| NOTE: This page is only about the novel incarnation of Iron Monger as his original film incarnation is not a Pure Evil, and thus only the novel version of Iron Monger's info and crimes should be put here. |
Obadiah Stane, also known as the Iron Monger (or the Metal Monger), is the main antagonist of Peter David's novelization of the 2008 Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Iron Man.
He is an old friend of Howard Stark, who helped him found Stark Industries, taking over the company following his death until his son, Tony, was ready to inherit the company. Stane grew jealous when Tony brought the company to greater heights than he could even imagine, so he hires a hit on him and in his absence, profits from causing thousands of deaths by selling weapons to terrorists.
While his actions in the original film pale in comparison to the other MCU villains, the novelization by Peter David is set in its own continuity where early villains' crimes stand out much more. As the MCU stopped publishing novelizations of its films early on, David's novelization has different standards to those shown in the films.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- He sent the Ten Rings to kill Tony Stark (as well as an entire military squad driving him across the dessert) out of petty jealousy over the latter's success, despite him being a close friend of his.
- Once Stane took over Stark Industries after Tony's seeming death, he sold weapons to dangerous terrorist groups to make a profit, despite knowing that they will harm many innocent people.
- Pretends to care for Tony and be happy that he is alive and well after his escape to cover his true intentions.
- Once Tony escapes the Ten Rings after having built his armor, Stane goes to them and tortures their leader, Raza, for the prototype armor and has them all killed to cover his tracks. Even though the Ten Rings were a terrorist group, this act was still mass murder.
- When he becomes frustrated that he can't replicate Tony's armor, he uses a Sonic Taser to paralyze Tony so he can take his Arc Reactor from his chest, which nearly killed him.
- Upon building his new and advanced suit, as the Iron Monger, Obadiah kills several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who stand in his way, just so he can kill Tony and Pepper Potts.
- As he and Tony are fighting across the city, Obadiah attempts to crush Tony to death with a car filled with a woman and her four children, which would have killed them as well.
- Once he becomes aware that the Arc Reactor is about to explode, he is perfectly willing to let it do so despite the fact that it would kill thousands of people just so he can kill Tony out of spite, taunting Tony on how he should've stayed down and opens fire at him and Pepper to thwart their attempts to stop the explosion.
- Unlike the film version, the version within the novelization continuity by Peter David doesn't have other villains, aside from the Abomination, Whiplash, Justin Hammer the Mandarin, Aldrich Killian and Eric Savin to compete with. Therefore, his actions are heinous by the standards of the novels versus the MCU's.
Trivia[]
- He is the first Iron Man trilogy villain to be Pure Evil, who is later followed by Aldrich Killian.
- Only the novel version of Iron Monger can be considered Pure Evil, while his film version isn't because he fails the Heinous Standards of the Marvel Cinematic Universe miserably.
- His What If...? version doesn't even get close to being Pure Evil, as Erik Killmonger exposes him early on after preventing the Ten Rings from kidnapping Tony Stark, so all his actions during Tony's kidnapping and after his return are averted.
External Links[]
- Iron Monger on the Villains Wiki
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 Pure Evils
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Novelizations See Also | ||