Sacha Baron Cohen Reportedly Cast in Marvel’s ‘Ironheart’

Sacha Baron Cohen Reported to Play Marvel Villain Mephisto in ‘Ironheart’

Sacha Baron Cohen in Netflix's 'The Spy.' Photo by Axel Decis.

Here’s a fun piece of casting – assuming it turns out to be true and not the latest round of speculation on the MCU’s future. Sacha Baron Cohen, the British comedian best known for the characters of Borat and Ali G, is reportedly taking on the role of devilish villain Mephisto in ‘Ironheart’.

Should it turn out to be true, Cohen is a surprising get for Marvel, as he’s someone who often prefers to generate his own projects or the odd prestige movie such as ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ and hasn’t shown much interest in superhero work. Still, the lure of Marvel can be strong, and recently pulled Harrison Ford into its orbit.

Rumors have swirled recently on social media about the idea and now Deadline has tapped its sources at Marvel to report that he has been seen on the show’s set (the company has, of course, refused to officially comment). The majority of the talk points to him playing the demonic role.

‘Ironheart’ stars Dominique Thorne as Marvel character Riri Williams, a genius inventor and creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. The character will first appear on screen in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ which is out in theaters on November 11th.

If Mephisto does indeed make an appearance, the scope is there for future appearances in typical Marvel fashion, including potentially in ‘WandaVision’ spin-off ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’. The prospect of Cohen sharing the screen with Kathryn Hahn is certainly an appealing one.

Though he’s been rumored to show up before – some thought Doctor Strange would be unmasked as Mephisto in disguise in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ while others believed he was truly the power behind all the chaos in ‘WandaVision’ before Agatha revealed herself. Yet that show’s head writer, Jac Schaeffer confirmed she’d never heard of the character before friend and fellow Marvel show writer Michael Waldron started joking with her about him.

Marvel Comics' Mephisto. Photo courtesy of Marvel.Fandom.com.

Mephisto, for those (including Schaeffer) who aren’t aware of the character, made his proper Marvel Comics debut in ‘Silver Surfer #3’, and was created by Stan Lee, John Buscema and Jerry Robinson.

He’s an extra-dimensional Demon who rules a fiery pocket dimension that he calls “Hell” or “Hades” although it is neither the Hell of the Christian religion nor the Hades ruled by Pluto, the Olympian god of the dead. Mephisto calls his extra-dimensional realm “hell” to exploit Earth human beings' belief in a single being of absolute evil, who is often referred to as Satan.

The character has bedevilled many a hero and villain in his time, and while he’s more normally found around supernatural characters, it’s sounding like ‘Ironheart’ will have an increasingly magical presence.

We know, for example, that ‘In The Heights’ Anthony Ramos is playing The Hood, a character who dabbles in sorcery and would be an antagonist for Thorne’s Riri Williams.

‘Ironheart’s confirmed cast so far also includes Manny Montana, Shakira Barrera, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Shea Couleé, and Zoe Terakes.

With Chinaka Hodge as head writer and Samantha Bailey and Angela Barnes sharing the directing work, the six-episode series will debut on Disney+ next year.