Marvel is looking to move beyond the "quantity over quality" era forced on the studio by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, but Ironheart was produced in the midst of it (the series finished shooting at the end of 2022). Perhaps as a result of that, the six-episode series doesn't deliver a particularly strong story, though most of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever follow-up's characters go a long way in making up for those failings. Ironheart is no masterpiece, but it still firmly establishes Riri Williams as one of the MCU's most captivating new leads.
If the Black Panther sequel offered an intriguing glimpse of what to expect from Dominique Thorne's Riri, Ironheart expands on that and crafts a well fleshed out young superhero who balances her genius with anxiety, not dissimilar from what Tony Stark went through in Iron Man 3. Those moments are sublimely performed, but serve as an example of what's ultimately the show's biggest issue. It's light on original or new ideas, with a basic premise that boils down to this: Riri gets kicked out of MIT, falls in with a bad crowd in the hope of achieving her dream to create an armoured suit, and ultimately realises that The Hood and his crew need to be stopped. It's a familiar concept, and one that breaks little in the way of new ground.
Fortunately, the character work goes some way in making up for that. Whether it's Riri's budding friendship with N.A.T.A.L.I.E., an AI inadvertently based on her dead best friend, The Hood's revenge mission, or Joe McGillicuddy's struggles with his legacy and ambitions to be something more, that's where Ironheart soars. Thorne, Anthony Ramos, Alden Ehrenreich, and Lyric Ross are a joy to watch, delivering stellar performances and elevating the material in a significant way. That's not to say Ironheart's story is bad; it's just familiar, and lacking what made the likes of WandaVision, Loki, and Daredevil: Born Again such stellar superhero TV shows.
The mix of magic and science proves a highlight, though, and takes this series in unexpected directions. Riri combating The Hood's demonic abilities with a suit powered by energy from the Dark Dimension is a genius move, and one that takes her to a lot of fun places. It culminates with an incredible finale that, despite raising a lot more questions than it answers, makes for a satisfying watch and adds a major player to the MCU that could change this franchise as we know it. We won't name the actor who plays them, but suffice to say they're utterly superb and someone we're eager to see much more of down the line. Ironheart boasts a surprising ending and post-credits tease, though it's unclear where or when Marvel Studios will address it.
Ironheart has spent a long time in post-production, and it shows. The VFX are film-quality and impossible to find fault with. There's not a single weak link in terms of those visuals, and the action scenes are suitably impressive. The series largely sticks to the established format of saving the big fight and new suit for the finale, an annoying trope we're hoping to see Marvel Television move away from in future. On the plus side, that clash doesn't disappoint, with Ramos making The Hood an effective, frightening, and often complicated foil for Riri.
It sounds like a cliché, but beyond the impressive effects, Chicago is a character in Ironheart and Riri's corner of the MCU feels thoroughly authentic. She's a young Black woman with big ambitions, and an inspiring protagonist who is flawed and capable of making mistakes. She's not infallible, and it's in those moments that the storytelling really impresses. The series would have benefited from taking some bigger swings, but there are limits with legacy characters, and we just know someone out there is going to cut this down into a great two-hour movie.
Ironheart isn't as forgettable as Echo, and is vastly better than Secret Invasion (a series which started strong before falling off a cliff). It ultimately falls somewhere between Ms. Marvel—which never fully lived up to its potential—and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier—essential viewing for MCU completists but a tale few fans rave about—as a show that isn't the MCU at its best. There's plenty to love when all is said and done, including some cleverly utilised title cards and the journeys the leads go on. Some episodes drag and could have done with a jolt of electricity to make them a far more enjoyable binge-watch, and that's where the cast often does the heavy lifting. Comparisons to Iron Man are inevitable, and while this is a very different beast, it's not quite the launching platform for a new franchise we'd hoped for, even if we were left wanting to see more of Ironheart and The Hood.
Oh, and the less said about the latter's crew, the better. With the exception of Manny Montana, there may have never been a more generic, irritating band of baddies those those who follow Parker Robbins on his heists. We'll take a hard pass on seeing them again. Make no mistake about it, though, Riri stands a good chance of becoming iconic.