9 Other Iron Man Villains After The Mandarin That Could Appear In Other MCU Movies
The Mandarin could only be the beginning of Iron Man villains being repurposed for other MCU Marvel heroes to fight.
Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man will forever go down in history as one of the definitive comic book movie characters. Though fans were sad to see him leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Endgame, he still left his mark. At the same time, Robert Downey Jr. only got to scratch the surface of Iron Man's lore.
As a result, some of Iron Man's villains were lent to other franchises, such as Ghost in Ant-Man And The Wasp, Mandarin as the villain of Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, and Madame Masque in the upcoming Hawkeye series. Tony Stark had so many villains in the comics, and they could also be used for future films and Disney+ series.
9 Blizzard
Comic books love their ice-themed villains, like the tragic Mr. Freeze. But Blizzard was originally a thug gifted with a cryogenic-based armor by Hammer industries; he wants to be more than a petty criminal, which actually led to him both fighting and joining forces with Iron Man.
This could warrant Blizzard making an appearance in either MCU's Armor Wars or the Ironheart project. Blizzard could be anything from a throwaway villain for one episode of series to a recurring character who goes on an arc from villain to anti-hero.
8 Ultimo
Originating from an unknown world, Ultimo is a powerful humanoid robot that is capable of ridding an entire planet of lifeforms. In the comics, Ultimo crashed landed on Earth in China thousands of years prior and becomes a weapon of the Mandarin.
With Shang-Chi likely to get sequels, he too could battle the giant robot in a battle of technology versus mystics. On the other hand, Ultimo is powerful enough that he could end up being a villain for a new Avengers movie.
7 Titanium Man
Another potential name for the Armor Wars series, in the comics, he is essentially a Russian rip-off of Iron Man. With Iron Man gone, the world will want to replicate him and fill the void that he left, which can lead to a fight between War Machine and the Titanium Man.
At the same time, Black Widow showcased that Russia attempted to copy Captain America with Red Guardian, so perhaps Yelena Belova's next adventure could lead to the discovery of Titanium Man. Can a Black Widow take on an Iron Man equivalent and win?
6 Spymaster
In the comics, Spymaster played a part in initiating the Armor Wars, so that alone makes him a prime candidate for the Disney+ series. He is a master of espionage who stole the designs for Iron Man armors and sold them to Justin Hammer and other parties for the right price.
Spymaster is more than just a thief, he's also a master of gadgets and hand-to-hand combat, making him an anti-Black Widow in many ways. So Spymaster could return in a Black Widow sequel starring Yelena Belova or could be a threat for Ironheart.
5 Ezekial Stane
In many ways, Ezekial Stane is worse than his already dangerous father: Obadiah Stane. With Obadiah's death in the first Iron Man, that alone could be the motivation for his son Ezekial joining Armor Wars. He wants revenge, and since Stark is dead, he can take his anger out on War Machine and Stark's legacy. It wouldn't be the first time that the first Iron Man foreshadowed events of the MCU.
His intelligence rivals Tony Stark and he features superhuman powers underneath his armor, including a healing factor and bodily energy used to power his armor. At the same time, he has a unique weakness of an extremely high metabolism that forces him to consume many calories, or his body could collapse.
4 The Crimson Cowl
Also known as Justine Hammer, she is the daughter of Justin Hammer. Much like Ezekial Stane, the relationship this villain has with her parent could easily make her a candidate for Armor Wars. However, in the comics, it is Justine who forms a team of villains known as the Masters Of Evil.
The Thunderbolts battled the Masters Of Evil, and since the MCU has hinted at the Thunderbolts in the future, Justine Hammer is ripe for the picking.
3 Arno Stark
There are two versions of Arno Stark: one is Tony Stark's brother and the other is a second cousin from another universe. The latter is the more famous villain who inherited Stark Industries and the Iron Man technology, which turned him into a ruthless and corrupt businessman who used his genius and tech to destroy his competitors while becoming a dictator of Earth.
With the Multiverse being opened to the MCU thanks to both the Loki series and Spider-Man: No Way Home, perhaps this evil version of Iron Man could become a villain for the new Avengers to fight: the antithesis of the man that started it all.
2 Living Laser
Rather than the typical trope of an Iron Man clone with a twist, Living Laser is a being made of pure energy. Imagine if a lightsaber blade from Star Wars took the form of a person: that is Living Laser. That concept alone could make for an interesting threat for any Marvel hero to deal with.
In the comics, Arthur Parks has an obsession with Wasp, so that could be used to introduce him in future Ant-Man And The Wasp movies. He could appear in Armor Wars, Ironheart, and several other franchises since his story is not as directly tied to Tony Stark.
1 M.O.D.O.K.
Iron Man 3 introduced A.I.M. to the Marvel Cinematic Universe but sadly, M.O.D.O.K. never appeared. With Tony Stark gone, perhaps George Tarleton can step in to rebuild A.I.M. from the ground up and become M.O.D.O.K., the newest threat to the MCU.
Typically, the big world-ending threats tend to be aliens, robots, or interdimensional beings. M.O.D.O.K. could be a refreshing change, showcasing a human threat created on Earth especially after the Marvel's Avengers game showcased that the bizarre character can be an effective and imposing villain.