Dominique Thorne knows her turn as Ironheart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a long time coming.
Ever since the actor’s fascinating character was introduced as the genius inventor Riri Williams in the 2022 “Black Panther” sequel blockbuster “Wakanda Forever,” Marvel fans have been eagerly waiting to get reacquainted with her. However, the road to unleashing Disney+’s “Ironheart” faced hurdle after hurdle in the years that followed.
The series was originally slated to premiere in 2023, three years after Thorne was first announced as the lead. However, a series of delays continually pushed the release back. And with the 2023 Hollywood strikes and Marvel Studios temporarily pulling “Ironheart” from its release schedule, it seemed like the show was dead in the water before Thorne even got the chance to show the world exactly what Riri is made of.
But while the holdup sparked widespread chatter among doubtful fans, Thorne held steady, trusting that, like all things in life, everything in the journey to her Marvel television debut unfolded “right on time.”
“Of course, there were moments in there where you’re not really sure what’s going on,” the 27-year-old actor told HuffPost. “The industry was faced with a strike and then another strike, and a lot of people asking some tough and necessary questions. And so it’s difficult to witness something like that going on, and feel like it is wrong or a burden to not want to support or understand why it’s happening.”
Still, that meant having to wait a beat longer to step into the spotlight as the newest hero to enter the MCU — who also happens to be the first Black woman to suit up in the Iron Man armor in the Marvel comics. And at a time when Black women-led shows are already scarce, the delay in releasing “Ironheart” felt like more than just a scheduling hiccup, but rather part of a larger pattern of sidelining Black stories.
Thorne, however, remained patient. Because after shining in small roles in Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” and the Oscar-nominated “Judas and the Black Messiah,” the breakout star knew that her moment as a leading lady would come in due time.
“The show is fun and necessary and important,” she says. “But if it’s meant to be out there and affect change, it’ll get there when it needs to.”
“Ironheart” marks Thorne’s most recent team-up with executive producer Ryan Coogler. The acclaimed filmmaker notably directed her in “Wakanda Forever” after they first met while he was casting for the original “Black Panther.”
“She was young. I think she was still in school at Cornell, and she blew us away,” Coogler recalled while introducing her at the 2023 Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards. “It ended up not working out, and we went in a different direction,” he added. “I was crushed that I wouldn’t get to work with her on that project.”
Of course, fate had other plans. Funny enough, just weeks before getting the call to join Coogler’s second “Black Panther” film, Thorne had put on her 2020 vision board that she hoped to work with the “Sinners” director one day, according to The New York Times. But that call didn’t just bring her into the Marvel realm — it also came with the promise of her own eventual spinoff series.
That assurance, plus having someone like Coogler believe in her talent, Thorne says, made all the difference as she stepped into “Ironheart.”
“It’s super encouraging, for sure,” she adds, “just to continue to keep your head down and keep doing the work and keep trying things and getting better and improving. This is absolutely someone who cares about the artistry of it all… It’s really remarkable to just get to witness that in the flesh.”
Thorne doesn’t miss a beat as she reprises her “Wakanda Forever” role in “Ironheart.” The mini-series — which also stars Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam and Anji White — picks up after the events of the sequel, with Riri, a now-expelled M.I.T. student, back in her hometown of Chicago, plotting to build a state-of-the-art iron suit that can revolutionize the world. Such an ambitious project requires a boatload of funds, though, and that pursuit leads Riri to the mysterious, magic-powered Parker Robbins, better known as “The Hood” (Anthony Ramos), and his criminal gang of fellow geniuses.
What ensues over the six-episode adventure tangles Riri in the world of science and magic, as she suspects her new ally might be holding onto a dark secret. At the same time, she’s also trying to make a name for herself, which is what Thorne hopes to do with the character who has drawn heavy comparisons to another iron-clad Marvel figure — billionaire inventor Tony Stark, aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), the superhero who helped birth the MCU over a decade ago.
Thorne is well aware of the parallels between the two bold tech innovators, but those similarities largely end with their shared expertise.
“Riri is not a billionaire. She is not a mogul. She is not a white man,” the actor says adamantly. “She is a 19-year-old Black girl from the South Side of Chicago who is dumpster diving to find her parts and building them in her spare time as a full-time student at M.I.T.”
“She’s an engineer and a genius, that they do have in common,” Thorne acknowledges. “But I think it’s easy to want to compare because we know what’s familiar.”
Downey Jr.’s Iron Man has become quite familiar to Marvel fans after nearly a dozen film appearances over the years. And as a self-proclaimed MCU fan herself, Thorne knows what it means to appreciate how the superhero realm got its start from the Oscar-winning actor’s staple character: “Lots of respect on Tony Stark’s name.”
Still, she insists that Riri isn’t trying to fill Iron Man’s shoes — or his suit. Her journey is one entirely her own, and so she hopes audiences will be open to her place in the Marvel universe.
“She’s a new person pursuing a new dream,” Thorne notes. “A different dream for much different reasons, and her existence and ability to create something even remotely similar, despite how different and nuanced and special it is because of the difference, is incredible.”
That in itself, she says, is “a testament to the legacy that Tony Stark left behind.”
But Thorne doesn’t need permission from others to claim her space in the MCU after Stark. She previously revealed that she got “two thumbs up” from Iron Man himself. And that’s all she needs to move forward with confidence and make the role of Riri Williams her own.
“[Tony Stark] inspired millions of people in the MCU and out here in our real little world. So Riri was absolutely one of those people who took something incredible from Tony Stark’s legacy, but at the end of the day, she’s a different person,” Thorne says. “And so the way that all that information resonates with her and what comes out on the other side is going to look different. It’s going to be different. It’s going to impact probably different people and some of the same — and that’s a good thing.”
Thorne is interested to see how her addition to the MCU evolves its legacy of heroes. Whether Riri’s story continues beyond Season 1 remains to be seen, but Thorne is unwavering in her belief that she’s brought something meaningful to the screen — and that her work will speak for itself.
“The only thing that I can really do on my side is try to do my best to care about the artistry and the craft,” she concludes, “and to put my best foot forward every time I get a chance.”
The first three episodes of “Ironheart” begin streaming on Disney+ on June 24 at 6 p.m. PT/ 9 p.m. ET.