In 2020, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced that Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart, would spring to life from comic pages in her own original series starring Dominique Thorne. Ironheart will be part of Phase Five. While details about the series are still pretty scarce, Riri Williams’ comic history will provide its foundation. We finally met Riri “Ironheart” Williams in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, an appearance that set the stage for diving into her story.
At its recent Upfronts presentation, Disney revealed that the Ironheart series would release in 2025. We are incredibly glad to hear it and can’t wat to see Riri Williams again.
In a cast interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dominique Thorne confirmed that Ironheart will go to her hometown of Chicago. “We’re taking it back to her hometown of Chicago, and a bit of a battle ensues as she’s debating between or considering how she wants to use what she realizes is a powerful wealth of knowledge, realizing just how much genius she has in her, deciding what she’s going to do with that,” said Thorne. “We see that play out in the environment when she gets back home as well — she has these options. Who and how am I going to use these things that I now know about myself?”
Here’s everything you need to know about Ironheart.
Title
The series title is Marvel Studios’ Ironheart.
Ironheart‘s Plot
Ironheart will focus on Riri Williams, a brilliant Black girl inventor who creates a high-tech metal suit like Iron Man’s. As we discover in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri is a 19-year-old MIT student who is “running” a homework business. Oh, and she also builds a vibranium detection machine that puts her in the path of Namor, the leader of a underwater nation who is willing to kill her to protect his people. Of course, she’s alive and well at the end of the film and heading back to Massachusetts… for now. Right now, there are no solid details about the show. But it is possible that the show will bounce between her native Chicago and MIT, where MJ and Ned also happen to be.
An official synopsis shares:
Set after the events of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Marvel Television’s “Ironheart” pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne)—a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka “The Hood” (Anthony Ramos).
Behind the Scenes
Playwright, poet, and Snowpiercer writer Chinaka Hodge will lead the show’s writing team as a head writer. According to Deadline, Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes will direct the series. In addition, Proximity, Ryan Coogler’s production company, will serve as one of the show’s producers. Coogler is also onboard the series as an executive producer alongside Kevin Feige. Ironheart finished filming in November 2022.
Ironheart‘s Cast
Dominique Thorne will take on the leading role of Riri “Ironheart” Williams in the MCU. She will be joined by Anthony Ramos of Hamilton and In the Heights fame, who will play The Hood. This Is Us mainstay Lyric Ross will portray Riri’s best friend. In the comics, Riri’s BFF Natalie died way before she became an iron hero but lived on through N.A.T.A.L.I.E. This AI program takes her friend’s form and they work together much like Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S. did. It remains to be seen if this friend will be alive, appear in flashbacks, or operate as AI in the series. Or, perhaps it is not Natalie at all but rather a new character.
Other cast members include Manny Montana, Alden Ehrenreich, Zoe Terakes, Shakira Barrera, Jim Rash, Shea Couleé, Regan Aliyah, Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola, Sonia Denis, Paul Calderón, and Cree Summer.
A new Marvel filing with the U.S. Copyright Office Public Records System also reveals that Sacha Baron Cohen will appear in Ironheart as “Mystery Man.” Very mysterious indeed.
Ironheart‘s Release Date
The Disney+ series doesn’t have a release date yet, but Marvel Studios has confirmed it will release in 2025.
Originally published on March 1, 2022.