Ironheart ends with Riri Williams successfully defeating The Hood and making a literal deal with the devil when she encounters Sacha Baron Cohen's Mephisto. In return for her soul, Riri's dead best friend, Natalie, is brought back to the land of the living.
They embrace in the show's final scene, but we learn that Riri's deal wasn't without a cost, as the same scars that nearly killed Parker Robbins are shown snaking up her arm.
Talking to Deadline, Dominique Thorne weighed in with her thoughts on Ironheart's shocking conclusion. "She’s been making all these choices that she thinks other people will approve of. We finally get to the end, and she’s like, 'I’m going to do what I think is correct and see what happens then,' because clearly her trying to play both sides hasn’t been working for her."
As for what the future holds in store for Riri and Mephisto, Thorne doesn't believe that fateful conversation in the diner will be the last time her character crosses paths with the villain.
"My gut is telling me that that is not the last we have seen of him, and I don’t think that is the last that we’ve seen of him in connection with Parker, and obviously, clearly not with Riri," she said. "I think Mephisto is probably in for a bit more of a headache than he bargained for with Miss Riri Williams. I think regardless of what Mephisto thinks is going to happen, Riri most certainly has other plans in mind."
Unless Ironheart is a huge hit for Disney+, we can't imagine season 2 is going to be a priority for Marvel Studios. The studio is looking to reduce its streaming output and focus more on street-level characters, leaving Riri's story to continue elsewhere (Midnight Sons, maybe).
Thorne expanded on what could come next in a separate conversation with Entertainment Weekly, saying she was "super excited" by Riri's apparent turn to the dark side as an agent of Mephisto.
"I think it's so yummy that Riri doesn't have to walk the traditional hero path," the actor teased. "She has already crossed some lines and figured she'll handle the consequences on the other side. So what exactly is the scope? What's the scale of those consequences? And does she continue to resist? Does she continue to do the right thing or does she lean into the other part of her?"
"It just helped to reinforce what we've been seeing from Riri since Wakanda Forever, which is that she's not majorly committed to this superhero mantle," Thorne added. "That last moment brings it all home, boils it all down, and reiterates what we've been seeing since we've met Riri Williams, which is you have all this brilliance, you have all this potential, and you need to make a choice."
The post-credits scene also teases the idea of The Hood walking down a heroic path as an ally of Zelma Stanton and, potentially, the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong. For Anthony Ramos, it's exciting to think about what all this means for Parker Robbins moving forward.
"I love this role and I'd love to have the opportunity to do more with him. And to dive deeper into Parker and Mephisto's relationship and how his failure affects him. But also, does Riri go bad, all the way there, and by some miracle, does Parker have to stop her now? Does she become overcome by the magic, and is it going to take him to be like, 'Look what it did to me, don't let this do this to you.' That would be sick."
A new poster for Ironheart has also been released, which you can check out below.
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).
The series also stars Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam and Anji White. Chinaka Hodge is head writer and executive producer; episodes are directed by Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes.
"Ironheart soars when Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, Alden Ehrenreich, and Lyric Ross are on screen," we wrote in our 3* review, "but a by-the-numbers story means the series falls short of reaching the same heights as Iron Man. Still, the finale is an undeniable must-see."
All episodes of Ironheart are now streaming on Disney+.