Marvel’s Vision series brings back the forgotten villain Iron Man

The Vision (Paul Bettany) was last seen flying near the end of “WandaVision,” but he will headline his own Disney+ series in 2026. Time will tell if it’s “Vision” (the final title has not been confirmed at this time). It could recapture the success of last year’s “WandaVision” spin-off, “Agatha All Along.”

It was previously confirmed that the Vision TV series will bring back the titular Android creator, Also robotic is Ultron (James Spader). now, Deadline reports That another Iron Man enemy will return from the (apparent) death. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane? Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko? Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian? no! Instead, Faran Taher plays Reza Hamidi Al-Wazir, who was last seen in the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film: “Iron Man.”

In the words of Vision’s late son-in-law Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), “Didn’t see this coming?” Well, Pietro, I didn’t!

Reza is at the same time a mysterious but pivotal character, as without him there would be no Iron Man. In Iron Man, Reza and his Ten Rings kidnap Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in Afghanistan. The Ten Rings were hired to kill Tony by Stane, but instead decided to detain him to exploit his weapons-building skills. To escape, Tony created the first version of the Iron Man suit.

Riza and his men were apparently killed by Stan in Iron Man, but… Technically He wasn’t killed on screen, just paralyzed. So there is some leeway to bring him back, but Lord knows what role he will play against the Vision. In his final scene in “Iron Man”, Reza wants to get his hands on Iron Man’s technology (“A man with a dozen of these could rule all of Asia”). Did his goal there remain unchanged?

The original Iron Man comics are a complete time capsule of the Cold War. In the first Iron Man story (“Amazing Tales” #39, by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and artist Don Heck), Tony Stark holds a weapons show in… Vietnam. His emissary is ambushed by the Viet Cong, and Tony detonates a land mine, leaving him in the clutches of the warlord Wong Chu.

Updating Iron Man’s origin was one of the main challenges of the filmBut moving the setting from Vietnam to Afghanistan was a natural thing. This means turning Stark’s kidnappers from yellow peril caricatures into the “evil Muslim terrorists” trope instead. (The name “Ten Rings” refers to the weapons of Iron Man’s arch-enemy, The Mandarin, which also needs some retooling for the MCU.)

Now, Tahir is American, but his family is from Pakistan He spent much of his childhood there. In fact, he comes from a family of artists. His father, Naeem, is also an actor and his mother, Yasmine, is a radio presenter. His maternal grandparents, Imtiaz Ali Taj and Hijab Imtiaz Ali, were famous Pakistani writers.

Outside of “Iron Man,” Taher remains a prolific actor. Nerds may also recognize him as Captain Robaw from the 2009 film “Star Trek,” the captain of the USS Kelvin and commanding officer of George Kirk (future Thor, Chris Hemsworth). Aside from film and television, Tahir also starred in the 2016 stage production of “Othello” at the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington, D.C., and one can only guess whether he will be able to extend those acting talents back to the role of Reza.

The Vision TV series is scheduled to launch on Disney+ in 2026.