IRONHEART Star Dominique Thorne Teases Dynamic With The Hood And How Riri Williams Differs From Iron Man

IRONHEART Star Dominique Thorne Teases Dynamic With The Hood And How Riri Williams Differs From Iron Man

Ironheart star Dominique Thorne has teased Riri Williams' dynamic with The Hood and explains how the character, first introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, differs from Tony Stark/Iron Man...

By JoshWilding - May 20, 2025 06:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Ironheart
Source: GamesRadar+

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. 

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Lisa89
Lisa89 - 5/20/2025, 6:40 AM
User Comment Image

That’s race bait.
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 5/20/2025, 7:10 AM
She doesn't have charisma or charm at her disposal either.
Wallywest001
Wallywest001 - 5/20/2025, 7:21 AM
@PartyKiller - another crash and burn by Disney. This show will be another bomb. Will Disney truly ever learn?
Floke
Floke - 5/20/2025, 7:16 AM
You dont need billions of dollars to build a plot armour.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 5/20/2025, 7:42 AM
Given that it was one of her inventions and thus her genius that put her in the crosshairs of Wakanda & Talokan , it makes sense she might be more cognizant of how that could affect the world around her if in interpreting Dominique’s comments correctly..

In regards to the Hood , it seems less like a mentorship from the trailer and moreso just a mutually beneficial alliance for now…

It seems evident that both Riri & him are being positioned as two sides of the same coin in terms of their ambition but ultimately the latter’s leads him down a dark path while hers turns her to the light even if she waivers for a bit.

Anyway , I’m looking forward to the show!!.
Batmangina
Batmangina - 5/20/2025, 7:47 AM
The main difference between Riri and Tony Stark:

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dragon316
dragon316 - 5/20/2025, 7:56 AM
She’s African American and female she’s kid he’s adult series looks ok not sure if I like it may watch episode see how it is
SteelGunZ
SteelGunZ - 5/20/2025, 7:57 AM
Kevin wants us to do more homework with this show because he said before that this show will tie in to "Secert Wars".

So even tho it sat on shelf, he has to bring it out regardless of how bad it is and how unlikeable the character is.
Odekahn
Odekahn - 5/20/2025, 9:54 AM
@SteelGunZ - I’d rather read reviews that detail anything that needs to be known before watching Secret Wars than spend hours watching this shit.

Let the reviewers watch it so we don’t have to! 👍🏻
SteelGunZ
SteelGunZ - 5/21/2025, 12:14 PM
@Odekahn - Agreed
RacialPowerman
RacialPowerman - 5/20/2025, 8:16 AM
She's black like war machine,a female like Rescue.
Deadinside
Deadinside - 5/20/2025, 3:29 PM
@RacialPowerman -
She's a "Rescue Machine"...so, basically, an ambulance...! ☮️😜
RacialPowerman
RacialPowerman - 5/20/2025, 9:15 PM
@Deadinside - and she flies so pretty much a Rescue Chopper.
Odekahn
Odekahn - 5/20/2025, 8:17 AM
Hope this bombs harder than the Acolyte lol
JstaKIDfrmBKLYN
JstaKIDfrmBKLYN - 5/20/2025, 9:47 AM
The only thing I can really see being good in this is the action. Hopefully.
BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 5/20/2025, 11:03 AM
The only thing that has been bothering me about this show is the whole..."build something iconic". Will be interesting what direction they take with this....but I feel like there were other routes they could have gone that would have made this project a bit more exciting...imo anyway.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 5/20/2025, 11:04 AM

Interest in this to the general audience is about zero. The damn thing sat on a dusty shelf for over THREE years. Just think of all the lousy D+ shows they aired while leaving this one gathering dust.

But Disney really had to make a choice. Either toss it in the garbage Batgirl style (best idea) or finally air it. It won't be weekly because they have no faith in it.

Will D+ get better now? No. We have Wonder Man to not look forward to.

JustAWaffle
JustAWaffle - 5/20/2025, 11:07 AM
@DocSpock - Are there any D+ shows on the dock to look forward to? There's this, Wonder Man, Visionquest, and that terribly animated What If. But is there anything else?
DocSpock
DocSpock - 5/20/2025, 11:23 AM
@JustAWaffle -

Daredevil season 2 is the only good thing on the horizon for D+.

JustAWaffle
JustAWaffle - 5/20/2025, 1:30 PM
@DocSpock - Ah yeah. Forgot about that. S1 was weak, but it sounds like there was a reason for it. S2 is all based on the new writers (and the costumes look legit)

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