Ezekiel Stane

Superherobox|


caption=Ezekiel Stane.
Art by Salvador Larocca.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Ezekiel Stane
real_name=Ezekiel Stane
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="The Order" #8 (April 2008)
creators=Matt Fraction
Barry Kitson
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
alliances=Heir to the Stane Fortune
aliases=
powers=Genius-level intellect
Superhuman abilities derived from bio-upgrades|

Ezekiel (Zeke) Stane is a fictional supervillain within the Marvel Comics universe, and son of Tony Stark/Iron Man enemy Obadiah Stane. Zeke Stane first appeared in Matt Fraction's "The Order" #8 (April 2008) and was drawn by Barry Kitson.

Character development

Though Ezekiel is the son of the late Obadiah Stane, Ezekiel Stane's creator, Matt Fraction considers Stane to be the next generation of Tony Stark/Iron Man rather than Obadiah; often referring to the character as "Tony Stark/Iron Man 2.0" [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=151475 Matt Fraction On Invincible Iron Man - Newsarama ] ] .

Fraction states the similarities between the pair's characteristics with Ezekiel being evolution of Tony Stark's character; a younger, smarter, sharper futurist of a post-national supercorporate world moving into a future that Stark has no control over. Overtaking Stark and his Iron Man technology by not taking the route of armored suits but upgrading the human body itself.

Fraction often describes the contrast between the two characters using software terms, due to the characters technological basis.

Fictional character biography

Ezekiel is the son of Obadiah Stane and has been building bioweaponry and manufacturing next generation weapons for terrorists and supervillians since he was nine.

Ezekiel Stane first appeared is in Matt Fraction's "The Order" #8 dated April 2008, where he was penciled by Barry Kitson ["The Order" vol. 2, #8 (April 2008)] . Within this critically acclaimed but short-lived comic book, Stane was revealed to be the behind-the-scenes manipulator pulling the strings of other villains [ [http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695277450,00.html?pg=2 Deseret News | Man of Iron: Writer finds dream job — at Marvel Comics ] ] , including Black Dahlias, Maul and M.A.N. from S.H.A.D.O.W. Androids, who have set out to destroy The Order. The Order being Tony Stark's showcase Initiative team of California, Ezekiel target them as the first part of his revenge on Tony Stark for the death of his father.

In the final issue of "The Order", #10, Stane meets Iron Man face-to-face for the first time. Due to Stane's life off the grid, Iron Man fails to realize who he is, and despite Tony Stark's resources as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stane leaves California and prepares for the next stage in his vendetta against Stark.

Fraction would follow "The Order" with a new monthly on-going "Invincible Iron Man" title, with Ezekiel Stane appearing in its first story arc "The Five Nightmares" to further his vendetta against Tony Stark. Ezekiel Stane is first seen attending a meeting with the Board of Directors of a big tobacco company who had hired him to tweak their tobacco to produce a higher basal metabolic rate in the people that smoked it. Stane says he succeeded in doing it, but reveals he only took the job to use the tobacco company’s money to create bio-upgrades from himself, upgrading his own hypothalamus to utilize energy within the body which Stane swiftly uses to execute the board of directors with energy blasts from his finger tips. Stane is later updated by his girlfriend/assistant, Sasha, on his upgraded African suicide bombers who were the test subjects of Stanes biotechnology."Invincible Iron Man" vol. 5, #1 (July 2008)]

Later, Stane places similar bombers in a procession for the Filipino superheroes known as the Triumph Division that kills the heroes and countless innocents. That night, Stane personally confronts Stark dressed as a waiter and reveals his name before more bombers go off in the building. While Tony manages to slip his armor to save himself, the rest of the crowd is instantly incinerated save for Pepper Potts (who was outside and in critical condition) and Stane himself. The explosion blows off Stane's hair, causing him to look more like his father Obadiah.

He later is able, by continuing terrorist attacks against Stark installations all over the world, to push Tony Stark into seeking a direct confrontation. Armed with a lightweight suit of armor, designed more from protection than from enhancing his internalized powers, he manages to put Tony Stark on the ropes, going so far to blast Tony in the face with his own repulsor ray in a sort of poetic justice for Obadiah's death, who blasted his head off with his own repulsor in shame for his defeat.

Powers and abilities

Ezekiel Stane's genius-level intellect and considerable fortune has allowed him to cannibalize and reverse engineer Stark Tech from the black-market to upgrade his own biology, most notably his hypothalamus. Stane successfully reduced the caloric energy consumption of his body from 70% to 9% leaving him surplus energy which he uses in repulsor bolts at the end of his fingers, originally through external hardware before revealing in "Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #3" that he is capable of ejecting repulsor bolts out of his fingertips. Other upgrades have allowed his body to vastly repair itself from injury. As such, several points on Stane's body (particularly along the back of his spine) put out a small glow. However, Stane has yet to solve the problem of heat melting his flesh off, hence he designs an external suit to stave off the heat used in many of his attacks.

This excessive use of the body's energy have shown that Stane must constantly keep his body's blood sugar level high to make up for its rapid consumption. Stane does this by eating a high (20,000) calorie paste.

References

External links

* [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=15905&page=article "A Stark Contrast: Fraction talks “Invincible Iron Man”" by Dave Richards, Staff Writer comicbookresources.com]
* [http://comicbookrevolution.blogspot.com/2008/05/comic-book-review-invincible-iron-man-1.html Comic Book Review: Invincible Iron Man #1 by Rokk Krinn]