The upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man will be the final Marvel Cinematic Universe project of the year, but fans have plenty to look forward to in 2026. Alongside highly anticipated films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday, Disney has announced VisionQuest, a series following the white version of Vision, who was rebuilt by S.W.O.R.D. in WandaVision. VisionQuest is set to bring back several actors who have been absent from the MCU for years, including Faran Tahir as Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar.
Though not as well remembered as many antagonists, Raza was technically the MCU’s first named villain. He was introduced in the original Iron Man film as the leader of the Ten Rings’ Afghan division. Raza attempted to force the kidnapped Tony Stark into constructing a Jericho missile. Tony instead used the materials to develop Mark I of his Iron Man armor and escape from the Ten Rings’ clutches. Raza was an MCU-original character who replaced the minor villain Wong-Chu from Tony’s origin in the comics. However, VisionQuest could retroactively turn Raza into an adaptation of an obscure character associated with the X-Men.
Raza Was Left For Dead After His First MCU Appearance
The announcement of Tahir’s return came as a surprise to Marvel fans because Iron Man heavily implied that Raza was killed. He had been working with Obadiah Stane in hopes of eliminating their mutual enemy, but as soon as Raza recovered the Mark I armor that Tony had left in the desert, Obadiah double-crossed him. He stunned Raza with a sonic taser before saying, “Don’t worry, it’ll only last for 15 minutes. That’s the least of your problems.” The camera followed Obadiah as he walked away, and his henchmen opened fire in the background.
VisionQuest will apparently reveal that Raza somehow survived this, and a likely explanation is that his body was repaired through the use of cybernetic enhancements. VisionQuest will reportedly revolve around the interplay between robots and humanity, so Raza becoming a cyborg would play well into that theme. It would also be ironic since Obadiah said that technology was Raza’s “Achilles’ heel.” If Raza does become a cyborg, that could begin his transformation into a variant of Raza Longknife.
First appearing in the pages of X-Men #107 from 1977, Raza Longknife is a member of the Starjammers, a group of space pirates who formed to fight the tyrannical Shi’ar Empire. He is the last survivor of an unnamed alien species, having been turned into a cyborg warrior against his will by the Shi’ar. While the MCU’s Raza obviously has a very different backstory, it would not be the first time that the MCU drastically altered a character from the comics, such as Iron Man 3 depicting the Mandarin as an American scientist with powers granted by Extremis.
Beyond the shared name, there is one piece of evidence pointing towards the MCU’s Raza being an adaptation of Raza Longknife. In Iron Man, half of Raza’s face was badly damaged, first by one of Tony’s explosives and later by Obadiah’s sonic taser. He was left with burn scars and dark purple veins around the area. That section of his face might need to be replaced, which would explain having a metal plate over his eye to match Raza Longknife’s signature appearance in the comics.
Raza Longknife Has Frequently Fought Alongside the X-Men
Image via Disney
It is difficult to imagine a grounded and despicable villain like Raza becoming a space-faring vigilante, but by the time VisionQuest debuts in 2026, it will have been nearly two decades since his last appearance in 2008. The MCU has changed dramatically in that time, and Raza could have changed to match. After all, when watching the Abomination wreak havoc in The Incredible Hulk, no one could have predicted that he would go on to befriend a sorcerer and start leading therapy sessions for other superpowered individuals, as was shown in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
In the comics, Raza Longknife and his fellow Starjammers are closely associated with the X-Men, even having a direct connection to Cyclops’ tragic origin story. Scott Summers’ parents were thought to have died when a Shi’ar scout ship came to Earth and attacked their plane, but they were actually teleported onto the ship and brought back to the Shi’ar Empire as slaves. Scott’s father, Christopher Summers, eventually escaped captivity and became a founding member of the Starjammers, going by the name Corsair.
Kevin Feige has confirmed that Mutants will be a major focus of the MCU after Avengers: Secret Wars, and incorporating an Iron Man character into the backstory of the X-Men’s leader would be a perfect way to connect the new era of the MCU to its origin. Raza Longknife made some cameos in X-Men: The Animated Series, so he could potentially appear in the upcoming second season of X-Men ’97, preparing audiences for his MCU debut.
Of course, it is possible that the MCU’s Raza will not become an adaptation of Raza Longknife or that he will remain separate from the Starjammers even if he does. However, it would be great to shine the spotlight on a lesser-known Marvel team.