Marvel's Ironheart is set to premiere later this month, but it can be easy to forget just how long this series has been in development. We first got word that RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Shea Couleé had nabbed a "secret" role in the show back in 2022, and are just now finding out some details about her character.
EW has shared a first look at Couleé's character, a "fierce hacker" who goes by the nickname "Slug."
"I help a group of urban Robin Hoods to take away from the privileged and help give back to the community," Shea tells the site. "I’m there to help out on all the missions that go down, trying to shift this power dynamic in this version of Chicago we see in the show."
Though this might well be a new character, there's a chance Couleé is playing a reimagined take on Ulysses Lugman, a Miami-based criminal who tangled with several street-level heroes such as Daredevil and The Punisher in the comics. He was also affiliated with The Hood, who will be played by Anthony Ramos in Ironheart.
"From my understanding, this version of Slug they’re presenting is someone who’s being referred to as a code name. I don’t want to give too much of their backstory away. They need an alternative code name to go by because there could or could not be some people looking for them," Couleé adds.
"They've kind of left drag. They are a drag queen, but it’s kind of a past life. You see them in drag, but it’s kind of in the context of flashbacks before where they are now, because they’re trying to be on the low-low!"
Couleé is best known for Emmy-winning stint on RuPaul’s Drag Race, winning All Stars 5, finishing as a finalist on the special all-winners edition of All Stars 7, and her original season, Drag Race 9. She has also launched a podcast series, Wanna Be on Top?, which explores the world of America’s Next Top Model and premiered at No. 1 on Apple Podcasts.
Scooper MTTSH recently revealed the logline for the premiere episode.
"After being expelled from MIT and stripped of her tech, teen genius Riri Williams returns to Chicago. A chance encounter leads her into the orbit of a dangerous crew, and when she uses a brain-mapping device to repair her broken suit, she accidentally brings back a hologram AI of her dead best friend."
Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams made her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and this series takes places after the events of the sequel, as Riri returns to her hometown of Chicago and sets her mind to building a state-of-the-art iron suit so she can make her mark on the world. Her time in Wakanda has left her more eager than ever to pursue her dreams, and her quest entangles her in a dangerous world of science and magic.
“Riri is definitely in conversation with a street-level show like Daredevil,” Wakanda Forever director and Ironheart EP Ryan Coogler teased after the trailer debuted. “You’ve got characters trying — both heroes and villains — to make do with what they have. Then you combine that with cosmic Marvel, characters who would be at home in Doctor Strange or WandaVision. That [mix] of street-level Marvel and magical Marvel is a pretty crazy combination.”
"Set after the events of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Ironheart” pits technology against magic when Riri—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)."
The series also stars Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam and Anji White. Chinaka Hodge is head writer; episodes are directed by Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes. Executive producers include Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Zoie Nagelhout, Chinaka Hodge, Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler. Music is by Dara Taylor.
Produced in association with Proximity Media, Ironheart launches on Disney+ June 24, 2025.