We get a glimpse into the character to be played by Jeff Bridges in the upcoming Iron Man movie.
Bridges told the site that he’s playing Obidiah Stane, the wealthy financier who behind Tony Stark’s back takes over his company and creates his own version of the Iron Man armor.
The site also mentions that Bridges has a freshly-clean shaven head like his character in the comics.
Now the character of Obidiah Stane is an interesting one indeed. It is unlikely that Stane will be an enemy of Iron Man in this movie since he is a major player in the Iron Man history, and out of all of Iron Man’s foes, he came the closest to actually defeating Iron Man. Mandarin is already slated as the villian in this blockbuster.
Stane is a munitions supplier trying to get Stark to impoort his weapons, and since Stark Enterprises doesn’t deal with weapons, Stane takes it personal and tries to destroy ever aspect of Stark’s life. He eventually takes over Stark Enterprises financially and destroys him emotionally setting him up with a sham girlfriend to fall in love with. Finally in a copy of the Iron Man armour, Stane himself becomes the Iron Monger and beats Iron Man at his own game. This is the pivotal moment when Tony Stark faces deep depression and turns to alcoholism. Stark finally pulls himself together and gets his life back triumphing over Stane.
Screw the Mandarin. I want to see THAT story.
But it is more likely that this character will be introduced in this movie with a possible sequel villain in the works. I do like that they are keeping doors open and involving future storyline players in this movie even if they don’t actually use them in this chapter