With the first three episodes of Ironheart now available, fans are more certain than ever that Marvel will finally introduce a long-awaited character before the series is done.
After fan speculation that classic Marvel villain Mephisto might appear in previous magical MCU projects such as Wandavision and Agatha: All Along, his arrival in Ironheart now seems all but assured.
Ironheart’s street-level villain The Hood, played by Hamilton’s Anthony Ramos, is currently shown to be gathering supernatural powers from an unknown source, at the cost of his body slowly decaying. “It’s the price I’ve got to pay for what he did to me,” The Hood says at one point — which fans are taking as a clear nod to some kind of deal with the devil.
Making devilish deals is kind of Mephisto’s thing, and if the show needed to spell it out even clearer, look no further than the scene towards the end of the show’s second episode, where heroine Riri Williams stands in front of a wall covered in posters for Faust.
Faust, or Doctor Faustus, is a legendary German story of a man who makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for temporary pleasures, at the cost of ultimately becoming enslaved. The man interacts with the Devil via a character named Mephistopheles, or in some later adaptations, simply Mephisto.
As hints go, it’s about as blatant as it gets — and it has not gone over the heads of MCU fans.
MEPHISTO is DEFINITELY being officially introduced to the MCU…. “Faust” is a German poem about a Doctor who makes a pact with the Devil 😈 #Ironheart #MCU #MarvelStudios pic.twitter.com/TvNTj1Bt5Z
— I Post What I Want 🪬 (@Sye_Lokata) June 25, 2025
Mephisto Confirmed in “Ironheart” 👀 That poster in the BTS shot? Way too revealing.
For those who don’t know:
In the story of Faust, the character makes a deal with Mephistopheles, a demon, to sell his soul in exchange for knowledge and power.#Faust #Mephisto #Ironheart pic.twitter.com/zKLaYTfkYs— Gabi MG (@GabiMG_News) June 13, 2025
There have long been reports that Ironheart secretly stars Mephisto, with Deadline previously pegging Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen as playing the character’s MCU version, via a mix of live-action performance and CGI.
While not part of Ironheart’s officially-announced cast, Deadline reported in late 2022 that Baron Cohen had filmed scenes for Ironheart in a secret role, believed to be that of Mephisto. To date, Disney has kept quiet about the actor’s involvement — though recently left a cheeky hint within the series’ episode guide that pointed to when fans should expect his arrival.
Earlier this week, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler linked Ironheart’s story with that of Marvel’s next mega blockbuster Avengers: Doomsday, even though the series was filmed before Robert Downey Jr.’s incarnation of Doctor Doom was publicly confirmed.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
