The MCU's Armor Wars film is set to feature a multitude of characters who dawn mechanized armor like Iron Man, with the superhero War Machine set to feature as the lead protagonist. One character that appeared in the comic book event of the same name was the comedic Daredevil villain known as the Stilt-Man, a criminal who commits crimes in a suit with retractable stilt legs.
Stilt-Man was one of Daredevil's earliest adversaries, appearing in 1965's Daredevil #8 (by Stan Lee, Wally Wood, and Sam Rosen), and while both the criminal's gimmicks and personality are too comedic for the dark upcoming Daredevil: Born Again series, his high-tech suit of armor could rope him into the Armor Wars film. Stilt-Man could easily act as a light-hearted secondary antagonist for War Machine in the same vein as Skurge the Executioner in Thor: Ragnarok acting as a mild threat to preclude the true villain of the film.
Who Is the Daredevil Villain Stilt-Man?
Stilt-Man was originally a scientist by the name of Wilbur Day who stole the designs for a hydraulic ram device to create his suit that could deploy compact stilts that could reach the heights of skyscrapers. He used this suit to commit crimes in disguise while also hiring Matt Murdock to sue the original inventor of the hydraulics. Wilbur Day was almost able to successfully win the lawsuit when he framed the original inventor as being the Stilt-Man to get him arrested on criminal charges.
However, Daredevil was able to deduce Wilbur's lies and after a battle within his lab, Stilt-Man was accidentally shot with a shrink ray. Fortunately for the wacky supervillain, he was returned to his normal size by the Masked Marauder in Daredevil #26 (by Stan Lee, Gene Colan, and Frank Giacoia). He returned to his criminal career, teaming up with another comedic supervillain by the name of Leap-Frog which ultimately caused more problems than Stilt-Man was willing to deal with.
Stilt-Man eventually came into conflict with the Armored Avenger during the original "Armor Wars" story in Iron Man #225 (by David Michelinie, Bob Layton, Mark Bright, and Bob Sheran). There it was revealed that he, along with a plethora of supervillains, had stolen Stark Industries' technology to improve his suit. When Iron Man confronted Stilt-Man, the criminal almost escaped by using modified jump-jet boosters that detached from his stilt legs to allow him to fly like Iron Man. However, Iron Man's previous battle with the armored super-criminal; Beetle, prompted him to create a Stark Tech nullifier, stopping the villain from escaping.
Could Stilt-Man Be Connected To The Thunderbolts?
While not the most likely outcome, it may be possible that Stilt-Man could be introduced into the MCU as one of the many characters recruited by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine for her secret team, The Thunderbolts. This could connect to how in Punisher: War Journal #1 (by Matt Fraction, Dean White, and Ariel Olivetti), Stilt-Man was pardoned for his past crimes and recruited as a government-sanctioned agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., so long as he assisted them in more dubious assignments. Unfortunately, Wilbur's new status meant little to the extreme vigilante, Punisher, who promptly killed Stilt-Man for his past indiscretions.
Therefore, Stilt-Man could be introduced in Armor Wars as a bizarre government agent working against War Machine's goal of stopping Stark Industries' technology from falling into the wrong hands. But whether as an odd government agent, or a criminal salvaging Stark Tech for his own purposes, Stilt-Man would make a fun addition to the MCU's Armor Wars film when it finally releases in the near future.