At long last, Marvel’s “Ironheart” made its debut on Disney+ on Tuesday night. The first three episodes are now streaming, with the final three episodes airing next Tuesday on the streamer.
Starring Dominique Thorne, the series follows Riri Williams as a genius inventor from Chicago who is hellbent on building an iron suit that’s a technical body of armor. “Ironheart” is executive produced by Ryan Coogler, whose “Wakanda Forever” brought the Ironheart from the comic book to the big screen.
Now, Riri is getting her moment in the spotlight with her very own series. The show picks up after Riri gets expelled from M.I.T. and has to return to her hometown to gather up the tools to build the kind of iron suit that could make Tony Stark proud. Meanwhile, she’s still grieving the death of her best friend Natalie (Lyric Ross) and her stepdad Gary (LaRoyce Hawkins), all while getting mixed up with a dangerous crew, headed up by Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos).
HuffPost staff members offer a primer for the series and chat about the cast’s performances, how the show offers an authentic portrayal of grief, and why you need to tune in next week for the final three episodes.
What Happened With Ironheart in ‘Wakanda Forever’?
“Wakanda Forever” set the stage for “Ironheart” by introducing audiences to Riri Williams, the genius inventor and M.I.T. student who created the vibranium detector that exposed the underwater kingdom of Talokan and its leader, Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the central antagonist in the sequel. Riri’s invention put her on Namor’s hit list, so to protect her, Shuri (Letitia Wright), the new Black Panther, set out to America to bring Riri back to Wakanda. However, she gets abducted by Namor and taken back to Talokan.
Riri eventually escapes to aid Shuri and the Wakandans in their battle against Talokan, creating the first iteration of her Ironheart suit with vibranium tech. After Shuri and Namor called a truce, Riri returned to M.I.T. without her suit — vibranium tech outside of Wakanda poses great danger — but it, of course, makes another appearance in “Ironheart.” — Njera
What Producers Said About The Series’ Release Schedule And Delays
“Ironheart” producer Zoie Nagelhout told TechRadar that the 2023 writers and actors strikes caused major delays in the production of the TV series. Originally, “Ironheart” was announced as a film in 2018, but then was changed to a Disney+ original TV series in 2020. Principal photography wrapped in November 2022, but then the release date for the series wasn’t announced until last October, with the trailer finally being released just last month. Nagelhout also said that the streamer wanted to give “Ironheart,” just like its other shows, a chance to have its own spotlight.
“As you can imagine, we [Marvel Studios] have a plethora of content that’s always coming out, and we want to make sure each piece gets its day. We don’t want them to compete with each other,” she said.
The TV series is being released in two batches: The first three episodes began streaming on Tuesday, and the final three episodes will begin streaming on July 1 on Disney+. Producer Sev Ohanian said that decision was “above our pay grade,” but that he is excited to see how fans react to a cliffhanger in Episode 3.
“What I will say that’s exciting about it is the third episode ends with a major cliffhanger that’s also an evolution of our [Marvel’s] storytelling,” Ohanian said. “I love the fact that there’s a week between these three-episode releases. If people want to binge watch them, they get to do so and then the wait isn’t long for the next batch to drop, so I think it’ll make for a good viewing experience.” — Erin
Let’s Talk About The Cast And Performances
The cast and characters are honestly my favorite part of the show. First off, Dominique Thorne is excellent, as usual, in her role as Riri. I loved her scrappy, headstrong character when she made her “Black Panther” debut, and her fierce portrayal in the show is consistent with who we already know her to be. She definitely shines in “Ironheart,” both as a new Marvel hero who can carry a spinoff and a young Black girl figuring out what kind of mark she wants to leave on the world.
But Thorne doesn’t lead “Ironheart” on her own — her castmates deliver equally dynamic performances, too. Like “This Is Us” alum Lyric Ross, who plays Riri’s late best friend, Natalie. Even as an AI projection, Ross’ energy jumps out from the screen. She doesn’t feel like a sidekick that fades into the background, but rather a critical part of Riri’s development as they both navigate new territory. I really hope we get to see more of her beyond these six episodes.
Some more “Ironheart” standouts, for me, were Regan Aliyah — I feel like I can’t say too much about her character yet without giving away spoilers — and Sonia Denis, who plays Clown, one of the (very funny) members of The Hood’s crew. Denis provides a lot of comedic relief in the show, but it’s obvious there’s more to her character than meets the eye, which the show reveals toward the end of the season. I also loved seeing “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Shea Couleé, who plays a very interesting hacker, also in The Hood’s crew.
Also, shout-out to Anji White, who plays Riri’s mom! One of my biggest pet peeves with TV shows is how underused and invisible parental characters are sometimes, but “Ironheart” doesn’t treat Riri’s mom like a background player. Her presence is definitely felt, and she’s a huge help to Riri. Thorne and White played the mother-daughter dynamic really well, especially in those moments where they both grieve Riri’s stepfather (more on that in a bit).
I’m getting long-winded here, but I want to at least acknowledge the show’s antagonist: Parker Robbins aka The Hood, played by Anthony Ramos. Ramos does a good job of holding the mystery around his villainous character. It’s always interesting to see him in roles so different from Mars Blackmon in “She’s Gotta Have It” (the first show I saw him in).
All in all, this “Ironheart” cast is pretty solid. — Njera
You pretty much said it all, there. But to add on, I absolutely loved the scenes with Dominique and Lyric. They had a great chemistry on screen, and Lyric added some comedic energy to the series. I loved her character in “This Is Us,” and this role feels wholly different in a good way. I also will watch Manny Montana in ANYTHING, and I loved him here, too, as Cousin John in Parker’s crew. — Erin
Who Is A Part Of The Hood’s Crew?
The Hood’s underground crew plays a vital role in the show that completely changes the trajectory of Riri’s journey. Each member of the criminal organization possesses a special set of skills that help the group carry out heists. There’s, of course, the leader, The Hood (Ramos), who has magical powers enabled by the hood he wears; Jeri (Zoe Terakes) and Roz (Shakira Barrera) aka The Blood Siblings, the enforcers of the group; Slug (Couleé), the observant hacker; Clown (Denis), the rowdy pyrotechnics specialist; and, last but not least, the knife-loving gangster Cousin John (Montana), who looks out for The Hood and keeps his dark secret under wraps. — Njera
How The Grief Storyline Helps Drive The Show
Riri is grieving the deaths of her best friend and stepdad throughout the series and I really appreciated how much emotional heft it added to the storyline. Any time Riri starts thinking about her past and fond memories with her bestie, you really get to see the depth of Thorne’s acting skills, and it gives her character a lot more dimension. A young Black girl who’s smart as hell and also struggling to deal with her emotions and the loss of those close to her? More of this on TV please. — Erin
Yes, I absolutely agree! Grief as the B storyline throughout the show gave us non-Marvel folks something to connect to outside of the high-stakes action, and it made the series feel more like a coming-of-age story than anything else. Although AI technology gives me pause, it felt like a very authentic avenue to explore Riri’s grief as it relates to her passion for science. Natalie is probably the most human I’ve seen AI act, even though, to the show’s credit, her portrayal is very fictionalized. Still, she’s so instrumental in Riri processing the pain and loss of her best friend and stepdad. As somber as those scenes were, they were probably an acting best for Thorne. And to your point, Erin, we could stand to see a lot more of these emotional arcs from young Black girls, and Black youth in general, on TV. — Njera
How Ironheart Connects To Iron Man/Tony Stark
The most obvious connection between Ironheart and Iron Man in the new series is Riri’s ambitious plan to build an iron suit that mirrors the one billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has worn throughout the MCU. Riri is deeply inspired by Stark and his technology, but wants to take her state-of-the-art iron suit a step further by creating something that can revolutionize safety in the world.
“Ironheart” makes several callbacks to Stark and his legacy throughout the show, most notably with the Tony Stark fellowship program that Riri is enrolled in at M.I.T. But as Thorne told HuffPost, the similarities between Riri and Stark stop mostly at their shared tech expertise. “Riri is not a billionaire. She is not a mogul. She is not a white man,” she said. “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.” — Njera
Introducing The New Marvel Character, Joe
Alden Ehrenreich portrays Joe, a friend to RiRi and a tech savant who gets wrapped up with The Hood. This is his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — we learn a lot more about his character in the second half of “Ironheart” ― and we get a better sense of who he really is in Episode 3. Ehrenreich has done a bit of film work, including “Solo,” “Fair Play” and “Oppenheimer.” — Erin
Why You Should Keep Watching Next Week
I see what Marvel/Disney+ were doing with this week’s episodes: They spent a bit of time setting up the biggest conflict of the show. But in Episodes 4, 5 and 6, there’s a lot more action and a lot more character development to help you piece together why some of the characters … do what they do. The second half is a much stronger viewing experience. — Erin
Speaking on behalf of the non-Marvel folks/ casual viewers, “Ironheart” does a lot of build-up that may be a bit hard to follow if you’re not too familiar with the basics of Riri’s origin story or characters from the comics. That’s not to say Episodes 1-3 are a snooze or not worth digging into — but this is definitely not background television. Once you make it through those, though, the series picks up with a lot of enthralling action that makes the journey worthwhile. So buckle up for next week, because the final stretch of the season will leave you on the edge of your seat. — Njera
There Are Some Great Needle Drops
Listen, I got so excited about the music for the rest of the series when Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” drops in one of the first episodes. Then, we got “Ain’t Nobody” by Chaka Khan and Rufus, and “The Healer” by Erykah Badu. So good. — Erin
One thing about Marvel, they know great music, and there’s a ton of it throughout the series. SiR’s “No Evil” playing right after AI Natalie makes her first appearance to Riri was probably my favorite needle drop in the first batch of episodes. There’s also a really sweet moment set to Leon Bridges’ “Brown Skin Girl” later in the season, which I loved so much. Once all the episodes air, I need a full playlist of all the tracks featured. — Njera