Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
Starring Dominique Thorne (Riri Williams / Ironheart), Lyric Ross (Natalie Washington and also N.A.T.A.L.I.E.), Anthony Ramos (Parker Robbins / The Hood), Manny Montana (John), Alden Ehrenreich (Ezekiel Stane), Matthew Elam (Xavier Washington), Anji White (Ronnie Williams), Cree Summer (Madeline Stanton), Sinia Denis (Clown), Shea Coulee (Slug), Zoe Terakes (Jerri Blood), Shakira Barrera (Roz Blood), and Regan Aliyah (Zelma Stanton) with Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto
IRONHEART
A Kevin Feige Production
Produced by Marvel Television for Disney+
Also produced by Ethan Smith with Brad Winderbaum, Louis D’Esposito, Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Zoie Nagelhout, Chinaka Hodge, Sev Ohanian, and Robert Kulzer
Number of Episodes: 6
Initial Streaming: June 24, 2025-July 1, 2025
Rating: TV-PG
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
Fun Ironheart Facts
Riri Williams debuted within the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 2022 Marvel Studios film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Riri is a child prodigy that grew up in Chicago and started building machines age at the age of three. She graduated High School at the age of 15 and was accepted into MIT where she began running an off-the-books business and became obsessed with creating an Iron Man-like armor, presuably because this was viewed by many as the pinnacle of advanced weapons technology. At the age of 19, Riri invented a revolutionary Vibranium Detector, which put her on the radar of a race of sea-dwelling entities from the underwater Nation of Talokan. Riri was targeted by King Namor of Talokan, who believed the existence of the technology she had developed put his people at risk. This prompted the Nation of Wakanda (specifically, the likewise brilliant Princess Shuri) to take it upon themselves to protect Riri, but Namor’s powerful forces still managed to abduct Riri (and Shuri as well) and relocate Riri to Talokan where she was to be executed. The Wakandan warrior and spy Nakia successfully rescued Riri and relocated her to Wakanda where she fell under the direct protection of Queen Ramonda. This act of defiance provoked Namor to declare war on Wakanda, and the mighty Nation was invaded and thoroughly flooded. Queen Ramonda lost her life rescuing young Riri from drowning. In the fallout of the Flooding of Wakanda, Riri suited up in her Iron Man-like armor and fought alongside Wakanda against Talokan. Shuri ultimately prevailed over Namor and decided against taking his life, instead settling into an uneasy truce with the mutant; one that ensured Talokan would not seek to further harm Riri.
Riri returned to Chicago where she continued working on new Iron Man-like suit designs, only to soon thereafter be expelled by MIT for selling her work to other students to plagiarize, a blatant defiance of school policy. The Ironheart series picks up with Riri right about here as she returns home dejected and frustrated, wrestling with complex personal issues such as purpose and morality.
The Ironheart series obviously has many ties to Marvel Studios’ Iron Man films and the Tony Stark character portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. Riri Williams’ suits are of course based on Tony Stark’s designs and technologies, but just her presence at MIT is a direct link to Tony. Riri was born in the MCU year of 2005 and was accepted into MIT at the age of 15 (in the MCU year of 2020 and right in the middle of Blip). Her enrollment into MIT came 5-years removed from Tony Stark’s September Foundation Grant in the Summer of 2015 (as seen in Captain America: Civil War) that paved the way for her scholarship. In all likelihood, this fuels Riri’s appreciation for the late Avenger beyond his technological prowess and manufacturing genius. Furthermore, Riri is seen suffering from panic attacks during the series. Tony Stark too was afflicted with such attacks following the Battle of New York as seen in 2012’s The Avengers. Another surprising connection to Iron Man in the show comes in the form of Ezekiel Stane. This character is revealed to be (just like in the comics), the son of Obadiah Stane: Tony Stark’s mentor and adversary as seen in 2008’s Iron Man. Stane references his father’s death, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s coverup, and the true nature of his death after he suited-up as Iron Monger and fought Iron Man.
Ironheart was announced as an in-development television streaming series by Marvel Studios CCO Kevin Feige at the end of 2020, with Dominique Thorne reprising her role as Riri Williams as the star of the series. Ryan Coogler, who directed Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever for Marvel Studios assisted in developing and producing the series. Coogler’s Proximity Media in fact signed a contract with Marvel Entertainment to co-produce several MCU projects, with Ironheart being one of them. Among the writers brought aboard the project were Francesca Gailes and Jacqueline J. Gailes. They both worked on the writing side of Marvel Studios’ 2022 Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The driving plot narrative of the Ironheart series pitting magic against technology was championed by Kevin Feige and was the concept that seemed to excite him most about the project. Feige noted that Ironheart would lean into the street-level sort of series that Daredevil: Born Again was planned to be, with an infusion of the mystical side of the MCU. Coogler purposefully incorporated supporting characters into the series that felt like they’d fit right into other MCU projects such as the Doctor Strange films, the WandaVision series, and Agatha All Along. These characters include Zelma Stanton (a former student at Kamar-Taj) her magically curious daughter Zelma, and Riri’s own mother Ronnie, who boasts a fascination with all things mystical. Then, there is of course, The Hood.
Parker Robbins / The Hood was created by Brian K. Vaughn, Kyle Hotz, and Eric Powell, debuting in The Hood # 1 in July of 2002. The Hood was introduced as a character that wore a cloak and boots that were stollen by a Nisanti demon which granted him invisibility and levitation capabilities. In 2007, The Hood was used as a key character in Brian Michael Bendis’ acclaimed New Avengers run, serving as sort of a godfather to various supervillains and rising to power during the fallout of the Marvel Comics Civil War event due to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes being too busy fighting against each other to hinder The Hood’s growing criminal empire. The Hood later joined Marvel’s notorious “Cabal” alongside the likes of Norman Osborn, Doctor Doom, Loki, Emma Frost, and Namor the Submariner. During the Dark Reign story arc in the comics, The Hood boasted ties to Dormammu and had risen to be a primary antagonist of Doctor Strange. Over the years, The Hood’s boots have been abandoned and the Nisanti demon he stole from was revealed to have been Dormammu himself in disguise. The Hood has also been prominently featured in stories involving the Kingpin of Crime and even the Marvel Zombies. The Hood’s forays into demonology and mysticism have allowed him to evolve into an expert in the Mystic Arts with the ability to wield a variety of powerful artifacts and to even manipulate demonic possession to the point of deliberate transformation. Most recently, he even became a Spirit of Vengeance within the Marvel comics, stealing the Ghost Rider abilities of Johnny Blaze after making a deal with the demon Mephisto.
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
Speaking of which, after Marvel’s Devil seemed to be thoroughly teased in 2021’s Disney+ series WandaVision, only for it to be “Agatha All Along” and really, Wanda All Along as it turned out in the end, the Marvel Studios team finally introduced Mephisto in Ironheart! Mephisto was created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and John Buscema and is one of Marvel’s most notable and powerful supervillains. Mephisto was inspired by Mephistopheles of the Faust legend. Mephisto is a demon and a tempter and is traditionally not the actual Devil in terms of Christian tradition, but instead a Chief Demon that likes playing the part of the Devil, as he is finds the notion of a such a being to be as appealing as it is fascinating. Mephisto stories usually revolve around him offering some down on their luck type a deal to reverse their fortunes in exchange for their soul … and with a catch. These deals always seem to end badly. Mephisto is probably most associated with the Ghost Rider character, and for good reason. Mephisto is the reason that Johnn Blaze becomes the Spirit of Vengeance in a deal gone bad. In more modern comics, he is best known for striking a deal with Peter Parker to save the life of Parker’s Aunt May; a deal that had unimaginable consequences for Peter and his wife MJ in the One More Day storyline. He also has strong ties to Wanda Maximoff and her children and their entire origin in the Marvel comics as well as to Doctor Doom and his mother. Mephisto’s Fear Itself: Journey into Mystery one-shot story is a must read! The potential for a Devil-type character with unmatched mystical power within the MCU is very exciting! Mephisto previously appeared in both of Sony Pictures’ Ghost Rider films, portrayed by Peter Fonda in 2007’s Ghost Rider and by Cirian Hinds in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. I found both of those portrayals to be underwhelming, and I’m really excited to see what Sacha Baron Cohen is going to do with the character (Ironheart is an outstanding start), which at some point is sure to bring Ghost Rider into the MCU proper! There is also the potential for some very compelling on-screen pairings between Mephisto and the likes of Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, Werewolf by Night, Wanda Maximoff and her children, Loki, Peter Parker, and the list goes on and on!
Ironheart entered into production way back in the Spring of 2022, with principal photography commencing on June 2, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. Filming moved to Chicago in the Fall of 2022, wrapping in November of 2022. From there, Ironheart sat on the shelf … for three years. During this time, Ironheart shifted over from its Marvel Studios branding to the new Marvel Television branding, overseen by Marvel Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation Brad Winderbaum. The series began a lengthy editing process in the Spring of 2024. This was carried out by a team overseen by Winderbaum, but Ironheart was a Marvel Studios production at the time that it was filmed. In 2023, Hollywood was rocked by a Writer’s Strike (May 2, 2023 – September 22, 2023) and an Actor’s Strike (July 14, 2023 – November 9, 2023). This shut down numerous productions and allowed Marvel Studios to reevaluate its creative process and corporate structure following the return of Bob Iger to the role of Disney CEO in late-2022. In 2023, Marvel Studios had its most challenging year ever. 5 live-action projects were released over the course of the year: Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume Three, Secret Invasion, Loki: Season Two, and The Marvels. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania was a critical failure that emerged as Marvel Studios’ worst-reviewed film of all-time; a fact that was made worse by the legal troubles that befell actor Jonathan Majors, who was supposed to be the Big Bad of the MCU Multiverse Saga. Disney / Marvel soon thereafter cut ties with Majors and began the creative process of transitioning to Doctor Doom from Kang the Conqueror. In the Summer, Secret Invasion was largely panned by fans and critics alike for its lackluster effects (in places), its disappointing finale (the final episode boasts a mere 7% on Rotten Tomatoes), and its controversial creative choices. From there, The Marvels emerged as the least-grossing film in MCU History and a certified Box Office bomb (a mere $206 million worldwide). Guardians Volume Three was good, but it was released with the knowledge that it would be James Gunn’s final MCU film, as he’d moved on from Marvel to run Warner Brother’s DC Universe. Loki was good too, but it was released with all of the drama pertaining to Jonathan Majors, who starred in the series as Victor Timely and also as He Who Remains. Marvel Studios had certainly seen better days.
So, Bob Iger announced the end of the “Quantity over Quality” era at Marvel Studios and a Marvel Television division was rebooted under Winderbaum while Kevin Feige returned to a more hands-on approach and a renewed focus on the films after being spread far too thin for far too long. Marvel Studios released just one film in 2024: Deadpool and Wolverine. It was wildly successful, generating $1.3 billion worldwide and emerging as a beloved fan-favorite despite not being a critical darling (the film boats a 94% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes compared to just a 78% critic’s score). Behind the scenes, editing on Ironheart followed an extremely heavy process, similar to Echo and a complete overhaul of the Daredevil: Born Again series commenced with almost an entire series reshoot and the decision to canonize the former version of Marvel Television’s Defenders Saga to the MCU. Also in 2024, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps were filmed for 2025 releases, and at San Diego Comic Com that Summer, Marvel Studios announced the return of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo to direct the next two Avengers films, with Robert Downey Jr. being cast as Doctor Doom and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty being retitled Avengers: Doomsday.
There was certainly a lot of excitement within the fan community, but the Marvel brand had unfortunately been severely damaged in recent years, be it due to oversaturation, poor quality, new characters not landing with audiences the way the old guard did, or political narratives and agendas seeming to fuel a lot of the projects. A lot of these things dated back to 2022, with divisive releases such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ms. Marvel, Thor: Love and Thunder, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and even before that, with the release of Eternals, which emerged as Marvel Studios’ first-ever “Rotten” film on Rotten Tomatoes.
Even Ryan Reynolds’ fourth-wall-breaking Deadpool character took the time while welcoming Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine into the MCU during Deadpool and Wolverine, to point out that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was at a “low point”, while christening himself as “Marvel Jesus”; a prophecy that may have been fulfilled based on Deadpool and Wolverine‘s Box Office take which was the seventh highest-grossing MCU film of all-time and the highest-grossing MCU film since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, that success did not carry over into the early part of 2025. After Agatha All Along was released to solid but not spectacular reviews in the Fall of 2024, Daredevil: Born Again hit Disney+ with the worst streaming numbers in MCU history, despite fairly strong reviews and a great deal of fan service. Around this same time, Captain America: Brave New World starring Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford hit theaters to very poor reviews. The film became the MCU’s third “Rotten” film (following Eternals and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania) and accumulated just $415 million worldwide, emerging as one of Marvel Studios’ lowest-grossing films. From there, Thunderbolts* hit theaters in the Spring with many hailing the film as the best Marvel Studios production since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, only for it to limp to a mere $382 million (less than even Captain America: Brave New World). At a time when Marvel Studios was in full-on damage control mode, Ironheart was released three years after it wrapped production.
Upon the MCU Timeline, Ironheart takes place in the MCU year of 2025 and should be viewed after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and before Echo.
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
My Ironheart Review
Take Me Home – Directed by Sam Bailey. Written by Chinaka Hodge
Ironheart was not released at the most opportune time, given the recent history of Marvel Studios productions that I chronicled in-depth above. The show exists as a sort of relic of the past as it pertains to Marvel Studios’ corporate structure and creative vision. The fact that it sat on the shelf for three years makes it seem like not many people had much faith in the project and the marketing was borderline non-existent for the series outside of Disney+. Marvel Television went with a unique release schedule for Ironheart, dropping the first three episodes on June 24, and then the final three episodes on July 1. This first episode highlights Riri’s expulsion from MIT and her return to her mother’s home in Chicago, delving into parts of her tragic past revolving around the deaths of her beloved stepfather Gary and her best friend Natalie in a drive-by shooting. After reconnecting with Natalie’s brother Xavier, a torn and desperate Riri is recruited by the welcoming individual known only as John to join a gang run by his friend Parker Robbins, affectionately known as “The Hood.” Riri joins the gang with hopes that their criminal heists can bring her the money that she needs to continue developing her work, despite the moral conflict. Parker makes her feel both wanted and important, and these are things that she finds herself needing at this difficult time in her life.
In the meantime, Riri digitally maps her own brain, and this leads to the creation of a revolutionary Artificial Intelligence for her suit that looks, talks, and apparently thinks like her late friend Natalie. This is the result of Riri’s unprocessed grief and was unintentional. The AI is appropriately dubbed N.A.T.A.L.I.E.
The highlight of this first episode was for me, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. and the potential for what it / she can have as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. N.A.T.A.L.I.E. seems like a far cry removed from J.A.R.V.I.S. with a spunky attitude and surreal connection to Riri due to the process that she used to map her brain.
Will the Real Natalie Please Stand Up? – Directed by Sam Bailey. Written by Malarie Howard
The Hood’s gang target TNLL – a company converting Chicago’s freight tunnels into a private highway at the expense of local communities. Meanwhile, Riri blackmails a man named Joe McGillicuddy (a Black-Market arms collector) in order to obtain parts to complete her suit. Also, Riri’s mom Ronnie discovers N.A.T.A.L.I.E., and in a nice turn, is actually quite fond of Riri’s creation. The TNLL heist goes down mostly as planned, with Riri piloting one of her suits to assist during the mission. Parker successfully extorts the TNLL CEO to land his gang on the company payroll. Near the end of the mission, Riri is confronted by an armed guard and when he points his gun at her, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. is startled to the point of freezing up, which leaves Riri unprotected. The guard prepares to fire his weapon at Riri, but The Hood intervenes, using his magical abilities to bend a bullet that he fires, which strikes the guard and protects Riri. From there, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. warns Riri to be weary of Parker’s powers and the supernatural danger of the Cloak that empowers him as well as the hold it has over him, which includes physical manifestations of spiritual marks across his body.
Gotta be honest, I didn’t care for this episode. The N.A.T.A.L.I.E. stuff aside, I wasn’t entertained by much of anything about it. The Hood’s gang wasn’t landing with me, and I found them to be largely unrelatable and annoying characters that didn’t add much of anything to the show and I’m not buying in to the whole “Robin Hood” sort of deal that they seem to try to have going. The John character was a positive, and The Hood was a charismatic enough character to be watchable, but man, in the end, a lot of my problems revolve around Riri herself. Up to this point of the series, she just wasn’t very likeable as a character, coming off as a moody, entitled, and bitter child that had no real morals to speak of. I did not necessarily feel that way about her in Wakanda Forever, as I think her attitude played off better with the rest of her cast and in that movie, and she was doing brave and heroic things there. It felt so weird to me for her to fight alongside Shuri, witness the empowerment of the Wakandan people, and have her life saved by the Queen, who died doing that, only to see her nonchalantly hook up with a criminal contingent led by a shady dude in a magic Cloak. Her motives here were pretty much based on some combination of selfishness and obliviousness, and quite frankly, I’m not sure up to this point in the show what there really was about Riri to cheer for, and since she is the star of this series and it’s a show about her, that felt like a big problem.
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
We In Danger, Girl – Directed by Sam Bailey. Written by Francesca Gailes and Jacqueline J Gailes
As Parker’s gang celebrates their newfound riches, Clown makes the poor choice to don The Hood’s Cloak. This angers John, but Parker surprisingly laughs it off and praises his team for their recent efforts rather than chastise them. Riri is quickly becoming obsessed with Parker’s Cloak however, due to N.A.T.A.L.I.E.’s warnings and she decides to try and obtain a piece of the Cloak so she and N.A.T.A.L.I.E. can evaluate it. Meanwhile, Parker targets Heirloom (an Agritech company that is harming the fortunes of small farmers) for his team’s next mission. In the meantime, Natalie learns of the death of Stuart “Rampage” Clarke (the man she replaced in Parker’s gang) and instinctively realizes that he was probably murdered. This drives her to seek help from Joe McGillicuddy, who she learns is actually Ezekiel Stane, the son of Iron Monger. Zeke gifts Riri with a technology called Biomesh, which is a fake skin that he believes she can use to help the gang pull of their next heist. She and Zeke bond and then she heads off for the mission.
While Parker is in the midst of extorting Heirloom CEO Hunter Mason, Riri is covertly underneath him, trying to get a piece of the cloak while N.A.T.A.L.I.E. stands with John on the roof (John assumes Riri is in the suit). The heist starts to go south after the security system is activated and the gang members are trapped within the facility and being poisoned by a carbon dioxide release. As John tries to intervene, he runs into Riri and knowing that he’s been deceived, John engages Riri in combat. John admits to having killed Stuart and vows to do the same to Riri, but it is he who ends up dying after N.A.T.A.L.I.E. rescues Riri and John is left for dead. Riri inadvertently leaves the Biomesh behind at the scene, which will go on to implicate Zeke in the heist.
Back home, Parker takes John’s death hard and while considering abandoning the Cloak, he receives a demonic vision implicating Riri in John’s death.
This was a far better episode than the previous week, but once again, Riri comes off as anything but a hero here. Leaving John to die was completely self-serving and fumbling the Biomesh was extremely irresponsible, not to mention her entire plan to steal a piece of the Cloak, which blew the whole mission. If she’s so smart, why couldn’t Riri have simply waited for Parker to lay the Cloak down again and then cut a piece off of it? Clown was parading around in the damn thing earlier in this same very same episode! Maybe that’s nitpicking … Nonetheless, I know that as a Marvel fan, I fully endorse Deadpool and The Punisher murdering folks, but Riri isn’t traditionally an antihero, and I don’t really see her playing that part in the MCU going forwards, so her actions here just come off as again, selfish and cowardly.
Also, John’s death seemed to come across as far more important than the show actually presented it to be. What I mean is, as viewers, we could’ve done with a little more backstory explaining how important John was to Parker. I mean, we got a quick flashback scene in the following episode, and it was obvious in the modern scenes that John trusted and respected Parker and that the feeling was mutual, given that John knows a lot of Parker’s secrets and expressed concern over what the Cloak was doing to him physically, if not spiritually. I just would have liked to see more between them. Maybe this came down to all of those reported edits, but his death scene could have carried a lot more weight with the proper context, because it obviously just about wholly crushed Parker.
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
Bad Magic – Directed by Angela Barnes. Written by Amir Sulaiman
The Hood now has it out for Riri and Ezekiel gets arrested and imprisoned with his identity exposed to the world. Riri visits him in jail, and he lashes out against her, rightfully describing her in the negative ways that I’ve articulated previously. Their nice bond has been shattered, and he pretty much hates her now, which leads The Hood to recruit Stane as he plans to wage war against Riri and avenge John’s death.
Ronnie Williams becomes concerned with the state of her daughter and turns to her mystical friend Madeline and her daughter Zelma to analyze the piece of the Cloak that Riri obtained. They freak out instantly once the magic commences, noting that it is a dangerous artifact from a Dark Dimension and is not something that Riri should be messing around with in any capacity. This frustrates Riri and she angrily lashes out at her mother, which was yet again, not a great look for the character. Riri has a panic attack and N.A.T.A.L.I.E. brings Xavier to talk with her, but his concern quickly turns to anger when he sees N.A.T.A.L.I.E. in the form of his late sister. He demands that Riri delete the A.I., but she is unwilling to do so, which leaves him not wanting anything to do with her anymore. N.A.T.A.L.I.E. meanwhile flees the scene, hurt and horrified by Xavier’s suggestion.
Riri has now hurt her mother with her words, hurt Xavier with her actions, has lost her suit, and is in fear for her life. She’s scared and frustrated and alone and doesn’t have anywhere to turn. Despite all that I said earlier, I did feel bad for her here, and that’s probably a tribute to Dominique Thorne’s acting. As she faces a grim future, The Hood breaks Zeke out of jail, and Stane implants himself with biological enhancements. He is full on villain mode now, which seemed a little rushed, but is what it is. Parker informs the rest of the gang that Riri was responsible for John’s death, and they prepare to avenge their fallen ally.
Nitpicks aside, this episode built on the momentum of the previous week in a decent way while throwing a couple of swerves. The best parts of the episode for me were the magic stuff which felt whimsical and fun and reminded me a lot of the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Is This Not Real Magic? episode that featured Donny Blaze and Madisynn. Despite my overall thoughts on that show, I was a fan of that particular episode, and I came out of this thinking about how cool it would be for Madeline and / or Zelma to share some scenes with Wong or Madisynn or Jennifer Kale or Billy (and Tommy) Maximoff someday. Could be fun!
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
Karma’s a Glitch – Directed by Angela Barnes. Written by Cristian Matinez
This episode starts with Riri taking on the remaining members of Parker’s gang. She outwits and outfights the Blood Siblings and Clown, then bests Slug, regaining possession of her suit in the process (a great sequence sees Ironheart smash the hood of Slug’s vehicle and it was all kinds of awesome)! During the fight, Riri informs Clown that John had killed Rampage. Also, Riri learned from Zelma that Parker’s Cloak belonged to Dormammu in a very satisfying callback to 2016’s Doctor Strange! Dormammu was the entity that Doctor Stephen Strange “bargained” with to save the Earth and we learn that the physical manifestations that are appearing on Parker are the same types of mystic marks derived from the Dark Dimension by Kaecilius and his Zealots in Doctor Strange. Great MCU connectivity there! Moving on, Riri is attacked by the now enhanced Zeke, but he surprisingly decides against killing Riri, which is witnessed by Slug.
Zeke insists to Parker that he killed Riri, but The Hood is sure this is a lie, and then Slug, after covering for Zeke, calls Parker out over the death of Rampage. This sends The Hood over the edge, and everyone comes to blows, resulting on Parker firing his entire crew and then taking over Zeke’s enhancements and biologically forcing him to do whatever he says. With the controlled Zeke by his side, The Hood breaks into his father’s home and takes over all of his companies, with his father signing over the proper rights under gunpoint. Parker has obtained the riches that he was so desperate for.
Meanwhile, Riri apologizes to everyone that she’s hurt, and aligns with her mother Ronnie, Xavier, Zelma, and N.A.T.A.L.I.E. to create an Iron suit that is fueled by magic. There is a really beautiful sequence here in which Tony Stark’s B.A.R.F. technology (as introduced in Captain America: Civil War) is utilized to allow everyone to relive moment between Gary and a young Riri, and I thought it was great, as it allowed for a softer side of Riri to be shown and revealed that her true motive to create Iron suits was to actually protect the people she loved after losing Natalie and Gary and being powerless in that tragic situation. Great stuff! However, while the new suit is successful, the process of the magical bonding tragically terminates N.A.T.A.L.I.E.
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
The Past is the Past – Directed by Angela Barnes. Written by Chinaka Hodge
In a flashback, we are at long last introduced to Mephisto, seeing the moment when he confronted Parker Robbins with the deal of a lifetime and bestowed the Cloak of Dormammu upon him, transforming Parker into The Hood. In the present, Parker accuses Mephisto of not living up to his part of the bargain, and while insulted, Mephisto still agrees to grant The Hood with more power if he can retain the Cloak of Dormammu in the coming battle, which is of course, against Riri Williams.
Riri ventures out to confront The Hood in her new high tech / mystical armor and after easily getting by Zeke, she proves to be far too much for Parker to handle, even after he takes on the frightening physical traits of a demon. Riri Wrestles away the Cloak and reduces Parker to a whimpering shell of his previous self. Then, she is confronted by Mephisto.
As only he can, Mephisto offers Riri the deal of a lifetime, stressing the potentially unprecedented powerful connection they can share through her wit and his “skills.” Riri considers her options and … takes the Devil up on his offer!?! We soon see Riri with Natalie, who has apparently been resurrected from the dead!?! Ironheart has sold her soul, and we see dark spiritual marks begin to manifest themselves on her body!
So, was Ironheart actually a hero story? I don’t really think so, and this allows me to reverse a lot of my negative feelings about how the character was presented throughout this series. As of now, I guess she is a sort of ant-hero; as selfish as she is ambitious and as morally conflicted as she is brilliant. Ironheart was not a typical hero’s journey, it was a story about a young girl who loses everything and then, with nothing to lose, makes a deal with the Devil with hopes that he can help her overcome the things that have been holding her back. This makes Riri a very unique and interesting character moving forward and though she was far from my favorite part of the show, I think her story arc moving forward will be one worth following.
As for Mephisto? Oh wow! I loved Sacha Baron Cohen’s look, voice, and mannerisms as the character. This is a Marvel character I’ve wanted to see on-screen for a long time, and I was not at all disappointed! When I first heard that “Borat” would be portraying Mephisto, I was not optimistic, but he NAILED the part, and I can’t wait to see more of him in the future! The fact that he apparently resurrected Natalie from the dead is a huge MCU development and calls back to WandaVision and the death of Billy and Tommy’s dog Sparky, which seemed to be a test by Agatha to see if Wanda was powerful enough to resurrect the dead. Wanda insisted that she couldn’t, but Mephisto just showed that he can … perhaps this is how Wanda herself returns to the MCU following the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Time will tell.
My overall thoughts on Ironheart are that while it not perfect, it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it might be going in. It did start slow for me, and initially, I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters, and admittedly, my demographic probably wasn’t supposed to, but as we hit Episodes Three and Four, I started buying in more and more and connecting to the emotion of the story, and by Episodes Five and Six, I was all in! I felt every episode of Ironheart was better than the one that preceded it, and that’s the best compliment that I can bestow upon this series. In the finale, I thought the Ironheart vs Hood fight was the perfect length and I thought it was cool to see Parker’s demonic manifestation and Riri’s suit, which felt inspired by Tony Stark’s Uru Armor from the outstanding Fear Itself Marvel Comics Event Series (one of my favorites) penned by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Stuart Immonen.
I also liked the A.I. stuff and everything that was toyed with pertaining to that during this show. The rise of Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic these days and the way that N.A.T.A.L.I.E. was humanized here makes me wonder if this will in some way play into the upcoming Vision series that has already been announced, particularly since the A.I. characters in that series are rumored to be appearing in human form. I loved the MCU callbacks to Dormammu and B.A.R.F. and Obadiah Stane, and of course, Tony Stark, and I thought most of Riri’s suits looked great in action, which couldn’t have been easy on a Disney+ budget. Maybe three years on the shelf was a blessing that allowed for all of the visual effects to be allowed the proper time to be developed properly?
I thought Ironheart was a win! No, it’s not the greatest Disney+ show ever, but everything doesn’t have to be the greatest thing ever, and I wish that was something that people could come to terms with when viewing things. What Ironheart was, was a show that was grounded in culture and African-American heritage with a heavy dose of mysticism dashed in and it was a show that enhanced the mythology of the MCU in exciting ways through callbacks to the past and intriguing setups for the future!
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
Highlights of Ironheart
Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto
Lyric Ross as N.A.T.A.L.I.E.
Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins / The Hood
Anji White as Ronnie Williams
Madeline and Zelma Stanton get Mystical!
The presentation of Iron Suit looks, sounds, and technologies within the Show
Frequent MCU tie-in’s and Callbacks
Dominique Thorn as Riri Williams / Ironheart
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