Zeke Stane Was Originally Set to Create the Serpent Society in Captain America: Brave New World

Note: This article contains spoilers for Marvel’s Ironheart series.

Marvel’s Ironheart series is now streaming on Disney+, and we have an important detail about Alden Ehrenreich’s Zeke Stane, who was originally set to create the Serpent Society in Captain America: Brave New World. Back then, the show was supposed to release before the movie, and the team was going to be made up of cyborgs.

According to scooper @MyTimeToShineH on X (formerly Twitter), “Now that Ironheart is over, it’s time to reveal that originally, Zeke Stane was supposed to be the one who created the Serpent Society in Captain America: Brave New World, back when the show was meant to come out before the movie and the group was a team of cyborgs.”

Ehrenreich’s Zeke Stane is a tech ethicist and black market arms dealer. He’s also the son of Obadiah Stane, Tony Stark’s former mentor-turned-enemy. Zeke now lives in hiding under the fake name “Joe McGillicuddy.”

When Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) becomes suspicious of Parker Robbins’ (The Hood’s) magical hood, she visits Joe and finds out he’s actually Zeke Stane. Zeke warns Riri not to make the same mistakes his father did. He gives her a sample of biomesh skin—an advanced material that hides tech upgrades on the body. Riri uses this biomesh during a heist at Heirlum, where she secretly tries to cut Robbins’ hood.

In the final episode of Ironheart, Mephisto makes his debut in the MCU in human form. The character is played by Sacha Baron Cohen. He makes a deal with Riri, and she becomes the Herald of Mephisto.

Here’s the plot details for Ironheart:

Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Television’s Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Thorne)—a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka ‘The Hood’ (Anthony Ramos).

The show, created by Chinaka Hodge for Disney+. In the show, Thorne stars as Riri Williams / Ironheart, Ramos as Parker Robbins / The Hood, Lyric Ross as Natalie Washington, Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana as Cousin John, Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington, Anji White as Ronnie Williams, Jim Rash reprises his role as the Dean of MIT, Shea Couleé stars as Slug, and Harper Anthony, Zoe Terakes, Shakira Barrera, Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola, Sonia Denis, Paul Calderón, Cree Summer, and Sacha Baron Cohen have been cast in undisclosed roles.

All six episodes of the Ironheart series are now available on Disney+.