Following the death of Iron Man in the comic books, Riri Williams blasted into action as Ironheart with an A.I. Tony Stark guiding her (the Armoured Avenger had given the teenager his blessing shortly before his demise during the Civil War II event).
In the MCU, Riri similarly built a suit from scraps, but crossed paths with Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever when Namor and the Talokans started hunting her down. In Wakanda, the genius inventor donned technologically advanced armour, but returned it to the new Black Panther when their team-up ended.
The Ironheart TV series premieres next month, and if the first trailer is any indication, Riri will find a new mentor in supernatural criminal Parker Robbins, a.k.a. The Hood.
Talking to GamesRadar+, Dominique Thorne described the villain as "this mystical, magical sort of entity," and added, "We know that The Hood couldn’t be farther apart from Riri in terms of her being a very logical 'show me the facts and run me the numbers' person."
"Coming off the heels of this super vulnerable experience, with her having been imprisoned, that vulnerability presents a very tender opportunity for Riri to make a real and impactful decision about how her genius will impact the world around her," she continued. "How will it affect the people that she loves? How can it affect her own goals and ambitions?"
"There’s a clear understanding that she’s not Tony Stark. She does not have a billion dollars at her disposal," Thorne said of how Ironheart differs from Iron Man. "She does not have the resources... she doesn’t have the mentorship, or the guidance."
"And so what does it look like for someone like The Hood to enter her sphere now, where she is vulnerable and reflecting? It does set the stage for a very interesting journey ahead to see the people who pop up as she’s working to get those answers and what the scale of their influence can be, if any?"
It sounds like an intriguing arc, but with Marvel Television releasing three episodes on June 24 and the next three the following week (according to recent reports, at least), it does somewhat feel like the studio is eager to get Ironheart over and done with.
Production wrapped in late 2022. However, it's unclear whether Ironheart has been shelved all this time due to quality issues or because Marvel Studios needed the extra time to perfect the show's visual effects.
Regardless, it no longer feels like the stage is being set for Ironheart to be a major player in the MCU moving forward.
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 premieres on Disney+ on June 24, 2025.