10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About The MCU

10. Obadiah Stane's Son Was Almost In The Avengers

Ten years on, Obadiah Stane is still one of the best villains in the MCU (lacklustre final battle and cheesy one-liners notwithstanding).

Sadly, he was killed after Pepper overloaded the large-scale arc reactor at the end of the film, making it impossible for Jeff Bridges to return in any future movies. But according to Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon, we came quite close to having another Stane face off against our heroes in their first ever team-up movie.

In an interview with Thrillist, Whedon discussed an early draft of the script that included Ezekiel Stane, Obadiah's son:

"We went through a lot of insane iterations of what might be... I also worried that one British character actor was not enough to take on Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and that we'd feel like we were rooting for the overdog. So I wrote a huge draft with Ezekiel Stane, Obadiah Stane's son, in it."

Whedon went on to explain that this version of events was rejected by Marvel Studios, and he also mentioned that Wasp - now played by Evangeline Lilly - was originally included in place of Black Widow.

Quite how Ezekiel would be able to take on The Avengers isn't clear. In the comics, he uses his tech know-how to upgrade his body and take on Tony Stark, so perhaps elements of this were included.