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Howard Stark was intended to be one of the main antagonist in an early draft of the 2008 film Iron Man, the first installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While a heroic, yet posthumous character in the final product, it was originally planned for Howard to still be alive during the events of the film, but he would have been a ruthless and villainous businessman who would steal his son's weapon designs and become War Machine.
He was portrayed by Gerard Sanders in the finished project.
Biography[]
Numerous attempts to make a film based on the Iron Man property of Marvel Comics started since 1990 at studios like Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox. However, none of these attempts were successful. In the early 2000s, New Line Cinema entered talks to develop the film and David Hayter was hired in 2004 to write the script. The previous script for the film, written by Jeff Vintar, Alfred Gough and Miller Milar, had included the Mandarin as the main antagonist. New Line planned a target release in 2006.
In Hayter's script, Howard Stark was written as the story's main antagonist, depicted as being still alive unlike his comic book counterpart. In this version, however, Howard was a corrupt and ruthless businessman who steals his son Tony's designs to weaponize them and sell them for profit. Inspired by the Hulk's confrontation against his father David in the 2003 film Hulk, Hayter intended to pit Tony Stark against his father to "mirror the hero with his villain as much as possible". At the end, Howard would become the War Machine and fight against Tony, which would have most likely resulted in his defeat.
However, Hayter's script ultimately went unsued when Tom Cruise, who was originally planned to star as Iron Man, complained at the son vs. father dynamic due already being used in Hulk and the deal with New Line fell through, causing Iron Man's film rights reverted back to Marvel Studios in 2006, leading Marvel to release Iron Man two years later in 2008, with Howard as a posthumous character and Obadiah Stane as the film's main antagonist. On the other hand, War Machine didn't appear until the film's sequel Iron Man 2, where he was portrayed as James Rhodes and as a hero just like in the comics. The film was well received by critics, audiences and fans, and kickstarted many other popular Marvel films which are today part of the currently highest-grossing film franchise of all time: the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Trivia[]
- It's unknown if Maria, Howard's wife and Tony's mother, was intended to also still be alive in David Hayter's Iron Man script or if Howard was intended to be a widower.
- The title of War Machine eventually used by Tony Stark’s best friend, James Rhodes.
- While not ultimately used in the film, the "son vs. father" dynamic would be eventually used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with Star-Lord and Ego.