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Just like many other Marvel shows on Disney+, the new series Ironheart isn’t copying one exact comic book story. Instead, it takes references from different Marvel stories and mixes them to tell a new, polished story. The main character is Riri Williams (played by Dominique Thorne), a brilliant teenage girl who designs and builds her own Iron Man-style suit, becoming the superhero known as Ironheart. You might remember her from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022, which was her first time appearing in a Marvel movie.
This show feels more like a teenage growing-up story, kind of like Ms. Marvel, rather than action-heavy shows focused on older heroes like Hawkeye or Daredevil. Ironheart is Riri’s chance to shine on her own and tell her story from her point of view.
Riri first showed up in Marvel comic books back in 2016, in a series called Invincible Iron Man. She was introduced as someone who might one day take over for Tony Stark (Iron Man). Around that same time, Marvel also brought in other new young heroes like Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and Miles Morales (Spider-Man), who became really popular. Just like Tony, Riri is a genius in engineering and technology. She builds her powerful suit, just like Iron Man did. But she’s very different from Tony; she’s a Black teenager from an average middle-class family, not a rich playboy billionaire. That makes her more relatable and grounded for a lot of people.
The show is being made by Ryan Coogler, who also directed Black Panther, and it’s written by Chinaka Hodge, who worked on Snowpiercer. They’re planning to take Riri’s story in a new and unexpected direction. She won’t be just a simple “good guy,” her character will be more complicated, with some shades of grey. And instead of fighting a typical tech-based villain, she’ll go up against someone who uses magic, a lesser-known bad guy from the Marvel world.
If you’re wondering how all of this connects to the bigger Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) or to the comics where Riri first appeared, this show will explain it all as it unfolds.
Ironheart’s backstory in Marvel Comics, explored
Riri Williams, also known as Ironheart, was created by two big names in Marvel Comics, artist Mike Deodato and writer Brian Michael Bendis (he also helped create characters like Jessica Jones and Miles Morales). Riri is a child genius who grew up in Chicago with her mom.
By the time she was just 15 years old, she was so smart that she got accepted into MIT, one of the top tech schools in the world. Her hero was Tony Stark (Iron Man), and she wanted to be like him.
Because she was way smarter than her classmates, Riri often felt bored and out of place at school. So instead of doing what most kids do, she spent her time building her own science projects in her garage, and we’re not talking about little things. One of the things she built was an early version of a superhero suit, just like Iron Man’s armor.
But like many superheroes, Riri’s story includes something painful. When she was in her early teens, her best friend Natalie was killed during a random shooting in a park. That moment changed Riri’s life. After that, she became determined to use her talents to protect people, and that’s part of why she built her own bulletproof armor.
In Riri’s world, superheroes are a normal part of life. So it made sense for her to look up to Tony Stark, someone who, like her, was a tech genius and wasn’t born with powers but made himself powerful. By the time Riri starts her journey, Tony is already dead in the Marvel universe. But in the comics, he still helps her, sort of. He appears as a digital hologram to guide her as a mentor while she learns how to be a superhero. (But don’t expect to see Robert Downey Jr. doing that in the Disney+ show, that would be way too expensive.)
Now, if you’re planning to watch the Ironheart show, you don’t need to stress about catching up on all the comics she’s been in. Riri has shown up in stories with the Avengers and even joined a teenage superhero group called the Champions. But if you want to really get to know her character, the best place to start is her first solo comic series called Ironheart, written by Eve Ewing and drawn by Kevin Libranda.
In her earlier appearances, especially in Invincible Iron Man, Riri’s story was closely tied to Tony Stark. But in Ironheart, we finally see her step into her own spotlight. That’s where you get to hear her real voice, understand her personality, and watch her become one of the standout young heroes in the Marvel universe.
Does Ironheart connect to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever?
In the Marvel movies, Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland) is already shown as the person Tony Stark took under his wing. So instead of copying that same storyline, Marvel gave Riri Williams a slightly different, and maybe even better, backstory in the movies.
Just like in the comics, Riri (played by Dominique Thorne) is a super smart girl who grew up in Chicago and studies engineering at MIT. But there are some key changes in the movie version. For one, she’s 19 years old now, not 15 like in the comics. And instead of being connected to Tony Stark, she gets introduced through the Black Panther world.
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri builds a special machine that can detect vibranium, the rare metal that Wakanda is known for. This invention catches the eye of the Wakandan government, and pretty soon, she gets pulled into a major conflict. She teams up with Shuri (Black Panther’s tech genius sister), who brings her to Wakanda and helps her get involved in their fight against Namor, a powerful king from a secret underwater kingdom.
As the story goes on, we find out that Riri had already built her own flying suit of armour, kind of like Iron Man’s. With help from Wakanda’s advanced technology, she makes it even better so she can help in the big battle against Namor.
Even though Riri isn’t the main character in the movie, her scenes still show us a lot about who she is. She’s smart, bold, and not afraid to speak up or go toe-to-toe with dangerous people. She’s the type who sees a problem and immediately starts figuring out how to fix it. She also seems very used to working on her own, which has helped her so far, but might make things harder when she starts doing bigger things on her own in her own show.
What to expect from Disney+’s Ironheart?
Ironheart picks up after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and gives us a deeper look into Riri Williams’ personal life. This time, we’ll get to meet important people around her, like her best friend Natalie (played by Lyric Ross) and her mom (played by Anji White). But the show isn’t just about high-tech gadgets anymore, like in the comics. It’s also going to include magical and fantasy elements, similar to other recent Marvel shows like Agatha All Along and Moon Knight.
That’s where the other big character comes in: Parker Robbins, also known as The Hood. He’s played by actor Anthony Ramos (from Hamilton). In the comics, The Hood is a lesser-known villain who starts out as a gangster. He gets magical powers after stealing a mystical red cloak, which is why he’s called “The Hood” (both because of the hooded cloak and because “the hood” can mean a rough neighbourhood).
In the show, though, Marvel is changing his backstory a lot. Instead of being from New York, Parker now lives in Chicago, just like Riri. And instead of being a basic criminal, he’s more like a rebellious activist, someone who wants change but isn’t afraid to break the rules to get it. That vibe is kind of similar to how Black Panther’s villain, Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan), had some good points but went about things in a dangerous way.
Riri, fresh off her superhero debut in Wakanda, now wants to make her own mark. She says she wants to create something “iconic,” something big, meaningful, and hers. But she doesn’t have the kind of money or support that the big heroes like the Avengers usually do. That’s where Parker comes in.
In the trailer, he tells her something like: “I can help you make your vision real. But just know, anyone who’s ever done something big had to make some shady choices.” He offers her money and resources, but it’s pretty clear he might be using her for his own plans. He even shows up with armed men, not exactly a friendly gesture.
What’s really interesting is that the show’s producer, Sev Ohanian, hinted that Riri might go through a dark phase in this story. He compared her to famous “antihero” characters like Walter White (Breaking Bad) and Tony Soprano (The Sopranos), both of whom started out with good intentions but did some really bad things. Ohanian said Riri “kind of breaks bad,” meaning she may lose her way or make some questionable decisions.
So, reading between the lines, the story might be about how Parker manipulates Riri, using her genius and ambition for his own gain. But it also sounds like the show might give both characters a chance to grow and change. Maybe Parker isn’t a total villain, and maybe Riri learns from her mistakes and comes back stronger.