Chinaka Hodge Discusses That Big Iron Man-Related Reveal

Ironheart showrunner Chinaka Hodge discusses Alden Ehrenreich's Joe McGillicuddy and his surprise connection to 2008's Iron Man.

Ever since Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark made the ultimate sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame (2019), there hasn't been much going on regarding the world of Iron Man. There have been smatterings from Tony's best friend, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), in two of the Tom Holland-starred Spider-Man MCU films, and 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine. Still, there hasn't been a serious effort to revisit the lore of the live-action trilogy until now with the Dominique Thorne-starred Ironheart. While Thorne's Riri Williams' journey started in 2022's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, her new Disney+ series Ironheart from creator Chinaka Hodge not only offers a surprise revisit to the 2008 original film, but also taps the magic lore seen in Doctor Strange, WandaVision, and Agatha All Along. Hodge spoke to Entertainment Weekly to unravel one of the series' biggest secrets concerning Alden Ehrenreich's Joe McGillicutty and his true identity. The following contains spoilers.

Ironheart Creator on Alden Ehrenreich's Joe and Ties to 2008's Iron Man

When Disney+ released the first half of Ironheart on June 24 with its first three episodes, it was revealed that Joe is really Ezekiel Stane, the son of Obediah Stane, played by Jeff Bridges in the Favreau-directed film. Obediah, who betrayed Tony in his attempt to take over his father's company, Stark Industries. As Tony built his second Iron Man suit from his full company resources, Obediah would take Tony's original model, which he had built while imprisoned in Afghanistan, to turn into Iron Monger. In their climactic fight, Obediah would die from being electrocuted while operating the Monger suit, but the narrative in Ironheart twists the narrative to a plane crash, heroically.

When Riri meets Zeke, who initially presents himself as Joe, he assists her in providing parts to repair her Ironheart suit. He later fesses up to be Zeke, trying to avoid association with his father's name, while also possessing his ashes after giving her a piece of biomesh tech to assist her in her role as part of The Hood's (Anthony Ramos) heist plan. "That was so much fun," Hodge said on Zeke Stane's MCU debut. "Introducing Joe McGillicuddy as the real Zeke Stane was one of the more fun things to do in the MCU. I think fans are looking for ties to movies and other projects we've seen in the past, and I feel like that was a really great and deft way to pull him through."

Comic fans familiar with Zeke know that he follows in his father's villainous footsteps. "Overall, the character of Zeke Stane as a tech ethicist … is interesting to me," Hodge explains. "[Riri and Zeke] are [both] struggling with a lot of the same, 'Am I good or am I bad? And what's the point of being either?' It was so much fun there, and one can always hope for a Zeke Stane-Obadiah Stane flashback or crossover, but I don't know. It just was so much fun to open up that box of worms." For more on Hodge and director Angela Barnes carving out Zeke's path to Ehrenreich, you can check out the full interview. The finale of Ironheart premieres July 1st on Disney+.

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