Who is Raza in ‘VisionQuest’? Marvel brings back ‘Iron Man’ villain after 18 years
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was kidnapped and taken to an Afghan cave in the first MCU film in 2008. That is where he created his first Iron Man suit to escape captivity. The leader of the captors was Raza (Faran Tahir), a villain who has not returned to the franchise ever since. Now, Faran Tahir has returned to the role after 18 years in Episode 6 of ‘VisionQuest’ titled ‘Deadlock.’
Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar was the leader of a Ten Rings cell located in Afghanistan. Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) hired the cell to kill Stark, but Raza decided to spare the engineer as he was creating weapons. Soon after, Stane betrayed the group, and a high-frequency sonic device paralysed Raza. But Raza’s fate was never shown in the movie. However, ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ (2021) explored the Ten Rings when Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) led the group. Additionally, Tahir and Bridges reunited on FX’s ‘The Old Man.’
Deadline first reported in January 2025 that Tahir would reprise his role as Raza in the ‘WandaVision’ spinoff. He shared details of the process on Ahmad Ali Butt’s podcast, saying that an executive producer he knew from ‘12 Monkeys’ called him while he was walking in New York, referencing an ongoing joke about him reprising his roles in ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Iron Man.’ He also revealed that he had to keep this secret until Marvel announced it. Moreover, he said that Raza’s character was originally going to appear in three movies, with an introduction in the first, an army being built up in the second, and a crescendo in the third, until Marvel’s sale to Disney changed those plans.
In ‘VisionQuest’, Raza appears in Madripoor, the island city-state introduced in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ (2021). Vision (Paul Bettany) goes there to rescue Thomas Shepherd, also known as Tommy Maximoff, after the bounty hunter Paladin takes him hostage. Since Paladin’s contract with his mystery client has ended, other bounty hunters are summoned to pursue Vision. Raza arrives during the standoff between Vision and Paladin, bringing a heavily armed team and aiming to capture Vision himself. Paladin recognizes Raza’s voice and remarks that he thought Raza was either dead or imprisoned, referencing ‘Stane and a Ten Rings’ torture chamber. Shortly after, Paladin knocks Raza out.
He has also updated his appearance, ditching military fatigues for a suit and actually has a working communication earpiece. Raza’s crew has also been replaced, since Stane had the original soldiers executed in ‘Iron Man,’ though it’s unclear whether the new ones are still members of the Ten Rings. ‘VisionQuest’ is now streaming on Disney+, and Episode 7, titled ‘Immolation’, will premiere on November 3 in the US, followed by the final episode on November 10.
