Dominique Thorne made her live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Riri Williams in 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and left us wanting an “Ironheart” series right there and then. What with everything we know about “Ironheart,” the show should prove to be worth the wait, too. With executive producer Ryan Coogler (who also directed the first two “Black Panther” movies) fresh off his bloody vampire masterclass “Sinners” and the MCU itself on the upswing following the emotional gut punch of “Thunderbolts*,” the hype train of “Ironheart” is drawn by two capable locomotives … and that’s before you take into account the amount of talent attached.
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Series creator Chinaka Hodge was a staff writer on AMC’s dystopian sci-fi train thriller “Snowpiercer.” Directing duties of the six-episode series are shared by Sam Bailey (“Grown-ish,” “Dear White People”) and Angela Barnes (“Mythic Quest,” “Atlanta.”) On the acting front, Thorne (“If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Judas and the Black Messiah”) has ample backup from the likes of Anthony Ramos (“A Star Is Born,” “In the Heights”) and Alden Ehrenreich (“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Oppenheimer”). Even before the first trailer of the Chicago-based show dropped, it was easy to anticipate that the show may turn out to be the newest chapter in the MCU’s success — and now that said trailer is here, it’s even easier to get excited for the upcoming “Ironheart” series.
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Ironheart channels Tony Stark with a dash of Spider-Man
Ironheart is one of Marvel’s many power armor heroes who are indebted to Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), so it’s no surprise that the “Ironheart” trailer has a distinct “Tony Stark without all the billions” feel. Riri’s ability to think on her feet and MacGyver her way through difficult situations — as exemplified in the trailer’s opening scene, in which she has to escape an elevator trap — are reminiscent of Tony’s armor-free adventures in “Iron Man 3,” while the armor-building scenes and Riri figuring out how to use the armor seem like nods to the first “Iron Man” movie.
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Interestingly, however, the trailer’s depiction of Riri as a young MIT genius who leads a double life, teams up with a shady maybe-villain (The Hood, played by Ramos), and gets caught up in an unspecified high-stakes situation makes clear that, despite the superficial connections, the show is going to be very different from any “Iron Man” project we’ve seen. If anything, the trailer makes it seem like the show’s closest spiritual cousin is the recent animated reimagining of the Spider-Man mythos, “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” which features Peter Parker (Hudson Thames) in a similar situation. All in all, it looks like fans will be in for a fascinating new look into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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The first three episodes of the Disney+ MCU miniseries “Ironheart” will be available for viewing on June 24, 2025.
