Bethany Cabe

Bethany Cabe is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, the character first appeared in Iron Man #117 (December 1978). Bethany Cabe is a supporting character and love interest of superhero Tony Stark / Iron Man. She has also been a member of the Iron Legion at various points in her history.

Publication history
Bethany Cabe debuted in Iron Man #117 (December 1978), created by writer David Michelinie and artist Bob Layton. She later appeared in the 1968 Iron Man series. She appeared in the 1989 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 encyclopedic guide series, by Peter Sanderson. She appeared in the 2008 The All-New Iron Manual trade paperback. She appeared in the 2018 Tony Stark: Iron Man series, by Dan Slott.

Fictional character biography
Bethany Cabe appeared while Tony Stark was attending a party for the Carnelian Embassy. Stark was trying to draw out an assassin, known under the codename Spymaster, who attempted to kill him. Stark was somewhat bored by the party. However, his attention was quickly captured by the presence of a stunning redhead, who was surrounded by potential suitors.

Cabe shortly afterwards became Stark's girlfriend, turning up on various missions including a covert operation involving Roxxon Oil. It was after this incident that she revealed to Stark that she was actually a bodyguard working for Cabe & McPherson Security Specialists, alongside her best friend Ling McPherson. Cabe later accompanied Stark to Atlantic City. He came into conflict as Iron Man with the Melter, Blizzard, and Whiplash. During the battle, Iron Man was nearly overcome by the combined extreme temperatures from the Melter and Blizzard. However, Cabe stepped in to save him, providing Iron Man with a temporary distraction. With her expert skills in hand-to-hand combat, Cabe made short work of Whiplash. However, this battle began a rift between Cabe and Stark's bodyguard, since Cabe believed that Iron Man should have been protecting Stark instead of engaging in the battle. The rift came to a head when Iron Man's repulsor, under the control of Justin Hammer, blasted through the Carnelian ambassador, killing him instantly. With Iron Man wanted for murder, Cabe and Stark's relationship began to cool.

Stark had already begun to drink heavily and was on his first alcoholic binge. At Stark's darkest moment, Cabe returned and gave her love, support, and friendship, which was instrumental in helping Stark to overcome his addiction. It was also during this time that Bethany revealed that she was previously married to a German diplomat, Alexander Von Tilburg, who had a similar substance addiction with drugs. Cabe explained her regret and guilt at deserting Tilburg when he needed her the most, and how he appeared to die in a car accident. Cabe believed that if she had remained with him, Tilburg would still be alive today.

Once Stark was off the bottle, Bethany resumed her relationship with Stark and became his closest confidante. However, Stark chose not to reveal that he was Iron Man at this time. Shortly afterwards, Iron Man came into conflict with Madame Masque once again. Masque and Spymaster kidnapped Cabe. Masque wanted revenge on Stark and displayed her jealousy at Cabe's intimate relationship with him. She revealed that Stark and Iron Man were one and the same, believing that this would surprise Cabe. However, Cabe explained that she already figured this secret out weeks ago. Masque, in a fit of rage, attempted to gun down Cabe, but was overcome in the process. This incident heralded the start of the long-term enmity between Cabe and Masque.

After a trip to the Caribbean where Cabe and Stark finally seemed to find happiness, Cabe arrived home to news that her husband was still alive and being held somewhere in East Germany. She was determined to rescue him, and became secretive and cagey towards Stark. Cabe eventually travelled to Germany where she was captured and held prisoner at a high-tech installation known as "Der Hand Von Himmel," or "Heaven's Hand." Iron Man attempted to rescue her. But after assisting her to escape, he was captured and held prisoner at the installation. Iron Man battled the Living Laser in order to escape, but once he returned to the United States, Cabe informed him that she was returning to her husband. Therefore, her relationship with Stark was over.

Stark went into another alcoholic binge shortly afterwards, which was far more severe this time. Some years later, Cabe returned, looking for Stark's help. However, she was captured by Obadiah Stane, who used mind transfer technology to switch Cabe's personality with that of Masque's. Now, in Cabe's body, Masque attempted to kill Stark. However, she was thwarted by Cabe in Masque's body. Stark managed to successfully transfer their personalities back to their rightful owners. Afterwards, Cabe decided to go back to Germany to officially end her relationship with Tilburg. However, Tilburg was killed via a drug overdose. Cabe did not return for some time.

Years later, after Stark's nervous system had been manipulated, forcing him to fake his own death, the giant robot Ultimo began attacking Los Angeles. Jim Rhodes, in the armored guise of War Machine. recruited a handful of Stark's former friends and employees, in order to form a temporary group consisting solely of former incarnations of Iron Man known as the Iron Legion. Cabe was among those recruited. She wore the armor which Stark had donned after the Armor Wars, and, along with War Machine and the other Iron Men, battled Ultimo. Cabe and Rhodes were the only Iron Men left standing before Stark returned to destroy their enemy. After the battle, Stark recruited Cabe as his new Head of Security at Stark Enterprises.

Bethany stayed on as Head of Security purely in a platonic capacity. However, shortly before the Crossing incident, Tony Stark renewed his relationship with Cabe once more. This relationship was not developed as Iron Man vol. 1 soon came to an end, and was not revived in subsequent volumes.

Cabe reappeared as Rhodes' benefactor. During this she wore a War Machine Armor similar to his and assisted Rhodes in his battles. After several attempts at his employee's lives, Stark hires her as head of security in his new company Stark Resilient.

At the behest of Stark, Cabe was rehired by Pepper Potts to beef up the security protocols for the fledgling startup Stark Resilient and its employees. Distrusting Cabe, Potts attempted to undermine her position several times, lying about the lack of pay, to discourage her from taking the job, and withholding potential information about a mole within the company. Cabe retaliated by secretly capturing video of Pepper, dressed in her personal "Rescue" armor, crying during the Marvel-wide Fear Itself crossover event, then leaking the footage to shareholders.

Cabe later defended Stark Resilient against an attack by the mole, who was revealed to be Spymaster.

Critical response
Nishid Motwani of Comic Book Resources called Bethany Cabe "beautiful, smart, and attractive."

Iron Man: The End
An alternate version of Bethany Cabe appears on Earth-9119. She and Tony Stark ultimately get married. In their old age, they retired to a Stark-designed space station orbiting Earth.

US War Machine
An alternate version of Bethany Cabe appears on Earth-112001. She is Tony Stark's bodyguard and lover, and is also a wearer of one of the Stark-designed armors.

Film

 * Bethany Cabe was rumored to appear in Iron Man 2, portrayed by Kate Mara.  The actress later disputed the claim.   Kate Mara portrayed a different character in the film.