- Ironheart finally introduces a villain to the MCU that Marvel fans have waited years for
- Its producers admit he might not have appeared in the Disney+ show
- Only one actor was considered for the role
Ironheart has granted Marvel fans’ long-held wish to introduce a much-discussed villain to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – but the wait might have been even longer if its story had gone in another direction.
Ahead of the Disney+ show’s debut in late June, I sat down with producers Zoie Nagelhout and Sev Ohanian to chat about the Marvel TV Original. As you can imagine, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask them about that grand unveiling in the series’ finale.
Full spoilers immediately follow for Ironheart episode 6, aka ‘The Past is the Past’. Don’t scroll past this point if you haven’t seen it yet!
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Ironheart finally introduces Mephisto, played by Sacha Baron Cohen, to the MCU (Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney+)
Yep, Mephisto, whose MCU debut has been a hot topic of discussion since the airing of WandaVision, the first Marvel TV show to be released on Disney+ in January 2021, has finally made his way into Marvel’s cinematic juggernaut. Borat and The Trial of the Chicago 7 actor Sacha Baron Cohen is the star behind this demonic entity. For a crash course on this demonstrably evil character, let me point you in the direction of Ironheart ending explained piece.
Now, long-time Marvel comic book readers might wonder why Mephisto makes his long-overdue MCU arrival in Ironheart. After all, Parker Robbins, aka The Hood, who is the Marvel Phase 5 TV show’s primary antagonist, acquires his supernatural abilities from Dormammu, the Big Bad of 2016’s Doctor Strange, in Marvel literature. Dormammu is even referenced in episodes 4 and 5, ie before Mephisto’s grand reveal, which suggests this cosmic entity is pulling The Hood’s strings from the shadows.
In Ironheart, though, Mephisto is responsible for gifting these powers to Robbins by way of a dark magic-infused hooded cloak. So, why didn’t the show’s creative team adapt The Hood’s origins story ad verbatim from the comics?
“We knew there needed to be someone behind Parker’s powers,” Nagelhout told me, “And we did play around with a couple of ideas. As you know, in the comics, Dormammu has pretty heavy ties to Parker.
“But, we ultimately started looking towards what made the most thematic sense,” Nagelhout said of Ironheart‘s antagonist-based bait-and-switch. “Which villain actually offered this show the same sort of payoff that we were building to? For us, it was Mephisto. It was this concept of ambition versus what it would cost you in order to achieve everything you want in life, and Mephisto fit that beautifully.”
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As for why Cohen, who was reportedly cast as Mephisto way back in October 2022, was the right individual to tackle such an extremely powerful being, Nagelhout added: “To be honest, Sacha was the only person we really could envision.
“The idea came from Angela Barnes, who directed that episode as well. As soon as we imagined him as the character, we couldn’t unsee it. We’re very lucky that he agreed to come on board, because he brought a really fun, scary, interesting version of this character to life that I don’t know if anyone else could have done.”
What did you make of Mephisto’s long-awaited MCU debut? And did you enjoy Cohen’s portrayal? Let me know in the comments.
All six episodes of Ironheart are out now on Disney+, aka one of the world’s best streaming services. For more Ironheart coverage, check out the section below, too.
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