Iron Monger
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The Iron Monger is an identity used by several fictional characters in the Marvel Comics universe, most of whom have been supervillains. The first and most notable person to use that identity was billionaire industrialist Obadiah Stane, who used the Iron Monger armor in the climax of a long-running conflict with his nemesis, Iron Man. Stane first appeared in Iron Man #163, and first appeared as the Iron Monger in Iron Man #200.
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[edit] Obadiah Stane
[edit] Early years
Obadiah Stane was a ruthless individual who studied his adversaries to find weaknesses that he could exploit. Ever since he was a child, Stane enjoyed chess, and handled his life with the same kind of methodical logic that he used in the game. In addition, he was a strong believer in using psychological manipulation to his advantage. For instance, in a childhood chess match against another boy whose skill at least equalled his own, he killed the boy's dog so that his mind wasn't on the game. He won easily, and he continued to use similar forms of manipulation through his life.
Stane's father was killed in a hit after being broken out of prison. The hit was used as a setup to frame Tony Stark's father.
[edit] Hostile takeover
In adulthood, as a wealthy financier, Obadiah Stane turned his sights on acquiring Stark International, the industrial corporation owned by Tony Stark (Iron Man). Stane had his agents, the Chessmen, attack Stark Industries and assault Stark's confidant, James Rhodes. Stane also set up Indries Moomji as Stark's lover without Stark knowing that Moomji was actually the Chessmen's Queen. While all of this was occurring, Stane and his associates conspired to lock Stark International out of various business deals. Stark eventually learned that Stane was the mastermind behind these attacks, but was unable to confront him. The assaults on Stark, his business, and his friend pushed Stark to the edge, and when Stark was scorned by Stane and then spurned by Moomji, he catastrophically relapsed into alcoholism. With the help of SHIELD, Stane succeeded in buying out Stark International, which he then renamed to Stane International. Stark, having fallen off the wagon, relinquished his armor to Jim Rhodes and disappeared to be a homeless vagrant. Rhodes became the new Iron Man while ignoring Stane's demands to relinquish the armor.
Stane proceeded in manufacturing and supplying munitions and weapons to SHIELD and others who could pay for them. But, when Tony Stark left, he left behind notes and information on the Iron Man armor. These notes were far from complete and without Stark's mind, they were hard to analyze, but Stane assigned a team of scientists to these notes and working from this, they created the Iron Monger armor which, according to Stane, was "far superior to Stark's Iron Man armor". He even thought of either selling them to the highest bidder or creating an army of them and using them to "take over any country he wanted". He said that this last idea was particularly interesting.
[edit] Retaliation
Stark, while a vagrant, befriended a pregnant homeless woman. She died in childbirth, but Stark promised to protect the child. This vow helped pull Stark out of his alcoholic state. When Stark recovered, he built a new suit of Iron Man armor, creating what was then the pinnacle of armor design, the Silver Centurion armor; he also founded a new, successful computer company, Circuits Maximus. Upon learning of his rival's recovery, Stane decided to attack Stark continually again. Stark confronted Stane on the property of Stane International and defeated Stane's agents, including the Chessmen, who had proven a match for his previous armor. Stane donned the Iron Monger armor and confronted Stark personally. The Iron Monger was more powerful than the previous Iron Man armor, but not the Silver Centurion model. Stane tried to defeat Stark by threatening to give his friends a horrible death, but Stark easily defeated the deathtraps. He then confronted Stane again, who was holding his last card: the baby of a woman who Stark had befriended while on skid row. Stane told Stark to remove his helmet or he would crush the homeless woman's baby between his palms. Stark, having detected interfering frequencies in his armor's systems through the battle, deduced that Stane wasn't experienced enough to fight Stark without some help and that help was in the form of a computer bank that helped Stane manipulate the Iron Monger armor. He used his armor's pulse bolts to destroy the nearby building that contained that computer, causing Stane's Iron Monger armor to seize up and fall to the ground as Stark swooped in to catch the baby. Stane then removed his helmet and confronted Stark. When Stark told Stane that it was all over, Stane said that he had one thing left. He then raised his hand to the side of his head and using the repulsor beam, he fatally shot himself in the head, like his father before him. Stark was later able to obtain complete control over his own company, which reverted back to the name of Stark International.
[edit] Ultimate Obadiah Stane
A younger Obadiah Stane is shown in the Ultimate Marvel mini series Ultimate Iron Man. He is the son of Zebadiah Stane, Tony's father's business rival, and Howard Stark's ex wife. He was born sometime before his father was imprisoned for kidnapping a four-year-old Tony Stark for information about Howard Stark's Bio-armor. Years later, Obadiah's mother convinced Howard to enroll him into the Baxter Building (which he does because he wants to keep him somewhere where he couldn't harm the world). While Howard was giving Tony, James and Nifara a guided tour of the Baxter Building, Obadiah was able to take a hair sample from Howard's jacket and trick two students into following him to the Baxter Building's roof where he killed them. Although both Tony and his father suspected Obidiah for the murder, they couldn't prove it. Years later, Obadiah was still at the Baxter Building showing an interest in James Rhodes' 'War Machine' project. His father was also brutally murdered and Howard Stark was the prime suspect because of a single hair sample was found at the scene. Whether or not Obadiah will steal Tony and Rhodes Armor tech and become the Ultimate version of the Iron Monger or not has yet to be revealed, but the upcoming Ultimate Iron Man 2 mini-series may reveal it.
[edit] Other Iron Mongers
After Stane's death, the Iron Monger was obtained by the United States government, who had one of the Guardsmen use it to test the combat skills of the USAgent. Another Iron Monger armor was built by Simon Steele, who used it in battle against Dominic Fortune. A third was built by Stark's former college classmate Joey Cosmatos, who was working from Stane's plans. The Red Skull later had one of his own agents use a suit of Iron Monger armor in an assassination attempt against the Viper, but the suit's wearer was apparently killed by the Viper's men.
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 Spidey that this was the third time he had attempted something like this). Spidey 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 realising that term makes no sense.
[edit] Amalgam Comics
In the letters page of the Iron Lantern comic published by Amalgam Comics, it is revealed that Olivia Stane is Stark Aircraft's "arch competitor" and hides a "terrible secret".
Olivia Stane is an amalgam of Obadiah Stane (Iron Monger) of the Marvel Universe and Olivia Reynolds of the DC Universe.
[edit] Powers and abilities
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 quite larger that Iron Man and presumably was proportionally stronger as well. The armor was also partially computer controlled.
[edit] In other media
Jeff Bridges has confirmed in an interview that he will be portraying Obadiah Stane in the upcoming Iron Man film. [1]
