One of Marvel's recently announced Disney Plus shows has heart. Or, more specifically, “Ironheart”. A relatively new Marvel hero, Ironheart / Riri Williams (played by Dominique Thorne) is set to be the star of her own upcoming Marvel series.
First, we met her in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” as she made her impressive engineering and inventing skills known. She also became the new hero who assisted the Wakandans against the attacks of Namor, the Submariner (Tenoch Huerta).
Oh, and as you might have guessed given her name, Ironheart has some connections to Iron Man. We've got all of the details from the comics, which will likely differ in the shows and movies, below.
On top of all of that, Ironheart seems to be on track. Deadline reported that the series had already finished filming. Thorne said: "Filming has concluded, indeed. I mean, I can say strap in, get ready. It will be a ride, much like they all are. It is an epic journey, and one that I'm very excited to share."
Dominique Thorne teases ‘Ironheart’ : “Get ready… it’ll be a ride” | #Sundance pic.twitter.com/Ef1RIPuaafJanuary 19, 2024
Confirmed cast members in 'Ironheart'
Right now, we have quite a few members in the cast, but a lot of them don’t have character names yet. Chief among them is Dominique Thorne, who plays Riri Williams, the teenager who takes the name Ironheart. Thorne made her MCU debut in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, as she hammered away on her Ironheart armor. Thorne has previously appeared in “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Judas and the Black Messiah”.
The casting of “In The Heights” star Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins / The Hood was confirmed at theD23 2022 expo. The Wrap reports that the audience on hand saw footage of Thorne and Ramos in the movie, and it looked as if Robbins isn't exactly a good guy. Also at D23, ScreenRant reported that Jim Rash (Community) will appear as the Dean of MIT (he also appeared in “Captain America: Civil War”).
According to Deadline, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” star Alden Ehrenreich will also appear in the show as Joe McGillicuddy, an original character in the MCU. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Lyric Ross joined the cast as Natalie Washington, who is Riri’s best friend.
Here is a full list of the confirmed cast members and their roles in the show:
- Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart, the main protagonist who is a gifted inventor
- Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins/The Hood, a supervillain and criminal mastermind
- Jim Rash as Dean of MIT
- Lyric Ross as Natalie Washington, the best friend of Riri
- Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy, although this name could be a coverup due to him potentially having a bigger role
- Shea Couleé as Slug, the crimelord and associate of Parker
- Anji White as Ronnie Williams, mother of Riri
- Manny Montana as John King, the cousin of Parker
- Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington, possibly the brother of Natalie
- Harper Anthony in a TBA role
- Zoe Terakes in a TBA role
- Regan Aliyah in a TBA role
- Shakira Barrera in a TBA role
- Rashida "Sheedz" Olayiwola in a TBA role
- Sonia Denis in a TBA role
- Paul Calderón in a TBA role
- Cree Summer in a TBA role
'Ironheart' release date
“Ironheart” was supposed to arrive on the small screen in Fall 2023, as announced by Marvel in its Phase 5 and 6 movies and shows news at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. However, the show was pushed back to a planned 2024 release, and the title was actually removed completely from the schedule. This concerned fans as Marvel didn’t provide a clear future for the series.
Now, however, we do have a plan set in motion. Disney’s upfront presentation revealed that “Ironheart” will come out in 2025. Among this list are “Agatha All Along” (releasing September 18, 2024) and “Daredevil: Born Again” (March 2025). Considering “Daredevil” releases early next year, we can expect to see “Ironheart” in late 2025, around September-December.
While this does feel like a long time away, we can trust that Marvel has pushed the series back for a reason. Focusing on the quality of the shows rather than getting as many out as possible is best for the MCU.
Who is Ironheart? Identity and lore
Ironheart looks like the latest teenaged-spark of brilliance to come to the MCU, following Ms. Marvel. In the MCU, per the copy on Marvel's own site, Ironheart aka Riri Williams is "a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man." The character dates back to 2016, when she was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis — first appearing in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 2 #7.
Riri Williams is basically the Tony Stark of her generation, except she's much younger. She's even mourning the death of her own father, Riri Williams Sr., just like Tony. Originally from Chicago, this certified super-genius got a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 15. There, she builds her own suit of armor, one that's intentionally similar to Stark's by reverse-engineering the Mark-41 design — except hers is made with material stolen from the campus. She then flies away from school once security comes knocking.
After a quick adventure where she stopped inmates fleeing New Mexico State Penitentiary, Williams came home to meet ... Tony Stark. This will probably not happen in the MCU — Tony's dead and we love him 3,000 — unless there are some big flashbacks coming. Mr. Stark then encourages Williams to become a hero. She later helps Stark fend off Captain Marvel (Marvel's Civil War storylines got wild) before he is left in a comatose state. The name Ironheart is then suggested to Riri by the A.I. version of Stark.
In the comics, Ironheart's fought everyone from Will-o’-the-Wisp to Thanos. Interestingly enough for upcoming Marvel movies and shows, Ironheart's biggest rival/villain is Lucia von Bardas, a cyborg from Latveria — you know, the kingdom ruled by Dr. Victor von Doom. Maybe this will link into the upcoming “Fantastic Four” movie somehow.
What the plot could be for 'Ironheart'
There haven’t been many plot details regarding “Ironheart”, but we do have key information that can give us a rough idea of what to expect. On the official Marvel website, there is a brief description that reads: “Marvel Studios' Ironheart stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man.”
We can speculate that student Riri Williams returns home to Chicago, only to discover “dangerous threats that bring danger and adventure.”
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige also said: “What's great is that The Hood, from the comics, he deals in the dark arts. He deals in magic. Riri is a technologist. We've had technological heroes and villains. We've had supernatural people dealing with magic. We've never had the two at the same time, so seeing Riri go up against [The Hood] in a way, that is very unique is what I think I'm most excited for.”
So, what we do know is that Ironheart and The Hood will fight against each other in the show. There’s going to be a defining moment when they clash, and that moment will probably put Riri’s family and friends in danger.
Trailers for 'Ironheart'
Unfortunately, there isn’t an online trailer for “Ironheart”, but we know there is one. Disney revealed a trailer during their upfront presentation, and according to IGN, it gave a quick teaser into what to expect. They said: “We saw some brief footage of Riri Williams' struggle to get her suit of armor built. And it does give us an idea of where the series might pick up in Riri's story: as a young student at MIT, we see her stealing various parts from around campus, and then getting booted from the institute for doing so.”
The rest of the trailer showed some badass shots of the suit and Ironheart in action. Ramos, who plays the villain Parker, hinted that things go completely wrong, which is where he meets Riri.
Since this show won’t be released until late 2025, we shouldn’t expect a full trailer anytime soon. If anything, we’ll get small clips of footage and maybe a small teaser leading up to the series premiere.
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