Almost three years since the death of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, comes details on a young genius aiming to follow in the footsteps of the iconic Avenger. In an influx of new details from Marvel, we’ve been treated to info surrounding Ironheart, a Disney+ series that tells the story of Riri Williams, aka Ironheart.
Who is Ironheart?
Riri Williams first hit Marvel’s pages in the March 2016 comic, Invincible Iron man (Vol. 3) #7 (pictured above).
Born after the apparent death of her father, Riri grow up in Chicago — soon passing a diagnosis and confirming her abilities as a super-genius. Unlike Tony Stark — who’s massive intellect turned him into an arrogant and self-serving young billionaire — Riri found herself scared and isolated from the world, tinkering with self-made technology and eventually securing a scholarship at MIT at the age of 11, only to soon watch her best friend and stepfather succumb to a drive-by shooting.
While inspired by Stark to create her own powered suit, the personal tragedy she suffered pushed her further towards become a crimefighter, and she started a secret project to reverse-engineer Stark’s then-outdated Model 41 Armor , crafting her own suit with all the Iron Man essentials we know and love.
After she successfully created a prototype, Stark tracked down Riri and chose to support her desire to become a superhero. By the end of the ‘Second Superhero Civil War’ comic event, Stark was left in a coma, prompting Riri to pick up the mantle as she took up the name Ironheart, donning a new suit packed with a self-styled AI created by Stark himself.
Who’s Involved in the Upcoming Series?
This week, Marvel revealed that Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes will direct the series. Bailey has worked on Netflix’s Dear White People and Emmy-nominated Brown Girls, while Barnes has credits in Blindspotting, Mythic Quest, and the upcoming season 4 of Atlanta. The show’s first season will be penned primarily by Chinaka Hodge, telling Ironheart’s story across six episodes.
Dominique Thorne will play the titular character, and she made an impact in 2014’s If Beale Street Can Talk and 2021’s Judas and the Black Messiah. Singer-actor Anthony Ramos also confirmed his involvement in an Instagram post.
Interestingly, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige confirmed that Thorne will make an appearance in Black Panther’s sequel Wakanda Forever, which drops on November 11th, 2022. All three projects are associated with Ryan Coogler’s production house Proximity, suggesting that Wakanda Forever will drop crucial plot points that Ironheart may pick up in the future.
Ironheart is yet to announce a specific release date, although a 2023 launch is likely.
(Featured Image Credits: Marvel Studios, Marvel Comics)
