Intro

Not just a few MCU fans shed tears when Iron Man sacrificed his life in the final battle against Thanos in order to save everyone else. It has been known for a while that there will be a successor in the suit and now it has finally been announced. Ironheart will be the next superhero in the super suit and she made her first appearance in the recently released MCU movie "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". But who exactly is Ironheart, whose real name is Riri Williams? What will the new MCU series be about and who will be her adversary? We asked ourselves these questions and decided to answer them for you in this video. In addition, another superhero line-up is nearly complete with the series, but more on that later. For now, let's get into the video!

Time Frame

Before we dive into the cast, let's first take a look at what's happened so far. There might be spoilers to Wakanda Forever here, so if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to get spoiled, you better skip this video. Alright, after all the disclaimers, let's get started. As we know, MIT student Riri Williams was brought to Wakanda after developing a device that can detect vibranium. This was misused by the FBI and so the fight against Namor began. Williams received her suit in Wakanda and helped in the fight against the Talokan Kingdom. Later, however, she had to leave the suit in Wakanda, though this did not stop the smart inventor from developing a new suit to take up the fight against other villains. At MIT, she certainly has all kinds of possibilities to play around with. Or maybe she'll get her suit back from Wakanda after all. Thus, the series will take place after the events of Wakanda Forever. How far after that is not yet clear, but since the series will be released on Disney+ next year, it can be assumed that it will take place at most a few months within the MCU. This makes it one of the most recent series and movies in the MCU in terms of timeline. Since the series will also be set in the middle of Phase 5, this only makes sense. So far, no release date has been announced, except for the information that it will be released in the fall of 2023.

Cast

Even though there are already all kinds of names in the cast of Ironheart, most of the roles are unfortunately still undisclosed, even though filming has already been completed. Therefore, we can spend some time to go into more detail about the antagonists alongside Riri.

Riri Williams aka Ironheart

The lead role is of course played by Dominique Thorne in her role as Riri Williams. For the 24-year-old, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" was the first major film in her young career. As Iron Heart, however, she was already impressive there, and so we are even more looking forward to seeing her again in the series of the same name. As we know, young Riri is exceptionally intelligent, which earned her a scholarship at MIT. Unlike in the comics, she is not recruited by Tony Stark. Indeed, there she follows in his footsteps after he falls into a coma during "Civil War" in a fight with Captain Marvel. In the MCU, however, Shuri and Okoye intervene after Namor wants her dead. As a result, she is first taken to Wakanda. There, she has the technical skills to construct the Ironheart suit she created herself. Unlike Iron Man, she has two thrusters on her back for flying and a blaster on each hand. Since she doesn't have shrapnel in her bloodstream like Tony Stark, which threaten to enter her heart, she can also do without the mini ARC reactor in her chest.

The Adversaries

The antagonist is also already known and it will be a new one in the MCU. His name is Parker Robbins, better known as "The Hood". In the series, he will be played by 31-year-old actor Anthony Ramos, who was last seen in the musical film "In the Heights". Robbins grew up around crime at an early age, as his father worked for the Kingpin. Therefore, he followed in his father's footsteps and also became an ordinary petty criminal until he killed a demon of Dormammu. This demon had a magical cloak and boots on him, which Robbins also immediately grabbed. The cloak can make him invisible as long as he can hold his breath, plus, from then on, he can transform into a demon and is able to fire energy blasts from his hands. In the comics, he attacks Doctor Strange, but is then stopped by the Avengers. He also joins various supervillains, such as the "Dark Illuminati". This will certainly be different in Ironheart, especially since there is no information yet that there will be a crossover with Doctor Strange. Of course, we are still very curious to see how the comic book character will be implemented in the MCU. However, he does not have to remain alone, as there are rumors about another supervillain from the Iron Man universe. Ezekiel "Zeke" Stane, the son of Obadiah Stane, who was killed by Tony at the end of the movie in Iron Man 1, is also said to play a key role in the new series. Rumors also suggest that he will be portrayed by Han Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich. After the death of his father, Zeke remains in hiding and is also considered a genius developer. He buys Stark technology on the black market and uses it to build cybernetic enhancements that he implants in himself. He also built himself a suit to protect his implants. Of course, in the comics, he seeks direct combat with Iron Man, since he killed his father. But it does fit very well into the story that he might want to take revenge on his father by targeting the person who followed in Iron Man's footsteps. It remains to be seen whether this will really happen, but we really like the idea.

Further Cast Members

Furthermore, Jim Rash, Harper Anthony, Lyric Ross, Manny Montana, Shea Couleé, Zoe Terakes, Regan Aliyah, Shakira Barrera, Rashida Olayiwola, Paul Calderón and Cree Summer have already been cast in the series. However, in keeping with Disney, nothing is known about their roles yet and we will have to wait to learn more about them.

Production

Ironheart is one of the youngest superheroes in the Marvel Universe and was only created in 2016 by Brian Michael Bendis and cartoonist Mike Deodato. As early as 2020, Kevin Feige announced that the comic would get its own series on the in-house streaming service Disney+. As a scriptwriter, Chinaka Hodge was signed on. Sitting in the director's chair are Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes. Filming did not begin until June 2, 2022. However, they already wrapped up filming 5 months later, on October 21. The first season of the series is expected to have 6 episodes. Whether there will be a second season is not yet known. However, it is possible that we will see Ironheart again in "Young Avengers". If you want to know more about the "Young Avengers", you can also watch a video from us, in which we explain everything you need to know about the members. In addition, Ryan Coogler is also involved in the series. He already directed the two Black Panther movies, meaning he already knows Dominique Thorne very well. Until we see a first trailer, it will surely take a while, since the series is not scheduled to be released until the fall of 2023. But we might get a little preview in the post-credits scenes of the upcoming Marvel movies.

Plot

So far, nothing is known about the plot and even in the comics there are no connections made between Ironheart and the villains, so we will have to get a little creative. At this point we emphasize once again that nothing about the plot has been confirmed yet, so we are only presenting our ideas. As we know, Riri will go back to MIT to continue her studies. Since she had to leave her suit in Wakanda, she will surely do everything she can to build a new one. It is conceivable that she will come into contact with Ezekiel Stane for the first time while procuring the parts, or that he will take notice of her. However, now that she has gained her first experience in the superhero business, she will first go in search of her father's killer. The latter, as we know, died in a shootout, where he was actually only with Riri and her best friend in the park. Her dad and her best friend did not survive the hail of bullets, leaving her traumatized. It is quite possible that it turns out her father's killer is Parker Robbins. The latter is now no longer the petty criminal he once was, but has already become "The Hood" in the meantime. As she searches for him, she finds out that he has special powers. So she sets out in full speed to build a new suit to confront Zeke. In doing so, Stane might get in her way. But since she can't defeat him on her own, she looks for help. She might contact Pepper Potts for the first time and get access to some of Tony's material. Although Gwyneth Paltrow is not mentioned in the cast yet, it can be assumed that there will be the one or other crossover. Despite better technology, it will still be tough for her to stand up to the two villains. She might be helped out in the end by Kate Bishop aka Hawkeye. After all, she's still after the Kingpin. Parker's father worked for the dangerous underworld boss and so she might have become aware of Parker as well. But as already mentioned, these are only speculations. We will know more at the latest when the first trailer for the series will be released. Until then, we'll just have to wait and see.

Outro

Alright, that was our series preview for Ironheart. Who do you think Riri will have to face in the new series and will the Young Avengers finally be introduced? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and if you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. See you next time!