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"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 will be my turn."
Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar[4] (Dari: ضا حمیدی الوازار) was a commander of a Ten Rings terrorist cell stationed in Afghanistan. Since as early as 1996, he capitalized on the instability of the country to expand Ten Rings activity, answering directly to Xu Wenwu. In 2008, al-Wazar made deals with Obadiah Stane to kidnap Tony Stark in exchange for his weapons, including the Jericho missile. Stark, however, was able to break free from captivity and escape al-Wazar's forces. Al-Wazar continued to use Stark Industries weapons to make territorial gains throughout the country, including the takeover of Gulmira. In a new deal with Stane to exchange Stark's Mark I armor, al-Wazar and his soldiers were instead betrayed and executed for their failure to kill Stark.
al-Wazar was put in a leadership position of the Ten Rings, where he was put in charge of their unit in Afghanistan.[1] al-Wazar's work with capitalizing of the instability of Afghanistan would get back to the Ten Rings' leader, Xu Wenwu, who noted in 1996 that he was impressed with his work.[7] In order to obtain weapons, al-Wazar would make a deal with Obadiah Stane to purchase weapons from Stark Industries, allowing them to take over much of Afghanistan.[1]
al-Wazar was a member of the terrorist group, the Ten Rings. In 2008, al-Wazar was initially contracted to kill Tony Stark during a new military weapons demonstration within Afghanistan by Obadiah Stane, a rival in Stark Industries who had wanted control over the company. Al-Wazar's branch of the Ten Rings then attacked and destroyed a United States Air Force convoy transporting Stark through the desert, but did not kill Stark immediately.
Upon discovering the importance of their target, al-Wazar decided to detain Stark in an effort to make him construct a Jericho missile from stolen Stark Industries weapons that had been sold to the Middle East. Still furious at Stane for not informing them of the importance of their target, al-Wazar sent a video to Stane explaining that they had Stark and would keep him alive until Stane agreed to pay them more cash in exchange for them executing Stark for him.
Seeing that the build of the missile was taking longer than he liked, al-Wazar decided to pay a visit to Stark in person. Stepping into his cell where he was working, al-Wazar told Stark to relax as he examined the Arc Reactor Stark had built to protect his heart. Al-Wazar went on to compare Stark's weapons to the weapons Genghis Khan had used to take over much of the world, explaining how he intended to use his weapons to take over Asia and then the world.
al-Wazar then turned to Ho Yinsen, who had been assisting Stark, and demanded an update on their process. Unhappy with Yinsen's answer, al-Wazar ordered his men to hold him down while he heated up a piece of coal, intending to use it to horrifically burn Yinsen's face. Despite Yinsen insisting they were building a Jericho, al-Wazar did not believe him until Stark stepped forward and demanded that he allow Yinsen to live, claiming he was a good assistant.
Believing he had made his point, al-Wazar dropped the burning coal by Yinsen's face before turning back to Stark and demanding that he had until the next day to complete the missile. Al-Wazar then left with Abu Bakaar and the other Ten Rings soldiers to allow Stark and Yinsen to return to work. Al-Wazar kept a close eye on the security cameras throughout, however, checking to ensure what they were building was indeed the missile he desired for his upcoming war.[1]
Instead of constructing the missile for al-Wazar, Tony Stark built a suit of weaponized armor. Seeing that Stark was hiding from the view of the cameras, al-Wazar sent some of his men to investigate, only to witness them being killed by a bomb Stark had rigged to the door. Knowing that a battle was able to begin, al-Wazar sent more men to confront and kill Stark.
To help Stark's escape, Ho Yinsen took one of the soldier's guns and chased away the incoming attackers; however, this resulted in him running straight into al-Wazar and other Ten Rings soldiers who mortally wounded him. In Stark's ensuing escape, al-Wazar attempted to shoot him with a rocket, only to miss and have his face badly burnt when Stark fired back at him before he blew up the terrorists' camp and destroyed the piles of Stark Industries weapons.[1]
"So, this is how he did it." "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 could rule all of Asia."
Seeking to understand how Tony Stark had built a weapon that had managed to destroy his entire base and kill several of his own Ten Rings soldiers, al-Wazar had his men scout through the desert in order to locate the Iron Man Armor which had been damaged and left buried under the sand. When one of al-Wazar's men uncovered Stark's helmet, al-Wazar ordered him to deliver it to him. Staring at the helmet, al-Wazar considered not only how he would recreate the technology, but how he would get revenge against Stark for killing his men and damaging his face.
Al-Wazar studies the Iron Man armor
al-Wazar and his men took all the pieces of the Iron Man suit back to one of their Ten Rings bases where he had Ahmed and Omar attempt to rebuild it piece by piece. However, due to the amount of damage the suit had sustained during Stark's escape from their captivity, and the terrorist's lack of understanding of the science to create the power source to operate the suit, al-Wazar was unable to rebuild it completely. Frustrated, al-Wazar could only stare into the face of the Iron Man and continue plotting his own cruel revenge.[1]
"Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters, referred to by locals as the Ten Rings. As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission."
al-Wazar and his men continued to ravage the region and expand their power using weapons purchased from Stark Industries through its current leader Obadiah Stane. When fighting in Gulmira, the small Afghan region that was home to Ho Yinsen, al-Wazar found himself being filmed by FBX, leading to his face being presented across the United States of America as reports on the Ten Rings' actions were told for the world to watch in horror.
Having collected what he needed, al-Wazar left Gulmira in an armored van, leaving Abu Bakaar in charge of executing the villagers. However, Iron Man arrived in his newly constructed Mark III Suit and began to systematically hunt down Ten Rings members, engaging in a fierce battle against them. As al-Wazar was driving away from Gulmira, he witnessed the explosion of his Jericho missiles being destroyed by Iron Man while Bakaar was left under the mercy of the villagers.[1]
"We have a common enemy. If we're 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."
With all of the pieces of the Mark I suit which Tony Stark had used to escape the cave and had then abandoned in the desert having been recovered, al-Wazar decided it was time to contact Obadiah Stane hoping to strike some sort of deal so he could rebuild his branch of the Ten Rings and continue his war against Stark and the Western world.
Al-Wazar gives Stane the Iron Man technology
When al-Wazar met with Stane to negotiate over Stark's abandoned armor in exchange for an army of armored soldiers, he explained to Stane how Stark had escaped and presented Stark's rebuilt armor. Al-Wazar promised to hand over all of Stark's designs to Stane for his own work in designing the Iron Monger Armor, and requested that in exchange Stane provide the Ten Rings with their own army of Iron Armored soldiers to fight in their future wars.
However, Stane had no intention of striking any more deals with the terrorist and instead betrayed al-Wazar by paralyzing him with a Sonic Taser. As al-Wazar suffered agony from the taser, Stane mocked his people for their lack of understanding of technology before having him and the militants killed and taking the armor back to the Stark Industries Headquarters in Los Angeles to continue his own mission to kill Stark himself by using the technology provided by al-Wazar and his men.[1]
Personality[]
al-Wazar believed himself and the Ten Rings to be superior to all others, believing that he would rule the world with powerful weaponry created by Stark Industries. In addition, al-Wazar was cruel and vicious, torturing Tony Stark by having him drowned in freezing water, and nearly having a hot coal forced into Ho Yinsen's mouth. Despite his vicious and apathetic nature, al-Wazar showed himself to be intelligent, as he knew Tony Stark was too valuable of a target to kill, and kept him alive so he could build the Ten Rings missiles.
After Stark's escape from the base, al-Wazar became determined to find all pieces of the armor to study how he created it. This obsession would be his downfall, as he was unable to notice Stane betraying him and taking the armor for himself.
Abilities[]
Tactician: al-Wazar was able to strategically have his men attack the United States Air Force convoy containing Tony Stark as a deal made with Obadiah Stane. However, when realizing the target was Tony Stark, he changed the deal and kidnapped him instead, knowing that Stark was a valuable asset to building more Jericho Missiles. He also tortured Stark and Ho Yinsen so that they told him what their secret plan is. When he found Stark's Iron Man Armor, he strategically offered it to Stane is exchange for weapons, but this plan backfired when Stane betrayed him.
Bilingualism: al-Wazar was fluent in his native Dari, as well as English, using it to communicate with Tony Stark and Obadiah Stane.
Equipment[]
Weapons[]
Heckler & Koch G36KV: al-Wazar and Ten Rings members are seen wielding these G36 variants, which had been given to them by Obadiah Stane. He is seen having this weapon holstered while looking over the Ten Rings base.
Heckler & Koch AG36: The AG36 grenade launcher is fitted with his weapon, as al-Wazar had fired this at Tony Stark during his escape from the Ten Rings Base, although Iron Man was able to avoid the shot.
After Tony Stark escaped from the Ten Rings Base, he buried and abandoned his advanced suit of armor in the desert, allowing al-Wazar and his men to salvage and bring it back to their base. Al-Wazar informed Obadiah Stane of the suit's capabilities and its potential under the Ten Rings' command, only for Stane to betray and kill the Ten Rings operatives so he could use the suit's design to create his own suit of armor.
Vehicles[]
Truck: After Iron Man destroyed all the Stark Industries' weapons in possession of the Ten Rings during the Battle of Gulmira, al-Wazar arrived in an armored truck and witnessed as Iron Man flew away.[1]
Facilities[]
Ten Rings Base: Al-Wazar was residing in one of the many Ten Rings bases in Afghanistan, operated within the mountains that was holding a giant amount of weapons. After capturing Tony Stark, al-Wazar stayed alongside his subordinate, Abu Bakaar to force Stark to create a Jericho missile from Stark Industries' parts.
In the comics, Wong-Chu fills a role similar to al-Wazar, as a Vietnamese warlord who took Tony Stark 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.
