Raza

“	The bow and arrow... once was the pinnacle of weapons technology. It allowed the great Genghis Khan... to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine. An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great... and four times the size of the Roman Empire. But today, whoever holds the latest Stark weapons... rules these lands. And soon... it'll be my turn.	„
	~ Raza to Tony Stark.

Raza Hamidmi Al-Wazar (Pashto: رضا حمیدي الوار) is the secondary antagonist of the 2008 superhero film Iron Man, the first installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and will return in some capacity in the 2026 Disney+ miniseries Vision Quest.

He is a high-ranking member of the Ten Rings, one of the Mandarin's most trusted agents and the personal subordinate of Obadiah Stane who was tasked with capturing Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark in Afghanistan, yet him capturing the millionaire turns out to be instrumental into Stark becoming Iron Man.

He was portrayed by Faran Tahir, who also played Ishmael Bakir in Lost, Osiris in Supernatural, Tivon Askari in Criminal Minds, Abasi Hakim in Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Captain Nemo in Once Upon a Time, Ra's al Ghul in Injustice and Dr. Challus Mercer in the 2023 remake of Dead Space.

Biography

Cooperation with Obadiah Stane

Raza was one of the members of the terrorist group known as The Ten Rings (alongside Abu Bakaar, Ahmed and Omar). After a secret agreement with Obadiah Stane, Raza captured Tony Stark, who was in Afghanistan displaying the Jericho Missile. Raza wanted Tony to build him one of the missiles for his own use (he was originally supposed to kill Tony, but they came to consider him more useful alive). He called Stark "The most famous mass murderer in the history of America," and then went on to say that he was "honored" to meet him.

Stark's First Armor and Escape

Despite Raza's guards watching the prisoners day and night, Tony managed to build a suit of armor to save himself and his fellow prisoner, Yinsen. Tony managed to escape, while Yinsen was killed. During his escape, Raza was caught in an explosion and fractured a part of his head. Tony also managed to save an Afghan village from a Ten Ring attack led by Bakaar, who is left at the mercy of the angry villagers, much to Raza's anger.

Demise by Stane's Sonic Wave

Later, Raza organized a meeting with Stane to conduct further deals. Stane arrived at Raza's Camp in a convoy with a squad of armed guards. That meeting ended when Stane betrayed Raza, used a special device to paralyze him in his tent, and left, but not before he had his men dispose of Raza's guards and told them to "finish up".

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Quotes

“	This is only a first, crude effort. Stark has perfected his design. He has made a masterpiece of death. A man with a dozen of these can rule all of Asia. And you dream of Stark's throne. We have a common enemy. lf we are still in business, I will give you these designs as a gift. And in turn, I hope you'll repay me with a gift of iron soldiers.	„
	~ Raza's final words before his being betrayed by Obadiah Stane and eventual death

“	We have a common enemy.	„
	~ Raza to Obadiah Stane about Tony Stark's escape

Trivia

Faran Tahir expressed concern about the possibility of the film causing offence to a Muslim audience by portraying the gang as Islamic caricatures and suggested the idea of the gang having members from various different nations.
Raza himself mentioned that he is a descendant of the great Gengis Khan, and has the right to rule as a terrrorist.
In the comics, Raza is an alien space pirate. Although unrelated, Raza's character in the movie mirrors his comic counterpart with the scars on his face. However, his role in Iron Man's origin is very similar to the role of Wong-Chu, a Vietnamese warlord from the comics who took Tony prisoner in the jungles of South Vietnam.
- A version of the character was later introduced in the comics in a retelling of Tony Stark's origin as Iron Man.
Despite Raza's apparent death in Iron Man, it would be announced years later that Faran Tahir will reprise the role in Vision Quest, possibly because Raza is related to the origins to Tony Stark, Vision's late creator, who may play a posthumous role with Visión being the star of the upcoming miniseries. How Raza is going to return, however, is currently unknown, be it in flashbacks or by retconning his death, as he wasn't killed onscreen.