Marvel’s Disney+ shows almost always have trouble finding their footing. The first few (WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki) all pushed the boundaries of what superhero TV could be, but dropping in the middle of the night on the East Coast didn’t help them dominate water cooler conversations like the movies did. Disney eventually fixed the release times for its original content, and the episodes started to feel more like events. Echo got the short end of the stick, with the show dropping all of its episodes at once, but Marvel Studios learned a lesson. It’s taking a different approach with Ironheart, which dropped its first three episodes on Disney+ on July 24.

Ironheart, which follows young genius Riri Williams after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, takes some big swings in its first batch of episodes. Most aspects of the show are firing on all cylinders, but a few need fine-tuning before everything wraps up in Episode 6.

1) Right: Putting Riri Williams in Tough Spots

Compared to the movies, Marvel Studios’ shows can feel like a walk in the park. The stakes aren’t all that high, and the villains leave a lot to be desired. Ironheart bucks that trend by having its titular hero struggle and do shady jobs to make ends meet. The end of Episode 3, in particular, sees Riri come face-to-face with her mistakes and enter a situation she will have to work hard to escape.

2) Right: Making The Hood a Complicated Villain

On paper, the idea of a bad guy wearing a magical hood that gives him incredible abilities sounds pretty ridiculous. Parker Robbins has a code, though, and he uses his garment to take from the rich and provide opportunities to the poor. Ironheart teases in its first three episodes that The Hood is getting some help, but he doesn’t seem totally on board with his master’s decisions, which is more than a lot of evildoers can say.

3) Right: Differentiating Chicago From Other MCU Cities

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has visited Chicago a few times in the past, but Ironheart is the first time it has taken center stage. Riri returns to her hometown after getting kicked out of MIT and isn’t all that happy about it. She’s still dealing with childhood trauma, and it’s hard to be around figures from her past. However, all the colorful characters make the city feel alive in the same way New York City does in so many MCU projects.

4) Right: Giving Riri a Unique Co-Pilot

Iron Man always had an AI entity in his suit while flying around. Well, Riri follows in his footsteps after learning about AI in Wakanda, creating N.A.T.A.L.I.E., which is modeled after her late friend Natalie Washington. Having a personal connection to her AI makes Riri’s life harder, but it helps the story out tremendously, with N.A.T.A.L.I.E. acting like the angel on her creator’s shoulder.

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5) Right: Having Joe McGillicuddy Be a Legacy Character

When Joe McGillicuddy shows up in Ironheart, he seems like a one-and-done character who’s just going to give Riri some tech and get out of dodge. That doesn’t end up being the case, as Joe turns out to be Ezekiel Stane, the son of Iron Monger. Zeke is becoming obsessed with the idea of upgrading his body, which never ends well but makes for great television.

1) Needs to Be Better: The Hood’s Supporting Crew

The Hood runs a tight ship, only bringing in crew members that he believes have potential, and anyone who disappoints him wrong doesn’t last long. Unlike Robbins, however, his colleagues aren’t all that complex. Ironheart needs to do a better job of fleshing them out, especially with Josh gone.

2) Needs to Be Better: The Evil Villain Teases

Every episode of Ironheart teases that The Hood isn’t really the one in charge. He keeps his cloak in a mysterious chamber and communicates with someone who’s not in the room with him. There are plenty of rumors about who The Hood’s master is, but no matter which comic character the show is bringing to life, it needs to reveal them sooner rather than later because the breadcrumbs are getting stale fast.

3) Needs to Be Better: The Inevitable Finale Fight

The action in Ironheart hasn’t been an issue yet, but it feels like every Marvel Disney+ show falls flat on its face in the last episode when the hero and villain throw hands. The only way for the show to avoid that fate is to get ahead of things and have Ironheart and The Hood duke it out a couple of times. That way, the final confrontation doesn’t have everything on its shoulders.

Ironheart is streaming on Disney+.

How do you feel about Ironheart‘s first three episodes? What do you think the show can improve on before it ends? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 5 Things Marvel’s Ironheart Is Already Doing Right (And 3 Things I Hope Get Better in the Final Episodes) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

With Ironheart‘s arrival on Disney+, a very distinct era for Marvel Cinematic Universe television programming has come to an end. Ironheart is the last MCU show on Disney+ to eschew a showrunner. Shot back in 2022, Ironheart was executed well over a year before the late 2023 overhauling of Daredevil: Born Again that ensured that series, as well as all other MCU shows like Wonder Man and Vision Quest, would have showrunners. Originally, Marvel Studios proudly eschewed showrunners (a staple of television for decades) and instead placed the creative visions of its programs into various hands (head writers and directors, namely) over the course of their respective productions.

It was a decision reflecting the inexperience in television from Marvel Studios brass like Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum. It was also meant to show that the Disney+ series were “just like” the movies. Ironheart, though, is another reminder that this approach was foolhardy from the start. Like almost all of the Disney+ MCU shows, Ironheart would’ve been way better as a movie.

Typical MCU Shows Like Ironheart Are Structured Like Movies

Typical genre TV shows in the past had to work overtime to make sure they were palatable to audiences in a weekly format. Productions like The X-Files developed rich lore and overarching narratives over time, while other shows like Lost and Fringe certainly required pre-existing knowledge to enjoy episodes from their respective third seasons onward. However, typically, these productions employed “monster-of-the-week” or similar storytelling templates to make individual episodes digestible to the general public. The very structure of television storytelling informed creating standalone plots each week.

Even all-time great non-heightened TV dramas like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos defaulted to standalone episode storylines for episodes like “The Fly” and “Pine Barrens.” MCU shows like Ironheart, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Secret Invasion, and so many more, meanwhile, function like two-hour movies stretched out into six-hour shows. They all concern one gigantic plot occurring across multiple installments with little personality or specific plotlines to differentiate episodes. Compare these superhero shows to a masterpiece like the miniseries When They See Us, which used time jumps to imbue unforgettable personality into each episode.

Tragically, the majority of these MCU shows instead embraced storylines that would’ve been so much better served in tighter feature-length confines. Ironheart’s first season, for instance, struggles to create actual dramatic tension since it closes out most of the first four episodes with the same cliffhanger beat of “is Parker Robbins actually evil?” The various Ironheart heist scenes, meanwhile, are poorly paced since they’re being stretched out to fit six episodes of a miniseries.

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Worst of all, MCU shows like Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Moon Knight cap off their runs with CG-oriented finale episodes that “reward” the patience of viewers with a bunch of digitally constructed chaos. A 15-minute action-heavy finale in a movie is one thing. A 40-minute episode that’s nothing but noise and CG monsters fighting is an excruciating waste of TV’s potential.

The Tragedy of the Better, Episodic MCU Shows

Ironheart and most other MCU shows being movies crammed into the format of TV shows is especially apparent when looking at the handful of MCU Disney+ programs that actually work as TV shows. WandaVision, underwhelming finale aside, ingeniously structured its first eight episodes so that each installment evoked a different era of TV history. This gave each outing an incredibly unique look and leaned into the specifics of TV’s history and storytelling.

Loki’s two seasons (the first of which often took cues from investigative dramas like Hannibal) and quasi-WandaVision sequel Agatha All Along also drew praise for taking more storytelling cues from Xena: Warrior Princess than Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately, those shows just highlighted what’s gone wrong with the majority of the MCU Disney+ programming. These rare acclaimed 2020s Marvel Studios television productions garnered acclaim for exploiting creative elements rooted in televised storytelling. Hawkeye, Secret Invasion, Ironheart, and others, meanwhile, kept reminding audiences how much better they’d be as movies.

In feature-length format, the bloat and awkward structuring that keep dragging these shows down could get condensed. There are good elements nestled within these shows, including Oscar Isaac’s deeply committed Moon Knight performance or Anji White’s endearing supporting turn in Ironheart. However, these and other artistic virtues are let down by shows that were designed and conceived so much like movies that they fail to properly work as small-screen programming. Now that Ironheart closes the book on Marvel Cinematic Universe shows ditching showrunners, let’s all cross our fingers that the age of MCU movies masquerading as tedious shows has also come to an end.

Ironheart’s first three episodes are now streaming on Disney+.

The post Ironheart Has Me Convinced That (Most of) Marvel’s Disney+ Shows Should’ve Been Movies appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown into one of the most successful franchises of all time, and it wouldn’t have done so without the participation of many talented actors. From the franchise’s very first movie, the MCU has boasted a remarkable pool of talent, and has continued to attract celebrated actors and hugely respected performers in the years since. This has seen many brilliant actors play a part in the MCU’s adaptation of multiple Marvel Comics stories, whether as heroes, villains, or supporting characters of varying degrees of importance. However, not all of the MCU’s great actors were put to good use.

The movies and TV shows of the MCU feature many such examples of brilliant and talented actors whose roles didn’t reflect their potential. Whether their dramatic chops were never tested, their comedic prowess wasn’t given a chance to shine, or their character simply was written out of the franchise far too soon, not all great actors are treated well by the MCU. Sad though it may seem, the franchise has done nothing with some of its most promising actors.

1) Rebecca Hall 

Rebecca Hall might not be the best-known actor to grace the movies of the MCU, but she’s hugely talented. Having proven her ability in movies such as The Town, The Prestige, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Rebecca Hall boasts an impressive career peppered with numerous accolades and award nominations. Her ability to shine in a range of genres marks her as a versatile actor, although this isn’t something that was truly communicated by her role as Maya Hansen in the MCU’s Iron Man 3.

As Maya Hansen, Hall was effectively sidelined despite playing an important role in the film’s narrative. Playing a supporting role as a former love interest to Tony Stark, Hall was later revealed as a manipulative villain before being unceremoniously killed by Aldrich Killian. Despite her character’s status as a brilliant biologist and Hall’s own potential as an actor, the MCU did very little to make use of that potential to its advantage.

2) Natalie Dormer

When Natalie Dormer made her single appearance in the MCU, her career was on the rise. Having previously appeared as Anne Boleyn on The Tudors, Dormer was just beginning to achieve widespread renown when she featured in Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011 as Private Lorraine. Her character’s only major role within the MCU was to be the woman who impulsively kissed Steve Rogers, causing tension between him and Peggy Carter.

Dormer’s career continued to grow in the years that followed, including a role on Game of Thrones as Margaery Tyrell and in the Hunger Games franchise as Cressida. While these roles brought Dormer more recognition, this only served to highlight how badly she had been wasted by her brief MCU appearance. Sadly, with Captain America: The First Avenger set so far in the past, there was no good way for the franchise to remedy the issue, dooming the MCU to waste Natalie Dormer.

3) Eric André

One of the most exciting additions to the announced cast of Ironheart was Eric André. The comedian and actor, best known as the creator and star of The Eric André Show, indicated an interesting casting choice for the MCU series, with it later revealed that he would be playing the character Rampage, a character from the comics with ties to the Punisher. However, the three-episode premiere of Ironheart revealed just how little the franchise had set out to do with André’s character.

After being introduced as Stuart Clarke – AKA Rampage – a tech-savvy but unreliable member of the Hood’s crew, André’s character was swiftly replaced by Riri Williams. After departing the crew, it is later revealed that Stuart has been murdered offscreen, seemingly killing any chances of Eric André reprising the role. If that does indeed prove to be the case, the MCU will have brought in an incredibly talented comedic actor only to give him no chance at all to use his talents in the franchise.

4) Cate Blanchett

Thor: Ragnarok was one of the most popular solo movies of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, thanks in part to its high-stakes story and effective use of humor. It also marked the debut of several great actors in the MCU, including Cate Blanchett as Hela. An Oscar-winning actor who already boasted a staggering amount of success throughout her career, Blanchett’s arrival in the MCU seemed to indicate that the franchise would continue to attract some of Hollywood’s biggest names.

Sadly, Blanchett’s role as Hela was far more short-lived than it deserved. Thor: Ragnarok‘s ending saw Hela seemingly killed by Surtur when he consumes Asgard, killing the villain and serving as a definitive ending to her story. Great though her brief turn as Hela was, someone of Blanchett’s talent could have been put to much better use, and it’s hard to imagine that the MCU’s use of the actor actually lived up to the potential suggested by her casting.

5) Mads Mikkelsen

2016 saw the MCU introduce a whole new magical aspect to the continuity with Doctor Strange. Boasting a cast stacked with talent, one of the most exciting additions was that of Mads Mikkelsen, who many had clamored to see in the MCU for years prior to his casting. Mikkelsen played Kaecilius, a sorceror corrupted by dark power who served as Doctor Strange‘s main antagonist. Mikkelsen’s reputation as a versatile actor capable of bringing great depth to his performances made him an especially interesting inclusion.

Kaecilius was not at all the villain that many had hoped. Doctor Strange‘s script gave Mikkelsen very little to do, rendering his performance somewhat wooden and masked behind layers of mind-bending CGI which, while impressive, did nothing to help Mikkelsen’s ability to bring the villain to life. The movie’s ending also saw him trapped in the Dark Dimension, making his return unlikely and further highlighting how little Mikkelsen was given to do in the MCU.

6) Zachary Levi

Although Zachary Levi is known as the DCEU’s Shazam, he had prior experience in the superhero genre thanks to the MCU. After being unavailable to play the role in 2011’s Thor, he was featured as Fandral in sequels Thor: The Dark World in 2013 and Thor: Ragnarok in 2017. Fandral was killed by Hela in Ragnarok, ending his story in the MCU before he was ever really explored in any depth.

Zachary Levi’s ability as a comedic actor and his later status as one of the DCEU’s best heroes highlights just how little he was given to do in the MCU. Whenever he has been given a substantial or interesting role he has been able to steal the show, but in the MCU he was little more than a footnote. As a relatively minor supporting character in the MCU, the role of Fandral was ultimately a waste of Levi’s talent.

7) Michael Rosenbaum 

Michael Rosenbaum might not be the most famous actor to have appeared in the MCU, but it’s undeniable that the franchise did nothing with him. Rosenbaum appeared as Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which served more as a cameo than a real role. Martinex’s role in Marvel Comics stories dates all the way back to the 1960s, meaning that there was a wealth of source material to draw on in order to give him a substantial role in the MCU.

The franchise was unable to deliver on that potential, though, and Rosenbaum was given nothing to do. Though his inclusion proved a popular one, casting a fan-favorite actor with experience in superhero franchises – thanks to his celebrated role as Lex Luthor on Smallville – only to give him a minor cameo was a waste. There’s a chance that Michael Rosenbaum might yet be given more time as Martinex in the MCU, but so far the franchise has wasted an incredibly talented actor.

8) John Krasinski 

John Krasinski might be best known for his role as Jim Halpert on The Office, but his career has seen him earn acclaim both as an actor and a director. Krasinski’s directorial debut A Quiet Place proved how excellently he could play dramatic roles, and his long-time fan casting as the MCU’s Reed Richards seemed to have been paid off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Unfortunately, the MCU did nothing at all with Krasinski, making his casting nothing more than momentary fan service.

Krasinski’s turn as Mr. Fantastic was brought to an abrupt end just minutes after his introduction, when the character was slaughtered by the Scarlet Witch. For an actor as beloved and championed for the role as Krasinski, it seemed an utter waste, as he was given only two real scenes in the role. It stands out not just as one of the MCU’s most shocking moments, but also as another example of a time when the franchise gave a great actor very little to work with.

9) Walton Goggins 

Walton Goggins’ career is one that is practically packed full of successes. His long-time status as a character actor saw him rack up roles on countless TV shows and in many movies, eventually leading him to become well-known in his own right and respected for his versatile acting talent. Having appeared in just about every genre that exists, Goggins is an actor who has come to be beloved by audiences around the world who recognize his remarkable acting talent.

His role in the MCU came in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, which saw him cast as secondary antagonist Sonny Burch, a relatively small-time criminal attempting to usurp Hank Pym’s technology for his own gain. Naturally, Sonny Burch ended up taking a back seat to Ghost, the movie’s main superpowered antagonist, and Goggins had little to do other than flee from heroes and villains alike. Though he was still excellent in the role, the MCU didn’t give Walton Goggins an awful lot to work with to make Sonny Burch a truly great character.

10) Robert Redford 

Perhaps the most respected and celebrated actor to appear in the MCU is Robert Redford, who made his debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Widely hailed as one of the MCU’s best movies, it would seem that an actor of Redford’s status would have been cast to play a major role. Redford played Alexander Pierce, the Secretary of the World Security Council and a secret high-ranking officer of Hydra, but the role was not as big as the actor deserved.

Redford was given surprisingly little screen time in The Winter Soldier, and is strangely one of its least memorable characters. Considering Redford’s legendary status, this was an odd choice, especially as the movie killed him off before he could ever play a larger role in the franchise. Casting an actor of Robert Redford’s ability only to give him a handful of scenes was more than just strange, it was an utter waste of a great actor.

The post 10 Great Actors the MCU Did Nothing With appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The first few phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe spend a lot of time hyping up Thanos. Even before revealing himself in the post-credits scene of The Avengers, the Mad Titan makes moves to secure the Infinity Stones. He sends Loki to Earth to secure a planet that has ties to some of the gems and tasks his daughter, Gamora, with tracking down another. Everything blows up in his face, though, so he takes matters into his own hands. Thanos and his Black Order start collecting the Infinity Stones, destroying anyone who gets in their way. And after a lot of effort, the Mad Titan achieves his goal of wiping out half of existence.

The remaining heroes of the MCU don’t take kindly to losing so many friends, so they undo Thanos’ work and bring everyone back. They even take out a variant of the villain, ensuring that he never causes trouble again. However, despite his death, Thanos’ influence is still being felt in the MCU, as Ironheart features three villains with connections to the character.

The Blood Siblings Got Their Start Working Under Thanos

Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), aka The Hood, puts together a solid crew in Ironheart to pull off his heists. Each member has their own area of expertise, such as Slug (Shea Couleé) being a master hacker and Riri Williams tackling all the engineering tasks. The Blood Siblings, Jeri (Zoe Terakes) and Roz (Shakira Barrera), aren’t computer whizzes, but they do serve a purpose on the team, acting as Robbins’ muscle. They take out security guards without any trouble in Ironheart‘s first couple of episodes, which shouldn’t be surprising given their comic book roots.

In the comics, the Blood Siblings are the Blood Brothers, and they work for Thanos. When the Mad Titan sets up shop on Earth and captures Drax the Destroyer, the duo intercepts Iron Man, who is coming to help the alien hero. The Blood Brothers give the Avenger plenty of trouble, and it always takes him teaming up with another hero to take them down.

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Drax eventually kills one of the brothers, R’Hos, leaving the other, Gh’Ree, without a purpose. The grieving villain joins The Hood’s crew and helps fight back the Skrulls when they invade Earth. The Blood Brothers have a unique journey in Marvel Comics, but funnily enough, they’re not the only characters to work for Thanos and The Hood.

Cousin John Is One of Thanos’ Favorites

Robbins does everything with his cousin, John King, as they have been close since childhood. King is a bit more aggressive than his relative, but he cares, checking in on Robbins anytime he thinks he’s going too far with his abilities. The MCU gives King a soft side that really isn’t present in the source material.

King gets his start working for his cousin, helping The Hood build his criminal empire. The good times don’t last forever, though, and once the gang splits up, King is in need of a gig. The Mad Titan reaches out because he’s looking to put together a team called Zodiac and wants King to be the leader under the codename Cancer. Thanos gives all of his new lackeys super-suits that give them incredible abilities, and they’re off to the races, attempting to steal all kinds of dangerous materials. However, the Avengers catch wind of Zodiac’s plans and capture Cancer, who sings like a canary. Being a snitch isn’t a great legacy for King, but it’s still better than his one in the MCU.

Ironheart is streaming on Disney+.

Did you know that Ironheart‘s Blood Siblings and John King have ties to Thanos? Does it change how you feel about them? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 3 New MCU Villains Have Major Links To Thanos appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ironheart is one of the new generation of Marvel Comics superheroes, making her first appearance in 2016 in the page of Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3). Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato, Ironheart is Riri Williams, a genius who had big dreams to invent her own Iron Man armor and become a hero. However, she had no money and didn’t have the tech needed, so she “borrowed” it from the M.I.T. University Science Center, which caught the attention of Iron Man himself. He offered to sponsor her to become a new hero, and she eventually became part of the team of teenage heroes known as The Champions.

Riri Williams also made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she helped out Shuri, who had taken up the mantle of the Black Panther, in her battle with Namor. Now, Ironheart has her own Disney+ series, and it might be time to catch up on her best comic book appearances to understand why Ironheart is such a special Marvel hero.

1) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #12

This was the comic book where Iron Man met Ironheart for the first time. It was all accidental. Riri Williams made her armor and stopped a prison breakout, but damaged it. She faced arrest for stealing the equipment needed to work on it from M.I.T., and Iron Man heard about it when he was visiting and set out to find Riri and see what she was up to. He arrived at her home and demanded that she show him and her mother what she was working on. Riri Williams was 15, and Tony Stark was impressed. This was where he gave Ironheart his blessing, and she set out to become a hero.

2) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #1

The main Iron Man series ended just two issues after he met Riri Williams, and then Tony Stark ended up in a coma after the events of Civil War II. This led to the next series, which was still called Invincible Iron Man, but it now had Ironheart as the comic’s main hero. This is an important issue as it reveals Riri Williams’ backstory and the death of her stepfather and her best friend Natalie by a drive-by shooter while a 12-year-old Riri watched in horror. The first issue also has Tony’s final gift before his coma — an A.I. to help Riri with her armor.

3) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #9-10

Ironheart became a major hero thanks to her role in freeing Latveria from the rule of dictator Lucia Von Bardas. She went to Latveria to attack after SHIELD asked her to and declared herself the country’s new monarch. When SHIELD showed up, Riri brokered a peace treaty between Latveria’s armed forces and SHIELD, ensuring the country could have its first free elections. This was the moment Riri showed her brain was just as important a weapon as any armor she created. Humorously, Riri noted this was just her fifth fight.

4) Champions (Vol. 2) #19

Ironheart joined her first team during the Secret Empire event series when Captain America revealed he was with Hydra and overthrew the American government. Riri worked with The Champions and the Underground, attempting to fight back against Hydra. After that ended and the country began to return to normal, Ironheart officially joined The Champions. She joined along with the new Wasp. This was a huge moment since it was the first time that Ironheart felt she had a superhero family where she belonged.

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5) Ironheart #9

MCU fans have got to see the great teaming of Ironheart and Shuri, and that happened in the comics first when Riri Williams went to Wakanda on a mission and met Shuri for the first time. This was an interesting meeting as well, since Riri was in a hurry to get help and was frustrated that it seemed Shuri didn’t understand the urgency, and Riri was quite rude. However, the two heroes finally get on the same page and develop a great relationship that allows them to fight Shadow Monsters together and become a fun pairing.

6) Champions (Vol. 4) #5

Ironheart was a big part of the Outlawed storyline. This series introduced a law banning underage superheroes from operating without an adult hero sponsor. Any hero caught was arrested by a group called CRADLE (headed up by Dum Dum Duggan.) However, the entire law was created by the evil Roxxon Corporation and their main goal was to shut down the Champions. Riri immediately quit and put her armor away since her identity was public knowledge. However, all it took was CRADLE to attack her friends to bring her back into the fight, and Champions (Vol. 4) #5 was where the team, with Ironheart by their side, finally stopped Roxxon and got the law repealed.

7) Iron Man (Vol. 7) #4-5

To catch up on what Ironheart is doing as she gets older and more secure in her place in the Marvel Universe, the two-part team-up in Iron Man (Vol. 7) #4-5 shows how much of a hero she has become. Iron Man needs help, and none of his armors are working anymore. He has an old model that isn’t very protective, and he calls in Ironheart to help him. She finds herself fighting an old enemy in Lucia von Bardas and has to fight to defend the people of Chicago, and it is Ironheart — not Iron Man — who saves the day.

The post 7 Essential Ironheart Comics You Need to Read appeared first on ComicBook.com.

It’s been six years since Avengers: Endgame brought down the curtain on Thanos – and in that time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced multiverses, Celestials, Kang the Conqueror (and then un-introduced him hastily), and the short-lived nonsense of Secret Invasion. But even with a packed schedule of new and potentially world-ending threats, the franchise just cannot let go of its most prominent villain so far. Thanos might be dead (several times over, in fact) and dusted, but he seemingly remains the yardstick by which every MCU event is measured.

This isn’t just about legacy or emotional fallout, which the whole of Phase 4 felt like it dealt with. That was to be expected, and even necessary, after all, given the seismic impact of The Blip and its planetary trauma. But the MCU’s lingering fixation on Thanos feels increasingly like a symptom of a larger problem: a failure to move forward. Even in small ways, the franchise keeps pointing back to gauntlet-wielding Mad Titan, because frankly, there’s not been anything else as big or as good to replace him. And with the multiverse careering towards its climax with Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, even Ironheart isn’t free of the curse.

Ironheart’s Thanos Reference Explained

In Ironheart‘s very first episode, a street preacher shouts “Thanos was just the start… and this time Tony Stark won’t save us!” Ignoring the fact that nothing else comes of this apparent prophet of doom with his urgent, apocalyptic warning, his first words are the ones that matter. It’s yet another example of the MCU pulling from the same deck of cards it’s been shuffling since Infinity War. This isn’t just a nod to the past; it’s a reminder that the franchise still sees Thanos as the very definition of existential danger. And while there’s a logic to that – he did, after all, unmake half the universe – leaning on that trauma so heavily risks making everything else feel like a sequel to his saga. And we need to move on.

More importantly, it also drags Ironheart into a gravitational pull it doesn’t need for the sake of an unnecessary reference. Riri Williams should be allowed to establish her own stakes, her own enemies, her own place in the world, rather than a hollow threat of Thanos – or a Thanos-like threat that isn’t part of this story – casting a subtle shadow. Instead, her series opens by invoking the ghosts of Endgame and Stark.

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Perhaps it wasn’t accidental? With two new Avengers films on the horizon, Marvel Studios may be using moments like these to foreshadow a broader escalation to atone for the fact that the actual connecting tissue in the multiverse saga has been uneven at best. “Thanos was just the start” works as a prophecy if the MCU is building toward a villain who makes the Mad Titan look like a warm-up act. A promise to stop people giving up?

Why Does The MCU Still Care So Much About Thanos?

It should go without saying that the reason Marvel keeps maintaining the unhealthy Thanos obsession is because there’s no suitable heir to the throne. Ironheart‘s passing prophecy here, then, works as an acknowledgement of that, whether intended or not, as well as a subtle promise of course correction. Kang was supposed to be the Next Big Thing – a time-warping, multiversal nemesis who could match Thanos’ brute force with more cerebral nuance. But between the legal trouble surrounding Jonathan Majors and the franchise’s own hesitation, Kang is now lost to limbo.

That fallback instinct to Thanos feels a little desperate, and worse, it risks making newer threats start from a losing position, defined more by their relationship to Thanos than by their own menace. Even when the MCU introduces promising villains – say, the Celestials or Doctor Doom (eventually) – there’s a chance they’ll be framed as “worse than Thanos” rather than uniquely terrifying in their own right. But then, maybe there is hope here: maybe they’re saying “Thanos was just the start” because they’re willing it to be true? Let’s hope so, because the Thanos nostalgia has gone on long enough.

Ironheart is streaming on Disney+ now. And for more spoiler analysis and discussion of Ironheart, click here.

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After a lengthy wait, Riri Williams is finally getting some screentime in the MCU again courtesy of her new Disney+ solo series. After making her official debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Williams (once again played by Dominique Thorne) has been waiting to get back into the spotlight, and now that the first three episodes of the series are out in the wild, we have a much better idea of how much of Riri’s story comes directly from the comics and what was changed, updated, or combined in the MCU translation. One key change in particular to Ironheart’s origin story shows up towards the end of episode 1 and then plays a huge part in episodes 2 and 3, and it makes the series 10 times better in the process. Spoilers incoming for Ironheart episodes 1 through 3, so if you haven’t watched yet, you’ve been warned.

Ironheart’s Original Story

For those who aren’t familiar with the comics version of Riri, there’s quite a bit pulled from those comics for the MCU series, though the show has also moved some things around and combined a few elements. One of the biggest changes is found in the armor’s AI, as in the comics, Riri ends up having Tony Stark as her armor’s AI, which allowed for them to build a very different sort of bond during her early career as a superhero.

Stark supported Williams in her pursuit of helping others as a superhero early on, and she would eventually lend him some aid during Civil War II. That event would cause Stark to fall into a comatose state, but Williams was still able to interact with his AI in her armor, and we see the benefits (and some of the drawbacks) of having an AI Stark along for the ride throughout the series.

The MCU Version’s One Key Change

In the MCU version of Ironheart’s origin story, the connections to Iron Man’s world and past are still present, but are primarily represented through Obadiah Stane’s son Ezekiel and Stark’s overall legacy as opposed to any direct connection with Riri. That means Stark is also not powering the AI, so the question is, who is?

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Well, that’s where the biggest and most welcome change from the comics’ origin story makes its presence known. Instead of going the Stark route, the show skips ahead in the timeline of events and begins with Riri inadvertently creating an AI built around her late friend Natalie (Lyric Ross), and this event and relationship end up becoming the absolute heart of the show.

Riri’s best friend and stepfather were both tragically killed in the same drive-by shooting, and this decision to have Natalie be the AI from the get-go allows the show to explore Riri’s past trauma in a truly genuine and unexpected way. While Natalie (who is actually N.A.T.A.L.I.E. in her AI state) does end up taking on the same role as Ironheart’s AI in the comics, that doesn’t happen till later, as the early years honed in on Riri’s time working alongside an AI Stark.

While having Stark involved in some form or fashion would obviously be a huge deal, and there will be some that view not having Stark involved in some way directly as a negative, but I appreciate the shift in approach. Having Natalie be Riri’s AI from the very beginning allows a much more personal and unique view of Riri’s pain and grief in the early going, and as Natalie continues to evolve, that will only become more wonderfully complicated and messy, and truth be told, that couldn’t be a more accurate description of family, regardless of what form it ends up taking.

We’ll have to see how things unfold throughout the rest of the series, but right now, the relationship between Riri and Natalie is at the heart of the show, and that likely wouldn’t have been the case if the series had followed the exact same beats from the comics.

The first three episodes of Ironheart are streaming now on Disney+, and episodes 4 through 6 will release over the next three weeks.

What did you think of Ironheart? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things Marvel and comics with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!

The post The MCU Cut Tony Stark From Its New Series & Made It 10 Times Better appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ironheart is the newest series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and the latest to face “review-bombing” by disgruntled groups online. The series had a 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes‘ Popcornmeter before it even premiered on Tuesday, meaning those leaving negative reviews had likely not seen it for themselves. It’s a concerning trend in the MCU and in geek culture in general, especially since at least some participants lash out specifically at productions with diverse casts and creators. Thankfully, Ironheart scores seem to be bouncing back quickly since the show premiered on Tuesday night, but in the meantime, anyone on the fence about giving the show a try would have encountered a dismal review online.

Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter takes an average from user-submitted reviews that anyone can add to the site. At the time of this writing, Ironheart has a 68% positive score on the Popcornmeter, with an average rating of 3.6 out of 10. However, the score was at 32% on Tuesday before the premiere, likely due to intentional review-bombing. The only way to have seen the show before its premiere would have been at the red carpet premiere on Monday, and even then, many of the attendees were critics whose reviews would have been counted on the Tomatometer instead.

That’s not to say that an honest review of Ironheart can’t be negative — in fact, critics seem to be lukewarm on the series in general. It currently has a 70% positive rating on the Tomatometer, with many critics finding the first three episodes interesting, if a little awkward. Fans are entitled to their feelings on this show once they’ve seen it, but review-bombing refers to those who flood the internet with negative scores without even seeing a piece of media out of spite for the way it was made or released.

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The MCU has unfortunately become very familiar with review-bombing. The franchise was hit hard in 2019 with Captain Marvel, prompting Rotten Tomatoes to change the way users submitted their own reviews. Star Wars has also seen a fair amount of this activity, and just this year there was talk of review-bombing around the live-action Snow White remake. In many of these cases, there was also speculation about the use of bots to log multiple negative reviews all at once, but that is often hard to track or verify.

Ironheart premiered on Tuesday with three episodes, and many fans are enjoying the show. It concludes on Tuesday, July 1st with three more episodes dropping on Disney+.

The post Ironheart Review Bombing Continues an Upsetting Trend appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel Studios has been fighting for its life with critics in recent years. After Eternals became the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to earn a “Rotten” score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it feels like the floodgates have opened. Some of the negative buzz can be attributed to the phenomenon known as superhero fatigue since Marvel Studios released what felt like an endless number of projects immediately following Avengers: Endgame. However, it’s hard to ignore the dip in quality from MCU projects. While things had been looking up after Thunderbolts*, the franchise’s latest Disney+ project, Ironheart, isn’t coming out of the gates swinging.

It’s fair to say that Ironheart is fighting an uphill battle. Despite taking place directly after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and following a character introduced in that film, it’s taken almost three years to get the show on Disney’s streaming platform. Marvel Studios has done a good job building the hype, though, enlisting the help of Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr., who appears more than ready to pass the baton. Unfortunately, the support of the face of the MCU isn’t enough to quiet the haters. Ironheart was review-bombed on Rotten Tomatoes before it dropped, unfairly judged by an unsavory crowd.

The show’s current Tomatometer score is higher than its original audience one, with it sitting at 72% percent fresh with 39 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes has also taken steps to remove undue criticism from its platform, as the audience score for Ironheart is 71% fresh at the time of writing. Those numbers are more than respectable, but given the MCU’s track record, they probably aren’t where Kevin Feige and Co. want them to be.

Ironheart‘s performance on Rotten Tomatoes is the fourth worst for a series set in the MCU (ignoring the Netflix shows, which are a different case altogether). The only three below it are Marvel’s Inhumans, Echo, and Secret Invasion. Inhumans isn’t worth doing a deep dive on, but Echo and Secret Invasion are fair comparisons. Weak stories bog those shows down and turn interesting characters into shells of themselves. The complaints about Ironheart are similar, but at least the show still has time to work out its issues.

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Ironheart‘s Unique Release Schedule Could Be Its Saving Grace

While critics’ opinions are already set in stone because they’ve seen all six of Ironheart‘s episodes, the audience isn’t in the same situation. Only the first three entries in the series are available on Disney+, with the final three dropping on July 1st. Marvel Studios’ Disney+ shows like to keep their cards close to the vest, which means the dial could get turned up to eleven next week. There are rumors of Mephisto having a major role in Ironheart, and given that MCU fans have been dying to see him in live-action since WandaVision, his appearance would be a feather in the show’s cap.

Outside of a major character introduction and maybe a quick tease for Avengers: Doomsday, the real appeal of finishing Ironheart is seeing where Riri Williams’ story takes her. She’s looking to continue Tony Stark’s legacy by any means possible, and that means traveling to dark places and doing shady things. Her actions are sure to come back to bite her, and it’ll take all of her brain power to cook up a way out of the situation that doesn’t cost her something important.

Ironheart is streaming now on Disney+.

How do you feel about Ironheart‘s Rotten Tomatoes score? Are you going to watch the rest of the episodes when they drop on Disney+? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Ironheart’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Makes It the MCU’s 4th Worst Rated TV Show appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel Studios’ Ironheart series has finally kicked off, and the new show has already wasted an actor who could have been a great addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Notable stars including the likes of Christian Bale, Natalie Dormer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Glenn Close, among many others, have all gone under-appreciated and underused in the MCU. Ironheart’s cast includes yet another star who has joined this club, despite their character having the chance to become a great new MCU villain, and perhaps even eventually an antihero who could have teamed up with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher.

Ironheart introduced us to Parker Robbins’ Hood (Anthony Ramos), who had formed a crew of Chicago-based criminals tasked with taking on tech giants. One member of the Hood’s crew was Stuart, who went by the moniker Rampage, portrayed by Eric André. Stuart makes a dangerous mistake during one of the crew’s mission, leading to him being replaced by Riri Williams – whose mechanical suit of armor makes her a huge asset. It’s then revealed that, unsurprisingly, the Hood and his right-hand-man, John (Manny Montana), killed Stuart to leave no loose ends, hastily removing André from the MCU.

Eric André is a comedian and actor known for appearing in The Internship, The Lion King, 2 Broke Girls, and Man Seeking Woman, while he also created and starred in his own sketch comedy series, The Eric Andre Show. He is well-known and beloved, so it’s shocking that Marvel Studios has already removed him in Ironheart, especially since he could have seen real growth in the franchise, if he is anything like his Marvel Comics counterpart. The comics’ Rampage began as an enemy of the Champions, but later joined forces with the Punisher.

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While it’s a shame to see Eric André disappear from the MCU so quickly, he’s far from the first notable actor to be wasted by Marvel Studios. Bill Skarsgård (Kro in Eternals), Natalie Dormer (Private Lorraine in Captain America: The First Avenger), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron), Glenn Close (Nova Prime in Guardians of the Galaxy), and Christopher Eccleston (Malekith in Thor: The Dark World), among many others, are all part of this group. It seems Marvel is in the habit of under-using some genuinely great acting talent.

It remains to be seen what impact Stuart’s death will continue to have on Riri Williams as Ironheart progresses. The final three episodes of the Phase 5 series are scheduled to release on Disney+ on July 1, 2025, and are expected to give Ironheart a magical upgrade, explain more about Parker Robbins’ Hood, and perhaps even finally introduce the demon Mephisto to the MCU. Hopefully Eric André’s time in the MCU won’t be forgotten too quickly.

What did you make of Eric André’s debut as Stuart in Ironheart? Let us know in the comments and for more spoiler analysis and discussion of Ironheart, click here.

The post Marvel Just Added Another Big Name To The MCU’s List Of Wasted Actors appeared first on ComicBook.com.

New MCU show Ironheart has just joined the ranks of Marvel releases hiding a major secret. Iron Man 3 had its Mandarin silliness, The Winter Soldier had Hydra’s infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., She-Hulk had Hulk’s secret son; basically, Kevin Feige’s powerhouse franchise really loves a stunt twist. Just ask Agatha Harkness. The first three episodes of Ironheart actually have more of a mystery box element to them than MCU fans might have expected. Because of the narrative conflict of science and magic, the element of doubt feels like intentional seasoning in fact, and one huge mystery revives a ghost of the MCU’s past in a brilliant way.

Ironheart‘s first few episodes focus on Riri Williams’ corrupted ambition leading her to work with Anthony Ramos’ Hood and his gang of Young Lords. Riri justifies her immorality as a means to an end: like Iron Man before her, she’ll do whatever it takes to realize her ultimate goal. While Stark’s was protecting the world from unknown threats, Williams’ is claiming the reputation that her genius demands, by creating an unparalleled Ironheart suit. And along the way, she comes to meet a black market tech trader, Joe McGillicuddy, played by MCU newcomer Alden Ehrenreich. And naturally, that ridiculous name is a fake, because Joe’s real identity is an awful lot more interesting.

Joe McGillicuddy Is Really The Son Of The First MCU Villain

The third episode of Ironheart throws fans an almighty curveball: Ehrenreich’s jittery techboy is in fact, MCU royalty. When Riri Williams searches his kitchen for his biomechanical skin invention, she finds a bag of ashes labeled “Obadiah S.” And that’s when it clicks. The obsession with technology, the deep anxiety about being associated with techno criminality… Joe McGillicuddy’s father is Obadiah Stane, and his real name is actually Ezekiel Stane.

Ezekiel, or “Zeke” as Riri starts calling him fairly quicky, comes clean: he explains that after Tony Stark defeated Obadiah in Iron Man, the true story was quietly buried by Stark Industries (and S.H.I.E.L.D.). To the world, Obadiah died in a tragic plane crash, rather than trying and failing to murder Tony, and ending up incinerated in his own weaponized mech suit. Zeke’s entire life has been built around making peace with that legacy, his trauma shaped by a father who “went full supervillain.” But unlike his comic book counterpart, Zeke isn’t out for revenge, he wants nothing more than to not become his father.

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Who Is Ezekiel Stane? Marvel Comics Origin & Powers Explained

First introduced in The Order #8 (2008), Ezekiel “Zeke” Stane is essentially the ultimate anti-Tony Stark: a genius-level inventor with a bloody vendetta. And unlike Tony, he didn’t just build tech, he modified his own body, giving himself subdermal implants, and eventually evolving into a full-on bioengineered superhuman with explosive energy weapons and enhanced reflexes. 

On the surface, MCU Zeke couldn’t be more different, only linked to his comics counterpart by the weight of his father’s legacy, but using it differently. When Riri visits his home, he’s in the middle of testing a neurolink chip he’s developed for prosthetic integration in his own arm. It’s a clear indication that he is more about benevolent improvement of humanity, rather than dominion. He’s just a slightly soft-spoken man with his father’s ghost looming in the corner. But it’s also a carefully placed nod to the idea that Zeke will “improve” himself with technology when demand arises.

Ironheart’s version of Ezekiel Stane seems to reimagine what legacy looks like in the MCU, and runs an interesting parallel to Riri’s own defiance of Tony Stark’s legacy. Intriguing, Riri is forced to divert from Tony’s path thanks to her lack of privilege and wealth, while Stane is doing the opposite, casting off the draw of his father from a starting position of power. It’s a compelling reimagining of the character, who continues Iron Man’s legacy in a less obvious but perhaps more interesting way than having him out for Stark blood and the destruction of Tony’s legacy.

The first 3 episodes of Ironheart are available on Disney+ now.

The post Shock MCU Twist Unexpectedly Revives The Story Of An Iconic Iron Man Villain appeared first on ComicBook.com.

For years, Marvel fans have been waiting for a devil. Ever since WandaVision dropped its first hexagonal Easter egg and fans lost their collective minds at what it could mean, we’ve all been marching to a faint drum beat spelling out Mephisto. Even without a shred of concrete evidence, Mephisto became the MCU’s most memed character, haunting Reddit threads and YouTube theory videos. It felt like Marvel leaned in hard, fuelling the fire with sly winks and knowing fake-outs, before eventually name-dropping the Marvel devil in Agatha All Along outright. And now with Ironheart, the hints have gone from clever misdirection to full-blown foreshadowing.

Back when Agatha came out, showrunner Jac Schaeffer confessed that direction had come down from on-high to include Mephisto’s name-drop. “It was a conversation with [Agatha] executive producer Mary Livanos, [Marvel’s head of streaming] Brad [Winderbaum] and [Marvel Studios boss] Kevin [Feige], but it is a mention that is larger than me and this show.” And it’s beginning to look a lot like Ironheart might be part of that bigger plot.  In the first three episodes of Ironheart, Marvel might as well have lit the summoning circle in blood. Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins, aka The Hood, is introduced as a street-level villain with supernatural firepower – but it’s the source of that power, and what it’s costing him that points squarely at the devil in the details.

How Ironheart Sets Up Mephisto… Finally

The most telling moments come in Ironheart episode 2: first there’s a heavily loaded scene where Riri Williams stands in front of a tattered wall in her Chicago neighborhood, plastered with overlapping posters for Faust. It’s not exactly subtle if you know that Faust is the legendary German play – written by Goethe – about a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasure. It’s the definitive tale of a Faustian bargain, referenced in a show about Riri Williams willingly compromising her morality to get what she covets most.

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But going beyond that thematic nod, there’s something even more concrete thanks to Parker Robbins himself. The Hood isn’t just playing dress up in a magical hood he stole (as he did in the comics): his body is falling apart, seemingly poisoned by dark magic, and coupled with audio hallucinations, including one that pointedly says “What is it that you most desire?” Classic Mephisto, whose modus operandi in the comics is preying on desperation, offering power in exchange for corruption, and binding people with infernal contracts. Parker even tells his cousin John that the hood’s painful corruption of his body is “the price I’ve got to pay for what he did to me.” It’s a loaded line that might as well have Mephisto’s laughter behind it.

It’s not an outright confirmation that Mephisto is here, even after years of speculation that he IS in this show somehow, but The Hood is shaping up to be the perfect vessel. He is a man very obviously seduced by power, and spookily capable of facilitating everything he wants. And it’s not like Marvel hasn’t been preparing us for this. Even though WandaVision’s “Agnes is Agatha” reveal killed that theory, the devil’s silhouette has been lurking just off-screen. And after Agatha All Along made his name canon and teased those plans, Ironheart is laying the groundwork for his first true manifestation.

If Mephisto comes, the power hierarchy of the MCU rogues gallery will be rewritten once again. Mephisto is one of Marvel’s most powerful Hell-Lords, who can shape-shift, is immortal, has a healing factor, and can alter time and reality. He is, in short, a big deal, and has faced off multiple times against Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, and Silver Surfer most prominently, but among many others. We’ve already seen Death and countless gods come to the MCU, and now might finally be the time for a devil.

Ironheart‘s first 3 episodes are streaming on Disney+ now. For more spoiler analysis and discussion of Ironheart, click here.

The post The MCU Just Dropped The 3 Biggest Mephisto Teases So Far appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Back in 2022, Black Panther’s story continued in the MCU with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, made over $800m, and then… well, nothing. A sequel wasn’t rushed into production, for some reason, despite discussion of Black Panther 3‘s inevitable existence, and it wasn’t until Denzel Washington said he was being cast in the sequel that we really got any sense that those plans would become something concrete. There’s still no date for the project, but Marvel has a vacant 2027 spot and 4 slots dated for 2028. If one of them isn’t the official return of Letitia Wright’s Shuri and Wakanda, it will be very surprising. But that would mean 5 or possibly 6 years between the sequels, and that’s a long time to wait.

Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars will likely both bring Shuri back, with the former already confirmed to include the Wakandans, but with Doomsday not coming for another 18 months, any bone thrown to Black Panther fans will be hungrily gobbled up. And that’s exactly what the MCU has done, thanks to the opening episode of Ironheart, which features a cameo by Letitia Wright’s Shuri.

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The cameo comes with a downside: Shuri’s appearance barely even qualifies as brief. During Riri’s opening montage where she explains her embrace of extracurricular, extra-legal activities while studying at MIT. Riri reveals in voice over that after and internship in Wakanda (presumably after her suit was taken off her), she realised that she’d need the equivalent of “a mountain of vibranium” to realize her potential goal. That speech comes with a shot of Shuri in the Wakandan lab, busily working out a complex equation. It’s not a lot, but it’s the most we’ve had in live-action for almost 3 years.

That’s the problem with the current MCU model: even the most successful of Marvel movies leads to an extended period of nothing at all. Right now, despite a few rumors, and Washington’s premature confirmation of his own involvement, we know largely nothing about Black Panther 3. And while it’s likely it will be one of the currently untitled but announced MCU release slots, without the concrete confirmation, all we have is a few moments confirming Marvel remembers Black Panther.

Wakanda’s part in Riri’s story is a little odd, given her ambitious character was always going to lead to issues when Shuri removed her access to her second Ironheart armor. So quite why the Dora Milaje aren’t lurking in the shadows looking out for her (particularly when she could still be a target for Talokan dissidents) is unclear. That would have resolved the entire plot of Ironheart in seconds, though, so logically, you can see why Wakanda’s presence is so faintly felt.

Ironheart‘s first 3 episodes are streaming on Disney+ now. For more spoiler analysis and discussion of Ironheart, click here.

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Nearing five years after it was first announced, Marvel’s Ironheart is finally here, dropping in two three-episode bundles on Disney+ in a release schedule that only really makes sense when you’ve seen all six. Dominique Thorne returns as ambitious tech prodigy Riri Williams after her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and is joined in Ironheart‘s cast top-line by Anthony Ramos (villain The Hood), Lyric Ross (her dead best friend/AI Natalie), and Alden Ehrenreich (“Joe McGillicuddy” — it’s a fake name for reasons that will become clear). But was the show worth the almost five-year wait? Frustratingly, the answer is not as straightforward as I’d like.

Ironheart is an ambitious Marvel TV show that has some very good ideas, an excellent cast (and some very interesting characters), and high-gloss execution that includes very impressive VFX work. It’s also muddled, imbalanced, and deeply frustrating, suffering from stuttering pace issues in the first half, some incredibly insufferable characters, and head-scratchingly odd decisions. The show picks up some time after Wakanda Forever saw Riri given a taste of superheroism and — crucially — access to Wakanda’s untold resources, and sees the MIT student dealing with a sort of privilege hangover. She’s crashed back to normal Earth, where she can’t just do what she wants — which is not to be a hero, but rather to prove herself the most gifted inventor of her generation.

That’s probably the biggest divergence from the Iron Man story that sits sidecar to Riri’s own: while she and Tony Stark are both driven by ambition, hers is about being recognized, while his was about an all-encompassing fear that if he didn’t save the Earth, nobody else would be able to. That difference means Riri turns almost comically quickly to crime, which is never entirely justified because her urge to build the best armor possible using ill-gotten funds lacks depth. There’s not enough emotional conflict between the suggestion of breaking the law and her suddenly doing the kind of things you usually end up on FBI lists for.

The question of character motivation is easily the most interesting part of Ironheart, as three different characters deal with the crushing weight of legacy and expectation. Throw in some generational trauma and cultural trauma for Riri (whose respect for Tony Stark is increasingly tempered by a disdain for his privilege), and there’s a really intriguing concept that I wish more of the story was overtly written around. Unfortunately, the writing doesn’t always live up to the quality of the idea, and character development isn’t as well handled as it needs to be. The result is that lots of characters make breakneck decisions in moments, and a group of people we’re told are all geniuses-level intellects come off as idiots. Yes, emotion and temptation are things here, but there’s not enough space to play with that.

Identity plays a major part here, too: Riri is not incidentally Black, and her culture and upbringing as part of that community are an important part of her arc. Class is a big factor, too: Ironheart is sort of like a what-if mirror held up to Tony Stark’s life. What if he wasn’t born into wealth? What if generational trauma led him to misplace his ambitions? What if he had to work harder for his natural skills and genius to manifest in any way beyond frustrated potential? Iron Man’s arc explored how far he’d go to save Earth, Riri’s explores the same thing on a different scale, but it’s interesting how close the instincts and the self-destruction run in both of them despite their lack of a direct link.

Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomers Ramos and Ehrenreich are both very good, and so is Manny Montana as The Hood’s cousin John, and there’s a very good appearance in the final episodes by someone too important to spoil here. He’s worth the wait, though. At the other end of the spectrum, the Hood’s “Young Lords” supervillain group is all completely insufferable in a way that made me question whether I just didn’t understand Gen Z. But no, it’s the kids who are wrong. We’re also supposed to attach the story’s heart to Natalie, Riri’s best friend who is killed and accidentally reborn as Riri’s AI through an inexplicable tech-miracle, but for the first three episodes, she is the MCU’s answer to an unholy marriage between Microsoft’s Clippy and Scrappy Doo. She gets better, mercifully.

There’s an old cliché saying that sticking the ending can forgive a lot of sins on the way there, and if that’s true, Ironheart‘s reception will be more positive than this review. The final episode (and its set-up) bristles with confidence, is genuinely transformative for the MCU, and sets up a surprising (if a little jarring) future for the hero. I will absolutely be excited to sit and watch a Season 2, if it comes. If it doesn’t, Marvel has just written Riri into an almighty cul-de-sac that would take some creativity to solve.

There are a lot of things I liked about Ironheart: The Hood’s story of magical corruption is so intriguing that it probably deserved its own show or miniseries event; Riri’s parallel corruption by her own ambition is also interesting; and the idea of legacy being a curse is great. And it’s fair to say that the second half of the show is better than the first three episodes, culminating in a far superior finale that brings all of the good ideas together. My issue is that the execution at times feels like disparate stories being told simultaneously, with nothing given enough time. And the result is just too much of a muddle without the necessary depth to elevate its best ideas from the parts that drag it down.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Ironheart debuts on Disney+ on Tuesday, June 24th at 9 p.m. ET. The second three episodes release a week later on July 1st. For more spoiler analysis and discussion of Ironheart, click here.

The post Ironheart Review: I Really Wish I Wasn’t This Disappointed appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Anthony Ramos plays Parker Robbins, a.k.a. The Hood in Ironheart, and like others, he sees some strong parallels between his character and Doctor Doom. The Hood wields magical power related to the mystic arts practiced by Doctor Strange, but he remains a practical person with worldly aspirations. He makes for an interesting precursor to Doom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the scientist Victor von Doom famously straddles the line between scientist and mage. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ramos said that he is hoping to make more appearances as Robbins, and perhaps even establish a rivalry with Doom.

“I would love to expand with his character, knowing that Robert Downey Jr’s coming back as Doctor Doom, and we know in the comics that those characters kind of overlap and stuff like that, so seeing if there’s any possibility for any overlap with Doctor Doom would be really cool,” Ramos said. “Everything is real in the Marvel Universe, you never know what what they plan to do and how they plan to do it, but I’d love another shot to just expand on Parker a little bit.”

It’s unclear how faithful the MCU’s versions of The Hood and Doctor Doom will be to their comic book origins, but so far we have some hints about how The Hood will differ and how he will be the same. According to Marvel Studios, this version of Robbins is from Chicago rather than New York, and his criminal background comes from his mother’s association with the street gang-turned activist organization the Young Lords, rather than from petty burglary. However, he still gets his mystical abilities from a mysterious cloak, much like in the comics.

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Both Ramos and executive producer Ryan Coogler have said that Robbins is a foil to Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) in this story, as both are underdogs with chips on their shoulders. They will start out as allies in this miniseries, but all signs indicate that they will eventually become enemies. However, The Hood is not an outright villain in the comics, but often an anti-hero who finds himself aligned with superheroes at times.

Doom, meanwhile, has never been depicted as a student of the mystic arts on the big screen before. In the comics, Doom is the son of a Romani witch who had a deal with the demon Mephisto. These two factors grant him powerful magic abilities, while his parallel study of science led to his friendship with Reed Richards. It’s unclear how much of this origin story will be carried over into the MCU, especially knowing that Downey Jr. will be playing Doom. Many fans are expecting the MCU’s Doom to be a variant of Tony Stark in some way.

Whatever is coming, it’s easy to imagine Ramos’ star power helping him secure more screentime in the MCU down the road. Ironheart premieres on Tuesday, June 24th at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+.

The post Ironheart Villain Wants the Hood & Doom Epic Rivalry in MCU (and so Do We) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

“I wanna build something undeniable,” engineer Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) tells the Hood (Anthony Ramos) in Marvel’s Ironheart. “Something iconic.” The first reactions to the Disney+ series have arrived ahead of Tuesday’s three-episode premiere, which follows Riri back in her native Chicago after the MIT student armored up on the big screen in the 2022 Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever.

So, is Ironheart undeniably iconic? First reactions have been mixed, judging by the social media response. Some reviewers and influencers have hailed the Ryan Coogler-produced series as “sincere” and “intimate,” while others criticized the storytelling as “uninteresting” and “plodding.”

However, the consensus seems to be that the finale — titled “The Past is the Past,” airing July 1 — is the standout episode and one of Marvel’s best. And Thorne, the breakout of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is earning praise for her leading performance alongside MCU newcomers Ramos and Alden Ehrenreich.

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ComicBook’s Chris Killian shares, “Even though I’m not personally the biggest fan of blending tech and mysticism, Ironheart turned out better than I expected — especially in the last couple episodes. What really landed for me was how it ties back to the original Iron Man, adding an unexpected layer of legacy to Riri’s journey. And without spoiling anything, there’s a character introduced late in the season that really makes the show stand out.”

ComicBook’s Simon Gallagher was less positive: “Now that I can publish them, my thoughts on Ironheart are that it tries. A great cast (unevenly used), interesting ideas (frustratingly imbalanced), and very good vfx. It just gets a bit lost in what it wants to be at times, and character motivations are wild. Good twists though.”

Erik Swann of CinemaBlend is “a bit mixed on Ironheart,” also noting the inspiration from 2008’s Iron Man. “There are solid elements, like Dominique Thorne’s performance, the fun supporting cast, awesome visuals and earnest themes. But the writing could be stronger, and some storytelling decisions didn’t hit for me. Not a bad show, but it could be better.”

“What I have to give Ironheart credit for is that it takes some of the best ideals from the Iron Man movies and effectively applies them to Riri Williams,” Swann continues. “In that respect, her characterization really benefits.”

POC Culture called Ironheart “a sincere look at what the life of a teen genius superhero would be like,” describing the series as “fun & exciting but also hard & heavy” and that it has “massive implications for the future of the MCU.”

Joshua Ryan of The Cosmic Circus also leaned positive, writing, “This is a pretty good show. This is a much smaller, more intimate story … that’s driven by characters, and those characters are genuinely interesting.” Screenrant‘s Kevin Erdmann also had praise for the performances despite the series getting off to “a bit of a slower start.”

“Ironheart is pretty solid with good performances from Dominique Thorne and Alden Ehrenreich, but doesn’t quite soar since it really takes a while to get going and the villain isn’t great,” writes CBM‘s Rohan Patel of Ramos’ villain. “Although the finale is well worth the watch.”

CBM‘s Mark Cassidy counters, “I’ve seen all six episodes of Ironheart, and it’s not good. It becomes obvious very quickly why Marvel decided to dump this on D+ 3 eps at a time. Can’t fault the cast, but none of them are given much to work with. Some of the action scenes are passable and the finale is by far the strongest ep, but it’s mostly just tedious to sit through, I’m afraid. I didn’t hate it… because there’s not enough passion behind any of it to make me feel that strongly one way or the other. The very definition of ‘content.'”

Culture Base praises the visual effects but notes, “Ironheart is a decent MCU series saved by a surprisingly strong final episode that is among the best finales of Marvel Television,” adding, “Riri’s character development is a little thin.” Cosmic Wonder‘s Warren Thompson, meanwhile, writes, “Ironheart didn’t work for me. There’s some good moments and cool vfx parts but I was pretty bored through most of it. HOWEVER The ending is pretty epic. Wish the whole show was, but sadly I didn’t like it that much.”

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Critics’ reviews won’t publish until the embargo lifts at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, so it remains to be seen where Ironheart ranks on Rotten Tomatoes. Marvel Studios’ television division has been on a “fresh” streak since season 2 of Loki in 2023, with every series since — What If…?, Echo, X-Men ’97, Agatha All Along, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and Daredevil: Born Again — all receiving high marks from critics.

The outlier is 2023’s Secret Invasion at 53% “rotten,” the lowest for any Marvel Studios-produced TV series. February feature Captain America: Brave New World also received a mixed response, currently sitting at 47% “rotten” on the review aggregator, while May’s Thunderbolts* was better received by critics at 88% “fresh.”

Here’s the official logline: “Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Television’s Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Thorne), a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world, returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka ‘The Hood’ (Ramos).”

The series also stars Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam and Anji White. Ironheart premieres with its first three (of six) episodes tonight, June 24, on Disney+.

The post Marvel’s Ironheart: First Reactions to the New MCU Series Are Mixed appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ryan Coogler and his colleagues didn’t set out to make Ironheart into a prelude to Avengers: Doomsday, but through a happy accident, the titles are thematically aligned. At the red carpet premiere of Ironheart on Monday, Coogler told Deadline that the conflict between tech wiz Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) and magically-empowered vigilante Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) perfectly compliments the collision of sci-fi and fantasy that is Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) It’s also timely to explore these elements, he noted, as the proliferation of artificial intelligence software continues to make headlines. Ironheart premieres on Tuesday, June 24th at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+, and it fits in nicely as the Marvel Cinematic Universe steers toward another big crossover.

“It’s so crazy to be putting this [series] out now, at the time where AI is on the front of everybody’s mind, technological ethics are on the front of everybody’s mind,” Coogler said, “but also — we didn’t know it was going to be Doctor Doom and the Avengers when we first started, but he’s a guy in publishing who’s most famous for fusing technology and magic, so it’s a great sample of things that are to come in probably what’s going to be the biggest movie in Marvel history.”

At the same event, Thorne teased a more personal connection to mysticism for Riri herself. “We definitely see her family, her mother try to kind of welcome her into that in a very rudimentary way and also really spiritual way that she is not at all interested in, so I think it’s a hilarious journey and also a really tempting journey that we see her go on once she realizes the full extent and capability of the magic side of the world,” she said.

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Fans were introduced to the MCU’s version of Riri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where the extent of her tech savvy as a genius inventor was on clear display. From a foundation of tinkering in her garage with her stepfather, she mastered complex engineering and was accepted into MIT, where she began working on her own Iron Man-style power suit, and developed the world’s first Vibranium-detector. Now, Ironheart will take her back to her hometown, Chicago, and surprisingly, that’s where she’ll become more entangled in magical powers like those wielded by Doctor Strange.

As for Avengers: Doomsday, we know surprisingly little about the plot, or even about the MCU’s take on Doctor Doom. We know the story will involve multiverse incursions to bring the Fantastic Four and the X-Men together from different dimensions, but we don’t know where Doom himself comes from, how he has been empowered, and what exactly he wants.

With only a few new MCU releases between now and then, we should expect answers to begin popping up soon. Ironheart premieres on Tuesday, June 24th at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+. Avengers: Doomsday is filming now and is currently scheduled to hit theaters on December 18, 2026.

The post Ryan Coogler Says Ironheart’s Avengers: Doomsday Connections Were Unexpected, but Make Sense appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Close to five years since it was first announced, the MCU’s Ironheart series is finally here, continuing the story of Riri Williams, the upstart genius with big dreams and a habit of getting in trouble. Previously seen kick-starting a war between humans and Namor’s people in Wakanda Forever, Williams (played by Dominique Thorne) is back for a surprising Marvel show with twists, a fresh take on comics lore, and significant echoes of Iron Man’s original MCU story (even if it’s all consciously put in a blender).

Ironheart‘s cast is filled with new and returning characters who originated in Marvel Comics, as well as some completely original characters rounding out Riri’s life. Here’s who they are, which actors play them, and which Marvel characters they adapt.

Riri Williams AKA Ironheart – Dominique Thorne

The star of the show, Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams reappears after her debut live-action appearance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022. After her time in Wakanda, Riri has returned to MIT, but aspires to be her generation’s most gifted and gloried inventor. Her finances limit her, forcing her to take a different path to inventing than Tony Stark.

Parker Robbins AKA The Hood – Anthony Ramos

Hamilton and In The Heights star Anthony Ramos comes to the MCU as Parker Robbins, otherwise known as supervillain The Hood, who (in the comics) uses a stolen magical hood from a defeated Nisanti demon to build a criminal empire. In Ironheart, Parker has aspirations of power and wealth, and assembles a team of talented minions – including Riri – to help him pull off daring heists. The secret of his power comes with a terrible price.

Joe McGillicuddy – Alden Ehrenreich

Most information on Solo and Oppenheimer star Alden Ehrenreich’s character was consciously kept quiet ahead of release. He’s a tech ethicist who crosses paths with Riri, and pretty much anything else would spoil too much. Pre-release rumors long pointed to Joe being a fake name and his identity being a far bigger deal in the show.

Natalie Washington – Lyric Ross

Riri’s best friend, Natalie is killed before the events of Ironheart, leaving Riri devastated. In the comics, she goes on to become N.A.T.A.L.I.E., Riri’s second AI (after Tony Stark), which trailer footage confirmed was also happening in the show. Natalie is played by Lyric Ross, who previously starred in This Is Us.

Cousin John – Manny Montana

Good Girls‘ breakout star Manny Montana plays Parker Robbins’ cousin John, who helps him recruit new members for his Young Lords team. Montana also appeared in Mayans MC and Westworld. In the comics, John’s full name is John King. He accompanies Parker when he takes possession of the demonic hood, and is somewhat bafflingly reimagined as part of Thanos’ Zodiac supervillain group, wears a crab suit, and is renamed Cancer. Comics are weird.

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Every Ironheart Supporting Character From Marvel Comics & Beyond

There’s also a secret character revealed in the second half of the show with a major Marvel footprint who I won’t at all spoil here. And there’s a very brief cameo in the first episode from Letitia Wright’s Shuri (which is almost worthy of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it status. Jim Rash also briefly returns as an MIT professor, after appearing in Captain America: Civil War. There’s also an appearance by a new version of Marvel Comics character Hunter Mason (AKA Hun), who here is just a businessman and target of The Hood, rather than the criminal overlord who faced Spider-Man and the Turtles. And then there’s the supporting cast, who are mostly based on Marvel Comics characters…

The Young Lords (The Hood’s Gang)

• Stuart Clarke/Rampage – Eric André
  • The Young Lords’ tech specialist before Riri and an apparently infamous hacker is played by comedy giant Eric André, best known for The Eric André Show. He’ll next appear in Happy Gilmore 2. Rampage is a supervillain from the comics who clashed with The Champions.
• Slug – Shea Couleé
  • Another hacker, Slug borrows his name from another Marvel supervillain (and bears no resemblance to the original druglord and kingpin who fought Spider-Man). He’s played by former RuPaul’s drag Race star Couleé.
• Clown – Sonia Denis
  • While there’s another mercenary in Marvel Comics called Clown, he’s already appeared in the MCU thanks to Hawkeye. This character – The Hood’s explosives expert – appears to be brand new. She’s played by Birdgirl voice star Sonia Denis.
• Jeri & Roz AKA The Blood Siblings – Zoe Terakes & Shakira Barrera
  • The Blood Siblings are the Young Lords’ muscle, and are gender-swapped, species-swapped new versions of Gh’Ree and R’Hos Blood, the ape-like alien supervillain twins known as the Blood Brothers who faced off with Iron Man originally. They’re played by Zoe Terakes (Talk To Me) and Shakira Barrera (GLOW).

Riri’s Friends & Neighbors

• Ronnie Williams – Anji White
  • Riri’s long-suffering mother, played by Fargo‘s Anji White.
• Gary Williams – LaRoyce Hawkins
  • Riri’s stepfather who she was very close to before his untimely death. He’s played by Chicago PD‘s LaRoyce Hawkins.
• Xavier Washington – Matthew Elam
  • Natalie’s older brother, who struggles with her death, and has grown close to Riri. He’s based on Riri’s neighbor Xavier King who had no blood link to Natalie. Elam was previously seen in The Many Saints of Newark.
• Madeline & Zelma Stanton – Cree Summer & Regan Aliyah
  • Ronnie’s flamboyant friend and her daughter, who may be more than they seem. Madeline is played by veteran voice actor and Abbot Elementary actor Cree Summer, and her daughter Zelma is played by Xo, Kitty‘s Regan Aliyah.
• Landon – Harper Anthony
  • A snarky local street boy who charges Riri for odd jobs. Played by relative newcomer Harper Anthony.

The post Ironheart’s Cast Brings 16 New & Returning Marvel Characters To The MCU appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Dominique Thorne has done a lot of research for her role as Riri Williams in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — especially as she prepares to headline her own series Ironheart. The series premieres on Tuesday on Disney+, and in an interview with ComicBook ahead of time, Thorne listed some of the Marvel Comics she read in preparation for the show. Riri was first introduced in 2016, created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato. Thorne started there, and it sounds like she’s leaning hard on those early appearances where the character is first established. Still, the MCU version of the character has some important differences from her comic counterpart.

“Obviously the comics from Brian Michael Bendis and Eve Ewing were just huge in understanding that father daughter relationship to that we do get glimpses of, and where she got this name from — Ironheart,” Thorne said. “I think that was number one what I walked away from those with — the fact that her father was struck in the heart, gunshot wound to the heart, and that’s why she chose this name, Ironheart. I thought that was insane.”

Williams’ first appearance was in the monthly Invincible Iron Man, and Thorne said that those first few issues were essential to capturing the character’s confidence and her shrewd mind. In that story, Riri recovers a destroyed Iron Man suit and tries to reverse engineer it for herself. She finds that the AI inside the suit has Tony Stark’s persona, and while that doesn’t seem to be the direction the MCU is going, Thorne still enjoyed reading it as a fan.

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“I thought that was pretty cool,” she said. “Between her banter, her with Tony, and of course, there Tony is her AI. I think in that format, you kind of get to see when she chooses to listen to him and when she doesn’t, and also when he’s kind of impressed with [her]. Like, ‘Oh, I didn’t think about that. But yeah, you could do it like that.'”

“That kind of also helped me see [that] she’s definitely keeping people on her toes, and wanting to see if I could take that with me into the telling that we have here,” she said. “Chinaka Hodge is our head writer, and I think I absolutely had room for that.”

As always, it’s nice to hear when the people behind these adaptations take the source material seriously and mine what they can from it, no matter how much the on-screen telling may be changed. Thorne’s performance as Riri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has already garnered praise from fans, and many are expecting the same in Ironheart. The series premieres on Tuesday on Disney+.

The post Ironheart’s Dominique Thorne Reveals What Marvel Comics She Read to Prep for Marvel Series appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Riri Williams is forging her own legacy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced the 19-year-old engineer (played by Dominique Thorne) as the inventor of a vibranium detector — and her own “Iron Man suit” of armor. But unlike her comic book counterpart, who built her first suit of armor as a 15-year-old MIT student in 2016’s Invincible Iron Man #7, Riri isn’t Tony Stark’s protégé in the Disney+ series Ironheart.

In the comics, Riri reverse-engineered Stark’s Mark-41 suit of Iron Man armor and put her own spin on Stark’s tech. The armored Avenger mentored Riri despite his apparent death during Civil War II, downloading his consciousness into an advanced artificial intelligence construct to train Riri.

With Stark as her suit’s A.I., Riri officially took the name Ironheart — a moniker coined by Stark — in honor of her childhood friend Natalie Washington, a victim of gun violence who died after being shot in the heart. Considering Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark died saving the world in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Riri isn’t the heir to the Iron Man armory in Marvel Television’s Ironheart series.

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“Riri is a contemporary of Tony Stark’s. She definitely believes in him and loves the legacy he left for her,” series creator and showrunner Chinaka Hodge tells ComicBook. “But Riri is intent on making her own iconic legacy. She’s not interested in being the heir to Iron Man. She’s interested in being her very own Ironheart.”

“If she were going to be Iron Man, she has a framework and a blueprint,” she adds. “But she was trying to create her own suit, narrative, and trajectory in the MCU. So I feel very, very blessed to help create an iconic character in her own right.”

While Riri herself may not have much connection to Tony Stark besides her Iron Man-inspired armor, Hodge teases that Ironheart has a connection to the original Iron Man, which launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008.

“That’s one of the fun things that happens when you’re in a Marvel [writers’] room. They have a very long institutional memory,” Hodge says, adding that creative executives Zoie Nagelhout (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Kelsey Lew (Daredevil: Born Again) had ideas to tie Ironheart to Iron Man in an unexpected way. “They were like, ‘Here’s some fun things you can play with. Don’t forget this story. ‘What about this storyline?'”

Hodge, who has worked on the Steven Spielberg-produced Amazing Stories and the Mike Flanagan co-created The Midnight Club, is also a “huge fan” of the first Iron Man movie. “Iron Man, Iron Man 2, I saw those movies so many times in theaters,” Hodge says of the two installments helmed by Jon Favreau. “So it was so fun to be able to pull some of what I watched in Marvel and pull it into this show.”

During a recent video message appearance on GMA, former Iron Man actor Downey told Thorne he “couldn’t be happier than to be seeing you bring Riri Williams to life.” Downey, who will next appear as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, added that “Iron Man loves Ironheart.”

Ironheart, starring Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, Anthony Ramos (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) as Parker Robbins/the Hood, Sonia Denis (Birdgirl) as Clown, Zoe Terakes (Talk to Me) and Shakira Barrera (GLOW) as the Blood Siblings, Manny Montana (Good Girls) as John, Shea Couleé (RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars) as Slug, Eric Andrè (The Eric Andre Show) as Stuart Clarke/Rampage, and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story) as Joe McGillicuddy, arrives with a three-episode premiere June 24 on Disney+. A second batch of the season’s final three episodes premieres a week later on July 1.

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The post Ironheart Creator Explains Why Riri Williams Isn’t the MCU’s “Heir to Iron Man” appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Dominique Thorne reprises her role as Riri Williams in her own miniseries Ironheart debuting on Disney+ on Tuesday, and she has clearly plumbed the depths of this fan-favorite character in the process. In an interview with ComicBook ahead of the premiere, Thorne said that she was grateful the series didn’t go back in time for Riri’s origin story, and she felt the character had an equally important journey here, after her Marvel Cinematic Universe introduction in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She explained that this way, we get to explore what is holding Riri back from being the best version of herself as a person and a superhero.

Wakanda Forever introduced Riri and gave fans some basic background on who she is and how she became a superhero, but we asked Thorne what was different about having the spotlight and the title card here. “I think the chance to really do a deep dive into who this girl is on her way to becoming,” she responded. “I was really excited by the fact that we wouldn’t necessarily be going back in time to before — like a prequel to Wakanda in that way — and reflecting on who she was and where she came from. But we’re really just picking up with the person that we got a glimpse of, and going back to find where she’s at in the world and see how she’s doing. I thought that was a nice entry point here.”

“Of course, like many of us learn through life, the only way forward is through,” Thorne went on. “Riri has taught me some things. You kind of have to go back at least a little bit in order to move forward anyway. So I think it’s really cool that we’re starting from where we are, and that in the process, we get to understand the things really affecting this girl’s heart and getting in the way of her being this ‘best version of herself,’ whatever that is, or being the ‘ideal superhero’ that some people might be expecting.”

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Even in the brief time we spent with her on the big screen, it was clear that Riri deserved her own movie or TV show within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Born and raised in Chicago, Riri honed her natural genius intellect by tinkering on cars and other machines alongside her stepfather, and eventually earned her way into MIT. There, she designed and built power armor for herself similar to Iron Man’s suit, as well as the world’s first Vibranium detector.

The miniseries will be centered more in Riri’s world, bringing her into conflict with a fellow superpowered Chicagoan named Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) who has access to mysterious magical powers. The show kicks off on Tuesday, June 24th with a three-episode premiere on Disney+. The other three episodes will drop on Tuesday, July 1st.

The post Ironheart Star Dominique Thorne Teases What’s Holding Riri Williams Back in Marvel Disney+ Series appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ironheart is finally set to premiere as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest Disney+ series, but a significant failure in the show’s buildup has weakened its momentum before the premiere date even arrives. First announced in 2020, Ironheart centers on Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), the genius inventor who first appeared in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the film, Riri’s vibranium detector nearly exposes the underwater nation of Talokan to the surface world, prompting Namor (Tenoch Huerta) to go after her. Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) then bring Riri under Wakanda’s protection, and the talented engineer uses her power suit for the first time. While in Wakanda, Riri gets the chance to improve her initial design, building a new set of armor to wear in the final battle against Talokan. Inspired by Tony Stark/Iron Man’s (Robert Downey Jr.) original technology, Riri establishes herself as a fascinating new MCU character in Wakanda Forever.

Almost three years later, the MCU will at last dial in on Riri’s world following her time in Wakanda. Ironheart is additionally set to introduce new characters such as Parker Robbins/The Hood (Anthony Ramos), and more, with the series being executive produced by Black Panther and Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler. Ironheart has been sitting on the shelf since it completed filming in 2022, while the MCU has prioritized other projects. That may prove to be a huge mistake, given the time that has passed since Riri last appeared. Ironheart‘s arrival has taken way too long, severely hurting the show and the character.

The MCU Has Wasted Riri Williams’ Potential Since Her Debut

Frustratingly, Riri hasn’t even been seen or mentioned in the MCU in the nearly three years since Wakanda Forever. More than 10 projects have been released in theaters or on Disney+ during that timespan, making it easy for fans to forget or stop caring about Riri, while trying to keep up with the MCU’s ever-developing storylines. Worsening matters, Ironheart has seen minimal marketing from Marvel Studios and didn’t even have a trailer before May 14th, just over a month before the show’s premiere. Instead, the MCU has directed the vast majority of its hype toward its July movie release, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, ever since Thunderbolts* hit theaters in May. Of course, films always warrant more extensive marketing, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a highly anticipated MCU installment; however, excluding Ironheart from the excitement of the MCU’s upcoming slate does a major disservice to the talent involved in the show.

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It appears Marvel and Disney don’t have confidence in either Ironheart’s quality or its ability to pull viewers, which is a horrible message to send amid all of the racist online hatred the show has received for having a Black female lead. The least one could ask for is a sound effort to combat the bigotry; there should be room to advertise and generate hype for both Ironheart and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but unfortunately, it seems that Marvel doesn’t deem its next TV series worth the effort.

The MCU made a massive error by continuing to delay Ironheart until 2025. Moreover, a three-episode premiere, when the show is only six episodes long, signals that Marvel is happy to rush Ironheart‘s run. It’s a shame, because despite just one appearance thus far, Riri already stands out as a super interesting character thanks to her inventiveness, sense of humor, and cool armor. Ironheart promises to expand the world around her and develop her more as an individual, but the series likely won’t have the impact it should, due to Marvel’s long delay of its premiere. This situation is yet another misstep in the MCU’s poorly planned release schedule since Avengers: Endgame.

Ironheart‘s Success Is More Crucial for the MCU Than You May Believe

In spite of Ironheart‘s delays and lackluster buildup, the MCU can revitalize the hero’s momentum through the show’s success. If Ironheart compellingly develops Riri as a person and a superhero, it could lead nicely into her all-but-confirmed next appearance in Marvel’s Young Avengers/Champions series. Riri boasts a ton of potential and remains in the early stages of her MCU tenure, so Ironheart has the opportunity to set her on a better path.

The MCU also needs Ironheart to succeed as a means to revive the Tony Stark/Iron Man side of the franchise. Riri is far from a carbon copy of Iron Man, but she’s absolutely worthy of carrying his legacy in the realm of superhero technology. It’s also known that Ironheart will give Riri her own AI companion similar to Iron Man’s J.A.R.V.I.S. (Paul Bettany), likening her even further to the Armored Avenger. The MCU has sorely missed super-powered suits of armor since Iron Man’s death, and Riri’s advanced role in the franchise’s future could fill that void.

Ironheart‘s three-episode premiere will drop on Disney+ on Tuesday, June 24th.

The post The MCU Failed Ironheart Before the Show Even Premiered (But That Could Change) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel Television’s Ironheart pits technology against magic. But Parker Robbins, AKA the Hood (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts‘ Anthony Ramos), leads a squad combining both. A new teaser released ahead of the June 24 premiere of the Disney+ series introduces Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) to the Hood’s gang, which includes pyrotechnics specialist Clown (Birdgirl‘s Sonia Denis); the muscle, Blood Siblings Ros (GLOW‘s Shakira Barrera) and Jerry Blood (Talk to Me‘s Zoe Terakes); knife-wielding “H.R.” John (Good Girls‘ Manny Montana); hacker extraordinaire Slug (RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Shea Couleé); and tech specialist Stuart Clarke (The Eric Andre Show‘s Eric André), who has a moniker that Iron Man comic readers might recognize.

“It’s not Stuart, it’s Rampage,” André’s techie says in the new clip, which you can watch below.

In the comics, Stuart Clarke’s Rampage debuted in the pages of Champions #5 in 1976. Created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Don Heck, the co-creator of Iron Man with Stan Lee, Rampage was described as “the everyman of super-villains” and the first born of the 1970s recession.

Rampage battled the Los Angeles-based team of Hercules, Ghost Rider, Black Widow, and the X-Men’s Angel and Iceman, wearing the exo-skeleton uniform he developed to revolutionize police work. But when Tony Stark’s Los Angeles operation started work on a similar project and received the government contracts that could have saved his failing business, Clarke Futuristic, he donned the lightweight exo-skeleton and went on a rampage.

The inventor-turned-bank robber later formed the Recession Raiders — a pack of armored Rampages — and battled the Avengers Wonder Man and Beast. After his company went bankrupt, Clarke joined Baintronics, Inc., a company founded by Sunset Bain, AKA the underworld armorer Madame Menace, who raided Stark Industries and stole Stark tech. In the 1990s Iron Man comic run, Clarke helped Bain’s technology and munitions firm as it targeted Stark with an imposter War Machine at a time when Jim Rhodes had retired.

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When the Punisher’s armory was depleted during the superhuman civil war, and Clarke escaped from the Raft, Frank Castle tracked him down and had Clarke supply him with an arsenal of high-tech gadgets and weapons as his new “Microchip.” Most recently, Clarke suited up as Rampage again at a time when Doctor Doom became the infamous Iron Man while Stark was incapacitated. Rampage joined the Hood’s gang when Robbins decided to organize a group of villains to take down Doom in his Iron Man armor.

But Rampage isn’t the only Iron Man villain hiding in plain sight. Ironheart‘s Blood Siblings, Ros and Jerry, are a take on the Blood Brothers, R’Hos Blood and Gh’Ree Blood (“Ross” and “Gary”).

First introduced in 1972’s Iron Man #55 by Jim Starlin and Mike Friedrich, the Blood Brothers are symbionically linked — proximity determines their strength. The closer they are to each other, the stronger they become, so Iron Man’s strategy is to separate them when he’s faced the duo in the pages of Iron Man. Part of the Roclite species, the Blood Brothers were originally servants of Thanos and they have thrown down with the likes of Drax the Destroyer and Thing of the Fantastic Four.

Set after the events of 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri — determined to make her mark on the world — returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious Hood.

Marvel’s Ironheart, which also stars Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Matthew Elam, and Anji White, premieres with three episodes June 24 on Disney+. A second batch of episodes drop one week later on July 1.

The post Marvel’s Ironheart Teaser Reveals Eric André’s MCU Role as an Iron Man Villain appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel Studios has unveiled an episode guide for its upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart, not only confirming the titles for all six episodes but also detailing a release strategy that will see the series drop in two three-episode batches. However, a subtle detail within the episode list might catch the attention of Marvel fans: the title for episode five, “Karma’s a Glitch,” features a distinctly red-tinged “M” amidst the all-black text. This stylistic choice seems to be a nod to Marvel’s red demon, Mephisto, which has been rumored to appear in the upcoming series due to the mystical elements teased in Ironheart‘s trailer and the casting of Sacha Baron Cohen in a mysterious role.

Ironheart centers on Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who, following her experiences in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, returns to her hometown of Chicago. There, her self-made advanced suit of armor, inspired by Tony Stark, brings her into direct conflict with Parker Robbins, also known as The Hood (Anthony Ramos). This confrontation is set to be a clash between Riri’s cutting-edge technology and The Hood’s formidable dark magic. In Marvel Comics, The Hood’s powers traditionally stem from a mystical cloak and boots, often linked to the demon Dormammu. However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for retconning characters’ backstory and creating new connections, so it’s not hard to imagine the MCU’s Hood making a pact with Mephisto to gain his powers. This would align perfectly with Cohen’s officially designated “Mystery Man” role, a classic MCU tactic for concealing a major character’s identity, which in this context strongly suggests that he could play Mephisto.

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The first three episodes of Ironheart are titled “Take Me Home,” “Will the Real Natalie Please Stand Up?,” and “We In Danger, Girl.” The episodes of the second batch of the show are named “Bad Magic,” “Karma’s a Glitch,” and “The Past is the Past.”

Mephisto’s Long-Teased MCU Arrival

Mephisto stands as one of Marvel Comics’ most formidable villains, a being of immense power who typically rules a Hell-like dimension and revels in ensnaring the souls of mortals through nefarious pacts. Conceived by the legendary duo Stan Lee and John Buscema, Mephisto made his debut in the pages of Silver Surfer #3 in December 1968, his character drawing clear inspiration from Mephistopheles of the classic Faust legend. Mephisto has been a significant antagonist for many Marvel heroes, including Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange, the Avengers, and notably, Spider-Man, being the architect behind the controversial “One More Day” storyline that erased Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane Watson.

The character has been the subject of intense fan speculation regarding his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut for years, with fans trying to predict when he would appear. While earlier theories did not come to fruition, Mephisto was finally explicitly name-dropped in the MCU during the series Agatha All Along. In the third episode, “Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials,” the character Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) mentions the possibility of another character being “an agent of Mephisto.” Jac Schaeffer, the showrunner for Agatha All Along, confirmed this reference was a deliberate acknowledgment of the long-running fan theories and also stated that Mephisto is significantly “wrapped into Agatha’s storyline” in the source comics. This direct name-drop, the first of its kind in the MCU, lends significant weight to the current Ironheart speculation.

Ironheart is scheduled to premiere its first three episodes on Disney+ on June 24, 2025, with the final three episodes releasing on July 1, 2025. The six-episode series will be the final television series in Phase Five of the MCU.

What are your thoughts on the red “M” and the potential arrival of Mephisto in Ironheart? Let us know in the comments!

The post Ironheart Official Episode Guide Teases the Arrival of One of Marvel’s Best Characters appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to go toe-to-toe with the new DC Universe at the box office this summer when it releases The Fantastic Four: First Steps just two weeks after Superman. It’s going to be a tough battle, as there’s a lot of hype surrounding James Gunn’s latest movie. However, Marvel Studios has an ace in the hole that could help it dominate the conversation for the next couple of weeks: Ironheart. Following Riri Williams, who made her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the show will pit the engineering whiz against magical forces that aren’t looking to make friends.

With the first three episodes of Ironheart set to drop in less than a week, the cast is out promoting the project. Dominique Thorne and Anthony Ramos took their talents to Good Morning America, a stop on every Marvel Studios press tour because ABC is under the Disney umbrella. The good people at GMA are the best in the business, though, so they were ready with a surprise for their guests.

Host Robin Roberts interrupted the conversation to kick it to a video message from Robert Downey Jr., who was wearing a Pinewood Studios hat to promote his upcoming appearance in Avengers: Doomsday. “Miss Thorne, I couldn’t be happier than to see you bringing Riri Williams to life,” he started. “But the Hood has me nervous. Is the hood green? Please tell me Mr. Ramos is not replacing me as Doctor Doom via Parker Robbins.”

After losing focus at the thought of losing his latest gig, Downey Jr. got back on track to deliver one last message to Thorne, saying, “Long story short, Iron Man loves Ironheart” while making a heart with his hands. The support clearly means the world to the Ironheart star, especially because she has a long history with Tony Stark.

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Dominique Thorne and Robert Downey Jr. Have a Strong Connection

Thorne spent the next few minutes of her appearance on GMA talking about her appreciation for both Iron Man and Downey Jr. “Ironheart loves Iron Man, too,” she said. “You know, [Downey Jr.] has been so, so supportive. Like, it’s really been amazing because I do come from a family that loves the MCU. My baby brother was born just a few months before Iron Man came out, and so it’s been a family affair ever since then. We have pictures of my baby brother being Iron Man and me being Iron Girl for Halloween. This goes so deep. It goes so deep.”

Having Downey Jr. in her corner isn’t new for Thorne, though, because the actor called her after Ironheart finished filming to pass the torch. “Shortly after we finished filming in Chicago is when I got the first phone call from him, and he has been so sweet, like, through and through,” she explained. “So, the support it means so much. It really does.”

With all the love going around, it’s a shame that Iron Man and Ironheart are unlikely to ever meet in the MCU. However, that doesn’t mean Thorne will never get to share the screen with Downey Jr. The actress was recently asked about a potential appearance in Doomsday and didn’t shoot down the idea, meaning there’s a chance that Ironheart uses her big brain to ensure that Tony Stark’s legacy doesn’t take a hit because of Doctor Doom.

Ironheart’s first three episodes will release on Disney+ on June 24, 2025.

Are you happy to see Robert Downey Jr. show love for Ironheart? What are you most looking forward to seeing in the Disney+ show? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Watch Robert Downey Jr. Make Surprise Ironheart Appearance (& Tease His Doom Replacement?) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel Studios’ upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart has offered fans their first glimpse at RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Shea Couleé as the character Slug, who is set to make their MCU debut. The initial look and new details about Slug’s role were shared by Entertainment Weekly, revealing Couleé’s character as a “really fierce hacker” who also promises, “You will be seeing the diva in some looks.” Slug will be an ally to a group engaging in vigilante justice, aiming to rebalance societal inequities in the show’s version of Chicago. This introduction positions Slug as a key operative with a distinct style and a morally ambiguous mission within the series, hinting at the complex dynamics Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) will navigate.

“I help a group of urban Robin Hoods to take away from the privileged and help give back to the community,” Couleé explained about Slug’s motivations. “I’m there to help out on all the missions that go down, trying to shift this power dynamic in this version of Chicago we see in the show.” Describing Slug’s specific contributions, Couleé added, “I’m more of the… I’ll drive the getaway car, hang out in the van on my cute little laptop with my fierce nails and help you hack these mainframes.”

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The necessity for Slug’s hidden persona stems from a past they are trying to keep buried. “From my understanding, this version of Slug they’re presenting is someone who’s being referred to as a code name,” Couleé revealed. “I don’t want to give too much of their backstory away. They need an alternative code name to go by because there could or could not be some people looking for them. They’ve kind of left drag. They are a drag queen, but it’s kind of a past life. You see them in drag, but it’s kind of in the context of flashbacks before where they are now, because they’re trying to be on the low-low!”

Everything We Know About Ironheart

The Disney+ series Ironheart will place Riri Williams center stage, following her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Audiences will see the brilliant MIT student and inventor, who crafted her own advanced suit of armor inspired by Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.), return to her hometown of Chicago. Her homecoming, however, is far from peaceful, as she becomes entangled with Parker Robbins, also known as The Hood (Anthony Ramos). This encounter pulls Riri into a dangerous conflict where advanced technology clashes with dark magic, forcing her to confront new threats and further define her path as a hero. The series aims to provide a deeper exploration of Riri’s background and the events that shaped her, particularly how her experiences in Wakanda influence her evolution as Ironheart. Chinaka Hodge serves as the head writer for the show, which is also executive produced by Ryan Coogler through his Proximity Media banner. The series is directed by Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes.

Beyond Riri and The Hood, the series will feature Anji White as Riri’s mother, Ronnie Williams, likely offering insight into Riri’s upbringing. Jim Rash is also set to reprise his role as the Dean of MIT, linking Riri’s past academic life to her current adventures. A significant point of fan speculation revolves around Sacha Baron Cohen, who has been cast in an undisclosed role. Given that The Hood in Marvel Comics derives his powers from a demonic entity, many theorize Cohen could be bringing the long-anticipated character Mephisto to the MCU, potentially as the source of The Hood’s mystical abilities.

Ironheart is scheduled to premiere its first three episodes on Disney+ on June 24, 2025. The series will consist of six episodes and is slated to be the final television series in Phase Five of the MCU.

What are your thoughts on Slug’s character in Ironheart? Let us know in the comments!

The post Ironheart Reveals First Look at Character With Secret Identity Making MCU Debut appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The legend returns! Or, rather, the Marvel digital series Marvel Studios: Legends has returned with new episodes on YouTube. The short docu-series provided digestible episodes that each spotlighted a different MCU character or object with footage from their most vital moments throughout the franchise’s 36 movies and 13 TV series. Marvel Studios: Legends began on Disney+, then transitioned to YouTube, presumably to provide the widest audience possible should they be in need of an explainer or refresher on MCU figures. The series went dark after a 21-episode second season covered Phase Five … until last week. After two years of nothing, Marvel Studios: Legends just released a new episode profiling Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne).

Past episodes have chronicled nearly every corner of the MCU, ranging from Ant-Man, the Tesseract, Scarlet Witch, Valkyrie, and the TVA before turning its focus on Riri Williams, aka Ironheart. The MIT student turned hero made her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022. Her eponymous Disney+ series premieres later this month on the platform. The latest episode of Marvel Studios: Legends profiles the hero and her past connection to Wakanda, as well as teases a few sneak peeks at the upcoming series. While some fans have criticized Marvel Studios: Legends as a derivative clip show, the series provides bite-sized but thorough recaps on MCU figures in a multiverse that is getting more dense and diverse by the minute.

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Marvel Studios’ Legends Previews Riri’s Journey in Ironheart

In the latest Marvel Studios: Legends, the episode recaps Riri’s involvement with the Wakandans in Wakanda Forever — how she inadvertently made an enemy of Namor (Tenoch Huerta) with the vibranium detector she created, how Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) sacrificed her life to save Riri, and the final battle where she aided the Wakandans in defeating Namor and the Talokanil. The refresher on Riri, a sharp, witty MIT student, reminds us all that her heart is as big as her brain as we prepare for her solo series.

The Marvel Studios: Legends episode on Riri also gives us a glimpse of Ironheart. We see Riri’s new adversary, Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) also known as the Marvel villian the Hood. Once a low-level criminal, Robbins gained his superpowers by defeating a Nisanti demon and robbing it of its hood and boots. From there, the Hood becomes a well-known figure in the criminal underworld of New York City and forms his own crime syndicate. However, it’s difficult to tell from his brief appearance in both the Marvel Studios: Legends series as well as the Ironheart trailers just how well established Robbins is of a criminal mastermind when Riri encounters him.

Sure, Marvel Studios: Legends may be an unnecessary primer for die-hard Marvel fans. However, the series certainly accomplishes the goal of getting everyone hyped for the upcoming series.

Watch Riri’s Episode of Marvel Studios’ Legends Here:

The six-episode Ironheart television event premieres on June 24th on Disney+.

The post 2 Years Later, Marvel Studios Just Released New Episode of Series Fans Thought Was Over appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Dominique Thorne has opened up about what might be next for Riri Williams after her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming Ironheart series. Thorne debuted in the MCU in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as a young genius and Iron Man-inspired hero, Ironheart. This set her up to headline the new Disney+ series, which is scheduled to premiere on June 24, 2025, but Thorne is less certain about where her character might go next, or even if she’ll be given a second season in the MCU’s future. She opened up about Riri’s potential to return during an interview ahead of Ironheart‘s debut.

“Actually don’t think I can even say that without spoiling everything,” explains Thorne when asked by The Direct what she’d like to explore in Ironheart season 2. “I would like to see her explore the full range of other options presented to her in season 1… I think this time around, once again, her mind is opened about what actually exists in the world, realizing that it’s much bigger than what she thought even in her hometown, that things are so much bigger and there’s a lot more going on than she ever cared to know or to understand.”

Thorne’s comments suggest Riri Williams’ evolution in Ironheart will be hugely transformative. “So now that she does know what’s out there, what does she choose?” The question posed by Thorne as she continues, “When she makes a choice, we know that she’ll commit. And so what does that look like for her to lean into the total left field option of what we would expect from her? I think that would be pretty cool.” Despite her hopes for Riri to explore bold and unexpected new avenues in the future, Ironheart season 2 isn’t yet a certainty. When asked whether she’s heard any news regarding the development of Ironheart season 2, Thorne simply replied, “No. No. Not yet.”

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Ironheart’s first instalment was the victim of major delays in production and delivery. Speculation suggests Marvel Studios is not confident that Ironheart will perform well, considering the series is set to release in two parts of three episodes, rather than an episode per week, as previous Disney+ shows have released. This perhaps makes the development of a second season unlikely, though Marvel’s recent shift in its television production might positively impact Ironheart.

Marvel Television’s apparent move towards developing more multiple-season shows means Ironheart could have a bright future in the MCU. Of course, it’s perhaps more likely Riri Williams will find herself returning to the big screen after her Disney+ sees her battle Parker Robbins’ Hood (Anthony Ramos) and, if rumors are to be believed, even Mephisto. Riri Williams’ Ironheart would be a fantastic addition to Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, perhaps as the latest member of the MCU’s upcoming Young Avengers team, but her continuation in the MCU may rely on the success of her upcoming adventure on Disney+.

Do you want to see Riri Williams return in Ironheart season 2 after her upcoming return to the MCU? Let us know in the comments!

The post Ironheart Star Has a Disappointing Update About the MCU Series’ Future appeared first on ComicBook.com.

WARNING: There are potential spoilers ahead for Ironheart! Riri Williams is living up to Iron Man’s legacy more than ever in the new trailer for Ironheart released on Monday. It gives us some new looks at Riri’s (Dominique Thorne) suit, which is clearly up for some modifications after her introduction in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. However, The real upgrade for the hero comes at the very end, when we seem to see her creating her own onboard AI assistant. Unlike J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y., and E.D.I.T.H., this AI takes on a physical form, apparently as a hologram, and she is played by Lyric Ross.

As expected, the second trailer for Ironheart shows ups plenty of action, as well as the intrigue this burgeoning superhero will get entangled in. However, one of the most fascinating new additions comes at the very end as Riri sits in front of her computer, apparently asleep, with contacts attached to her temples. At that point, a friendly hologram tries to wake Riri up, declaring herself “your greatest creation yet.”

Not only is this an interesting revelation for Ironheart’s capabilities, it’s a tantalizing hint at the story coming up. Official press releases say that Ross will play Riri’s best friend, Natalie Washington, but here she appears to be an AI projection. It appears Riri didn’t make her that way on purpose, and it’s unclear what that means for the real Natalie. However, the end-result is a virtual assistant with attitude that the audience can get behind.

[RELATED: Ironheart Star Explains How Tony Stark’s Death Affects Riri Williams (& New MCU Villain The Hood)]

If this does turn out to be Ironheart’s AI assistant, it’s another brilliant way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to recapture one of its most beloved dynamics. Tony Stark’s (Roberty Downey Jr.) dialogue exchanges with his AI programs were essential to driving those movies forward in a natural way, and the same could happen here. We eventually learned that Jarvis was a butler who helped raise Tony when he was young, though the connection here between Riri and Natalie is very different.

Thanks to Wakanda Forever, we don’t need a full-on origin story for Ironheart, but it’s exciting to see that this show will still build on her personal connections and give her a reason to be a hero that MCU fans can root for. Ironheart premieres on June 24th on Disney+, with three episodes to start and three more on the way. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is streaming there now for those that want to get caught up.

The post Ironheart Trailer Reveals a Major Iron Man Upgrade to the MCU Hero appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ironheart star Dominique Thorne explains how the impact of Tony Stark’s death will be felt in the upcoming MCU TV series. Speaking with SFX magazine, Thorne opened up about the character dynamics at the heart of the show, as her Riri Williams will cross paths with a new antagonist in the form of The Hood. The actress explained that coming off the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri is in a unique position to figure out a way to use her abilities to help the world. Understanding her shortcomings, the prospect of working with the Hood becomes very intriguing for Riri.

“We know that The Hood couldn’t be farther apart from Riri in terms of her being a very logical ‘show me the facts and run me the numbers’ person,” Thorne said. “Coming off the heels of this super vulnerable experience, with her having been imprisoned, that vulnerability presents a very tender opportunity for Riri to make a real and impactful decision about how her genius will impact the world around her. How will it affect the people that she loves? How can it affect her own goals and ambitions?”

She continued, “There’s a clear understanding that she’s not Tony Stark. She does not have a billion dollars at her disposal. She does not have the resources… she doesn’t have the mentorship, or the guidance. And so what does it look like for someone like The Hood to enter her sphere now, where she is vulnerable and reflecting? It does set the stage for a very interesting journey ahead to see the people who pop up as she’s working to get those answers and what the scale of their influence can be, if any?”

[RELATED – Ironheart: Marvel Reveals New Look at an Iconic New Avengers Villain’s MCU Debut]

Executive produced by Ryan Coogler, Ironheart is set to have a three-episode premiere in late June. The miniseries runs for six episodes. It marks Riri Williams’ second appearance in the franchise, following the character’s debut in Wakanda Forever. That movie established Riri’s penchant for designing Iron Man-style suits, basing her work off of old Stark blueprints.

With a little over a month to go until Ironheart arrives, Marvel Studios finally unveiled a trailer earlier this month, setting up the general outline of the story. The footage underlines Riri’s desire to create something “iconic,” with The Hood offering her the resources necessary to accomplish that goal. Based on the preview, Ironheart will deal with moral ambiguity as people close to Riri start to question The Hood’s true intentions.

In the comics, Tony Stark is the one who helps Riri on her journey to becoming a superhero. While Thorne has Robert Downey Jr.’s endorsement, her version of Riri won’t be fortunate enough to get an assist from Iron Man himself. By the time Ironheart picks up, Stark has been dead for many years, so Riri is essentially trying to wing it on her own as she follows Stark’s footsteps. It’s easy to see why she’d be susceptible to The Hood’s methods. Without having Stark there as a mentor figure to guide her, Riri would willingly partner up with anyone offering to make her dreams a reality. It seems like The Hood sees Riri as an easy target to exploit given her vulnerable state of mind and desire to serve the greater good.

By the time Ironheart ends, Riri will likely realize the error of her ways and look to stop The Hood, but it should still be interesting to watch the story play out, setting Riri on the course to become the hero she’s destined to be. Perhaps the show will lay the foundation for her return at a later point in the MCU. Thorne is not one of the many actors confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday so far, but Marvel is planning to reveal more casting announcements at a later date. Maybe once Ironheart is properly established in the franchise, the studio will be open about how she fits into the Multiverse Saga moving forward.

The post Ironheart Star Explains How Tony Stark’s Death Affects Riri Williams (& New MCU Villain The Hood) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

UPDATE: A Marvel Studios spokesperson tells ComicBook that Deodato’s payment was pending and that an agreement has been reached. The original story continues below.

“Every dream has a cost,” reads the tagline on the new poster for Ironheart, which Marvel Studios debuted alongside the trailer for the Disney+ series. But that cost doesn’t include compensation owed to artist and Ironheart co-creator Mike Deodato, who introduced the character with writer Brian Michael Bendis in the Invincible Iron Man comic run in 2016. In response to the Ironheart trailer uploaded by Marvel, Deodato expressed dissatisfaction in regards to creator royalties and suggested he hasn’t been fairly compensated for the Ryan Coogler-executive produced series.

“As a comic book artist, there are few feelings more satisfying than seeing a character you helped create come to life on the big screen,” Deodato wrote on Instagram, adding he’s “thrilled” with the inclusion of “a moment I originally brought to life on the comics page,” referencing a sequence in which Riri Williams — wearing her Ironheart Armor Model 1 — stops a speeding truck in the pages of Invincible Iron Man #11.

RELATED: Marvel Reveals an Iconic New Avengers Villain’s MCU Debut in Ironheart

“Riri Williams, a character I co-created with the amazing Brian Michael Bendis, is finally taking flight, and the result is stunning. It’s a powerful reminder of the magic that happens when imagination meets real-world production,” Deodato continued. “But as much as I celebrate this moment, there’s a bitter edge to it. You see, while Marvel has built an empire worth billions on the backs of its creators, the compensation model hasn’t kept pace with the success. I’m in a good place, one of the best-paid creators in the industry, and I truly appreciate that. But it’s not about me.”

“It’s about the principle. When a character you poured your heart into helps fuel the engine of a multi-billion-dollar machine, a small share of that success feels only fair,” he added of the character who made her live-action debut in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which grossed $859 million at the global box office. “Creators don’t ask for billions or even millions. Just a nod, a bit of recognition, and a share that reflects the contribution they’ve made. It’s not just good ethics — it’s good business.”

The former Marvel’s New Avengers and Dark Avengers artist went on to note that such pay discrepancies cause creators to “naturally drift toward projects where they retain control, where their work can lead to lasting financial security. That’s why more and more of us are focusing on creator-owned projects, where we can truly share in the success of our creations.”

In 2020, Deodato and writer J. Michael Straczynski (Amazing Spider-Man) launched The Resistance, a creator-owned title for the independent comic book publisher AWA Studios (named for “Artists, Writers & Artisans”).

“I’m not bitter, just realistic. I’m proud to see Riri come to life, and I’ll always appreciate the fans who make that possible,” Deodato concluded. “But I hope one day, the companies that thrive on our imaginations will truly recognize the value we bring to the table. Marvel, you can do better. And I genuinely hope you will, for the sake of the characters we love and the creators who bring them to life.”

Deodato is the latest artist to publicly speak out about Marvel’s compensation rates. In 2021, Captain America comic writer Ed Brubaker, who resurrected Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier, said he “made more on SAG residuals” from his cameo in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie than he “made on creating the character” who co-led The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series on Disney+. In 2022, America Chavez co-creator Joe Casey said he was offered, and rejected, a “pittance” for the character’s MCU debut in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

That same year, Devin Grayson — the co-creator of the Yelena Belova Black Widow, who appeared in the Black Widow movie and the Hawkeye series before leading this year’s Thunderbolts* — told The Hollywood Reporter that she signed a “Special Character Agreement” contract in 2007 entitling her to $25,000 for a theatrical film appearance. Grayson ultimately received $5,000, and learned that the document contained language giving Marvel “broad discretion to dramatically lower payments,” with THR reporting that the initial $25,000 was to be split between writer and artist (J.G. Jones), and that the initial sum was whittled down to share with other creators under Special Character Agreements.

Ironheart — which stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart and Anthony Ramos as the New Avengers villain Parker Robbins/the Hood, with Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam and Anji White — debuts on Disney+ with a three-episode series premiere on June 24.

The post Ironheart Co-Creator Claims He Wasn’t Fairly Compensated for Marvel’s New Disney+ Series appeared first on ComicBook.com.

We’re only halfway through the month of May, but Disney+ is already looking ahead to the start June. On Thursday, Disney+ revealed its monthly newsletter, announcing June’s slate of new movies, TV shows, and specials. Surprisingly, we’re in for a very light month ahead on Disney+ when it comes to the number of new additions, with just a handful of titles set to arrive over the course of four weeks.

The biggest of these new arrivals is Marvel Studios’ Ironheart, the standalone series about Riri Williams that spins out of the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. That series is set to debut on June 24th with a three-episode premiere.

Also arriving on Disney+ in June are brand new episodes of Phineas and Ferb, as well as a taping of the Frozen musical on Broadway. You can check out the full lineup of Disney’s June streaming titles below.

[RELATED: Brand New PAW Patrol Movie Just Started Streaming]

Wednesday, June 4th

Pupstruction (S2, 6 episodes)

Friday, June 6th

Phineas and Ferb (Season 5) – First 10 Episodes
The new season of Disney Branded Television’s Phineas and Ferb will follow the inventive stepbrothers as they tackle another 104 days of summer. Candace is more determined than ever to finally bust her little brothers while their pet platypus, Perry, continues to lead a double life as the suave Agent P — whose sole mission is to thwart Dr. Doofenshmirtz from taking over the Tristate area.

Sunday, June 8th

Ocean with David Attenborough – Premiere
David Attenborough draws on a lifetime of experience to reveal Earth’s most spectacular underwater habitats, showing that we’re in the greatest age of Ocean discovery and highlighting its vital importance. While exposing the Ocean’s biggest challenges, Attenborough’s message is one of hope: the opportunity for marine life recovery on an unprecedented scale is within reach.

Tuesday, June 17th

SALLY – Premiere
Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure, she carried a secret. Revealing the romance and sacrifices of their 27 years together, Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, tells the full story of this complicated and iconic astronaut for the first time. SALLY is directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Cristina Costantini.

Friday, June 20th

Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical – Premiere
When Queen Elsa’s hidden powers plunge Arendelle into an eternal winter, her sister Anna sets out to find her and save the kingdom. As the storm rages on, both sisters must learn only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. This is the story you know and love as you’ve never seen it before.

Tuesday, June 24th

Ironheart – Three Episode Premiere at 6pm PT
Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Television’s Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne)—a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka “The Hood” (Anthony Ramos). First three episodes launch exclusively on Disney+ on June 24, 2025.

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After much delay, Marvel has finally released the first trailer for Ironheart. The delay we’re referring to is the small amount of time between the release of Ironheart‘s trailer and when Ironheart debuts on Disney+. Marvel typically likes to reveal trailers months before a project is released, but this time we only have a little over a month from trailer to Ironheart‘s three-episode premiere. Nevertheless, Ironheart is coming down the pike on June 24th, and its trailer provides a sneak peek at what fans have to look forward to from the Dominique Thorne project.

The big surprise to come out of the Ironheart trailer is our official look at Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins, aka The Hood. The character will seemingly be the central villain in Ironheart, pitting the technology-minded Riri Williams against a supernatural threat. In the comics, The Hood gains mystical powers after obtaining a possessed cloak. The contrast between science and magic will be on display, as well as Ironheart working to establish herself as a hero.

Dominique Thorne made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Riri Williams in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato Jr., Riri Williams is an MIT student who assembles her own Iron Man armor in her dorm room. She eventually meets Tony Stark, who becomes a mentor to Riri. After suiting up as Iron Man, Riri eventually takes on a mantle of her own as Ironheart.

[RELATED: Ironheart’s New Look at Armor Revealed as Robert Downey Jr. Offers Key Endorsement]

Ironheart will be the second live-action Marvel show to premiere on Disney+ this year, following Daredevil: Born Again. Joining Ironheart later this year will be Wonder Man, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams/Wonder Man. Ironheart was developed before Marvel Studios decided to scale back its output, so it will be interesting to see what the reception to the series will be from critics and the general audience.

Footage from Ironheart has revealed some of the various armors that Riri Williams will wear. Ironheart’s comics origin involves reverse-engineering her own Iron Man armor. Keep in mind she did all this in her tiny dorm room on the campus of M.I.T. After several iterations and tinkering with her suit, Ironheart eventually settles on a slimmed-down version of armor similar to Iron Man. She even moves from the trademark red-and-gold color scheme to something of her own choosing. Something we’ve noticed from Ironheart’s armors in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is how they’ve kept their bulkier frame. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But there will be some evolution taking place.

Ironheart premieres with a three-episode premiere June 24th on Disney+.

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“Anyone who’s ever accomplished anything iconic in life has had to do some questionable things to get it done.” So said Anthony Ramos‘ Parker Robbins in a Marvel Studios sizzle reel revealing a glimpse at the Transformers and Twisters star as the red-clad Hood, villain of the upcoming Ironheart. After a six-month wait, Marvel released a new look at the Ryan Coogler-executive produced Disney+ series, which pits Dominique Thorne‘s Riri Williams and her tech against the Hood’s magic.

“I want to build something undeniable,” Thorne’s Riri says in the video, below. “Something iconic.” Enter Robbins. “Riri, I see you,” Robbins tells the genius inventor from beneath his iconic red hood, “waiting to be acknowledged for your greatness.”

RELATED: Marvel’s New Iron Man Animated Series Casts Toy Story & SNL Stars as Avengers Villains

Set after the events of 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ironheart follows the titular young genius as she returns to her hometown of Chicago determined to make her mark on the world — the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins, a.k.a. “the Hood.”

Co-created by writer Brian K. Vaughn (Marvel’s Runaways) and artist Kyle Hotz, Robbins debuted in 2002’s The Hood #1. The explicit-rated Marvel MAX series introduced Robbins as an underachieving, small-time hood who gained magic abilities from the cloak he stole off the corpse of the demonic Nisanti.

As the supernatural supervillain the Hood, Robbins battled the likes of the New Avengers and Doctor Strange as he took over the costumed criminal underworld as the Kingpin of Crime. During Dark Reign, Hood joined H.A.M.M.E.R. Director Norman Osborn’s Cabal, which included Namor, Emma Frost, Loki, and Doctor Doom.

The Hood was a recurring foe in the back half of Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers run that assembled a more street-level Avengers team, particularly in the Dark Reign arc that ran through New Avengers #50-55.

“A lot of people think that [Riri] is a successor to the Iron Man legacy, but in the comic book, Riri and Tony [Stark] had a friendship,” Coogler says in the featurette, referring to her debut in the Bendis-penned Invincible Iron Man run in 2016. “He was advising her, and eventually, she got her own identity as Ironheart. It was really exciting for me bringing that character into the MCU in Wakanda Forever.”

Adds executive producer Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television and Animation at Marvel Studios, “The story of Ironheart is not a story about the mantle of Iron Man getting passed. If anything, it’s the opposite.” According to executive producer Zoie Nagelhout, Ironheart is “really about her proving herself and achieving her own legacy.”

Ironheart — also starring Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam, and Anji White — arrives on Disney+ with a three-episode premiere on June 24. The six-episode season will then drop another three episodes on July 1.

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The general mentality that has been surrounding the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the past few years is that it’s possibly run its course. At the very least, at this point, it’s retaining fans more than it’s attracting new ones. As Sinners has proved, audiences are currently hungry for more original fare, as opposed to an adaptation of existing material that is also part of an ever-expanding cinematic universe where you often need to watch at least one TV show and one other movie to understand what’s happening in this movie. Thunderbolts*, while solid overall and a lot of fun, is an example of this.

When it comes to Thunderbolts*, you need to have seen The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Black Widow, and that’s not even all. It’s tough to attract new people when not only is that the case, but also the general aura surrounding the IP as a whole has been dwindling. But was Phase 5 (which concludes with the Disney+ series Ironheart) an improvement over Phase 4, when this negative reputation started to build? Let’s dive in.

Phase 4 Highlights and Lowlights

Phase 4 was weaker than the three that preceded it, without a doubt. The main issue was blindingly clear: the MCU was stretching itself too thin. Eight series, two specials, and seven movies from January 2021 to November 2022? That’s simply too much.

Even the devoted were bound to either miss a project or deem it not quite worth watching. Without a doubt, they were bound to not find watching all of these things on day one necessary. Something can’t feel like an event if there’s no space in between projects to build up anticipation for the audience.

But, of those 17 total projects, which were worthwhile additions to the universe that contains 2008’s Iron Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Endgame? Let’s break it up into three categories of quality for the sake of simplicity: success, middling, and failure. Mind you, this is in terms of how audiences as a whole tended to feel about the projects, not so much how we feel about them.

[RELATED: 10 Captain America Movie Mistakes You’ll Never Be Able to Unsee]

Let’s kick off covering the success column and start with the Disney+ series. WandaVision is without a doubt in the success column. The same applies to Loki Season 1 and Hawkeye (low-key one of the best MCU projects to date). Also in the success columns are the films Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Now let’s look at the middling column. Most would agree that both specials, Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, fit there. They’re fun, but not exactly integral to appreciating the MCU as a whole. The Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel’s What If…? Season 1, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel also fit there as do the movies Black Widow and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

That means that the failure column consists of the Disney+ show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and the movies Eternals and Thor: Love and Thunder. Now, let’s attribute everything a points value. Successes are three, middling projects are two, and failures are one. In total that’s 37 points. Divide that by 17 (again, the total number of projects in the Phase) and you get 2.18. Now let’s move on to Phase 5.

Phase 5 Highlights and Lowlights

Phase 5 paced things out a bit better, but still with not quite enough space between movies or shows to make them feel like events. From February 2023 (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) to May 2025 (Thunderbolts*), there have been 14 MCU projects. As of right now, Ironheart has not hit TVs yet, so we’ll call Phase 5 at 14 projects, as opposed to the 15 it will soon be.

When it comes to the success column, several Disney+ shows once again made the cut. There was Loki‘s second season and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and some might argue Agatha All Along was a success, but it was still a step down from WandaVision. As for movies, there was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

In the middling category, we have Season 2 and Season 3 of Marvel’s What If…?, Echo, the aforementioned Agatha All Along, and Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again. This is where we also find Thunderbolts*.

As for outright failures, we have Secret Invasion and the movies Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (which set the wheels in motion for something that would never happen), The Marvels, and Captain America: Brave New World. This gives Phase 5 a total of 28 points. Divide that by 14 and you get a score of 2.0.

Naturally, everything’s subjective. Some people like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law the same way some people didn’t care for Deadpool & Wolverine. But, if you’re looking at things in terms of average perception, Phase 5 was actually a small step down from Phase 4.

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The latest official look at Dominique Thorne suited up in her advanced armor for the upcoming Disney+ series, Ironheart, has been unveiled by Empire magazine, giving fans a glimpse of Riri Williams’ formidable creation. This reveal offers a close-up image of the new suit Riri will don in her solo outing, showcasing a sleek and robust design that builds upon her initial introduction in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Alongside this exciting visual, Thorne has revealed she has received the personal endorsement of Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr. This blessing from the original Iron Man actor carries significant weight, signaling a passing of the torch of sorts and offering a decisive vote of confidence for the MCU’s next armored Avenger as she prepares to step into the spotlight.

“Robert Downey Jr. and I spoke just after we wrapped, and he shared some very lovely words about my journey,” Thorne remembered. “He told me how excited he was and that he’s rooting for it, too. I literally got two thumbs up. It’s really reassuring to know you’re not embarrassing Iron Man.” This stamp of approval from Downey Jr. is a symbolic anointment for a character who, in many ways, is set to carry forward the legacy of technological heroism that Iron Man established.

[RELATED: Ironheart’s New MCU Armor Is A Major Upgrade, And It Keeps Her Unique]

Thorne also elaborated on the fundamental differences between Riri Williams and her predecessor, highlighting Riri’s distinct path to becoming a hero. “She’s dumpster-diving, whereas Tony Stark [was] this bajillionaire,” Thorne explained. Unlike Stark, who had virtually limitless resources, Riri’s genius is often fueled by necessity and her ability to innovate with whatever materials she can find. According to Thorne, Riri’s experiences in Wakanda have also clearly left a lasting mark. After being sought out for her genius and witnessing the advanced technology of the hidden nation, Riri’s potential has only expanded. “What she’s able to accomplish is remarkable,” Thorne teased, hinting at the level of innovation viewers can expect from Riri in the upcoming series.

Everything We Know About Marvel’s Ironheart Series

Marvel Studios’ Ironheart is set to delve deeper into the story of Riri Williams, the brilliant young inventor who audiences first met in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The series will follow Riri as she returns from MIT to her hometown of Chicago, where her unique approach to building iron suits and her relentless pursuit of innovation will lead her into a dangerous confrontation that pits advanced technology against dark magic. The official synopsis reveals Riri will become entangled with the enigmatic Parker Robbins, also known as The Hood (Anthony Ramos), a character who, in the comics, gains mystical abilities from a demonic cloak and boots. This central conflict suggests Ironheart will explore uncharted territory for an armor-based hero, forcing Riri to adapt her scientific understanding to face threats that defy conventional explanation.

The series boasts an impressive cast alongside Thorne and Ramos. Lyric Ross (This Is Us) plays Natalie Washington, Riri’s best friend. Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story) is cast as Joe McGillicuddy, with Manny Montana (Good Girls) as Cousin John, and Anji White as Riri’s mother, Ronnie Williams. Other cast members include Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington, Shea Couleé (reportedly as the villain Slug), Zoe Terakes, Regan Aliyah, Shakira Barrera, Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola, Sonia Denis, Paul Calderón, and Cree Summer. In a fun nod to wider MCU continuity, Jim Rash will reprise his role as the MIT Dean he first played in Captain America: Civil War. The series is expected to explore themes of legacy, genius, and the responsibility that comes with power, all while Riri forges her own identity as Ironheart.

Ironheart comes to Disney+ on June 24th.

What are you most excited to see in the Ironheart series? Let us know in the comments!

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New images from Marvel Studios’ upcoming TV series Ironheart showcases Riri Williams’ upgraded Iron Man suit in action. Though there isn’t much context, it looks like these photos could be from a sequence where Riri tests her new armor. In the first image, she appears to have a somewhat nervous expression, almost as if she’s unsure how things are going to go. Later on in the gallery, Riri takes off and is seen flying through the air. In the final image, she is soaring above cars positioned along the street.

Aesthetically, Riri’s armor is different from the suit she used in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. When one looks closely, there are traces of blue and red paint, but it does not appear to be as colorful overall as that previous version. Check out the images in the space below:

Ironheart is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in June. The story follows Riri as she returns to her hometown of Chicago; star Dominique Thorne has said the show explores Riri’s roots and sees her figure out how she’s going to use her knowledge and skills to help her community. The cast also features Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins/The Hood, whose backstory has been changed for Ironheart. In the comics, Parker is from New York, but in the show he’s from Chicago like Riri.

[RELATED – Ranking Every Marvel Studios Series on Disney+ (Including Agatha All Along)]

While Marvel hasn’t fully kicked off a proper Ironheart marketing campaign yet, it has provided fans with glimpses over the past several months. Looks at Riri suited up have been featured in special trailers teasing Marvel’s 2025 output and Disney+’s slate for this year.

Similar to those earlier looks in the Disney+ trailers, these images don’t reveal much, but it’s still exciting to get another taste of Riri’s update in action. Giving a character a new costume isn’t anything new for comic book adaptations (it’s an easy merchandising opportunity), but it seems like there are storytelling reasons for Riri’s upgrade. In the limited Ironheart footage that’s been revealed, Riri says she wants to “build something undeniable.” In her pursuit of that goal, she likely feels it’s necessary to design a new suit of armor, forging her own path while using Iron Man and War Machine as a template to build off of.

With only a few months left until the show’s premiere, Marvel should give audiences a proper look at Ironheart in the near future. Daredevil: Born Again is in full swing, so the studio may opt to wait until that show is over (the finale airs in mid-April) before drawing more attention to Ironheart, highlighting what’s coming next for Marvel fans to enjoy on Disney+. Whenever that first official trailer is released, Riri’s updated armor will likely be a main focus. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes in the show for Riri to don this suit. The miniseries is set to run only six episodes, so viewers hopefully don’t have to wait too long before they get to see it in all its glory. Perhaps Riri builds it early on and it plays a role in her overall arc; it would be a shame if the amor’s screen time was limited.

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The television landscape boasts an incredible lineup for 2025, with returning hits and exciting new series set to air over the next 12 months. Fans of TV will at last experience the long-awaited conclusion of Stranger Things; watch brand new shows from popular franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Game of Thrones; and view sophomore seasons of highly successful Star Wars and DC TV series. So many notable shows are coming to networks and streaming platforms in 2025, and more than 20 titles rank among our most anticipated.

Only Murders in the Building Season 5

Premiere Date: January 2

Where to Watch: Hulu

Only Murders in the Building returns at the start of 2025. Hulu’s murder mystery comedy series has won seven Emmys since its debut in 2021. In Only Murders in the Building season 5, the show’s main trio of Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) will attempt to solve the murder of Lester (Teddy Coluca). Michael Cyril Creighton’s Howard, Jackie Hoffman’s Uma and Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Detective Donna Williams are also expected to return.

Harley Quinn Season 5

Premiere Date: January 16

Where to Watch: Max

Harley Quinn will kick off its fifth season at the start of 2025. The DC animated series has been running since 2019 with Kaley Cuoco voicing the titular character. Season 5 was originally supposed to premiere toward the end of 2024, but was delayed to January 2025. The show’s upcoming episodes will see Harley and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) relocate to Metropolis and Bane (James Adomian) begin a job at the Daily Planet. Other characters slated to feature in Harley Quinn season 5 include Superman (James Wolf), Lena Luthor (Aisha Tyler), and Brainiac (Stephen Fry).

Severance Season 2

Premiere Date: January 17

Where to Watch: Apple TV+

Three years after Severance‘s outstanding first season, the Apple TV+ show will premiere season 2. The suspenseful sci-fi drama, starring Adam Scott, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, and more, revolves around a group of office employees whose memories between their work and personal lives. Severance season 2 will introduce Gwendoline Christie, Alia Shawkat, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Merritt Weaver, John Noble, Robby Benson, Bob Balaban, Sarah Bock, and Stefano Carannante to its cast.

[RELATED: Watch the First 8 Minutes of Severance Season 2]

The Night Agent Season 2

Premiere Date: January 23

Where to Watch: Netflix

Netflix’s The Night Agent will continue the story of Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), as he embarks on a dangerous new mission outside of the United States. Luciane Buchanan will return as Rose Larkin in The Night Agent season 2, while Fola Evans-Akingbola will reprise her role as Chelsea Arrington. Joining the series are Brittany Snow, Arienne Mandi, Louis Herthum, Teddy Sears, Amanda Warren, Berto Colon, Michael Malarkey, Keon Alexander, Rob Heaps, and Navid Negahban.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Premiere Date: January 29

Where to Watch: Disney+

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man transports comic book fans to an alternate Spider-Man timeline separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The animated Disney+ series follows a version of Peter Parker who Is mentored by Norman Osborn instead of Tony Stark. The first trailer for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man just released, and it showcases a fresh take on the famed superhero. Peter will be voiced by Hudson Thames in the show, while Colman Domingo will co-star as the voice of Norman. Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Zeno Robinson, Hugh Dancy, and Charlie Cox are also part of the cast.

Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 2

Premiere Date: February 13

Where to Watch: Netflix

The last five episodes of Cobra Kai‘s final season will arrive on Netflix in February. The Karate Kid spinoff series has been running since 2018, picking up nine Emmy nominations along the way. Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove, Xolo Maridueña, Jacob Bertrand, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan, Peyton List, and more stars are slated to return in the final batch of Cobra Kai episodes.

Yellowjackets Season 3

Premiere Date: February 14

Where to Watch: Paramount+

Nearly two years after airing its second season, Yellowjackets will premiere season 3. The Emmy-nominated series chronicles the past and present journey of a high school girls’ soccer team who survives a plane crash in the wilderness. The cast of Yellowjackets season 3 includes the returns of Tawny Cypress as adult Taissa, Melanie Lynskey as adult Shauna, Christina Ricci as adult Misty, Jasmin Savoy Brown as young Taissa, Sophie Nélisse as young Shauna, Samantha Hanratty as young Misty, Simone Kessell as adult Lottie, Courtney Eaton as young Lottie, Lauren Ambrose as adult Van, Liv Hewson as young Van, Kevin Alves as young Travis, and Steven Kreuger as Coach Ben. Juliette Lewis will not appear in Yellowjackets season 3, as her character Natalie met her demise in season 2. Sophie Thatcher, who plays young Natalie, will return.

The White Lotus Season 3

Premiere Date: February 16

Where to Watch: Max

HBO and Max’s The White Lotus is finally back after a two-year hiatus. Having previously taken place in Hawaii and Italy in its first two seasons, the series will take viewers to Thailand with an almost entirely new group of characters. Natasha Rothwell will reprise her role as Belinda Lindsey, while Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sam Nivola, Aimee Lou Wood, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Scott Glenn, Charlotte Le Bon, Blackpink’s Lisa, Julian Kostov, Arnas Fedaravicius, Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Shalini Peiris, Nicholas Duvernay, Dom Hetrakul, Tayme Thapthimthong, and Patravadi Medjudhon make up the newcomers. The White Lotus, created by Mike White, has racked up 15 Emmy wins thus far, and will undoubtedly be in contention again after season 3.

Reacher Season 3

Premiere Date: February 20

Where to Watch: Prime Video

Alan Ritchson’s Jack Reacher returns to carry out more justice in Prime Video’s Reacher season 3, premiering at the end of February. Based on Lee Child’s novels the show takes its main character, a former military policeman, through various trials and tribulations as he solves crime. Jack Reacher season 3 is based on the seventh book in the series, Persuader, as Jack’s next objective is to rescue an undercover DEA informant. Accompanying Ritchson in the new season are Marie Sten as Frances Neagley, Oliver Ritchers as Paulie, Anthony Michael Hall as Zachary Beck, Sonya Cassidy as Susan Duffy, Johnny Berchtold as Richard Beck, Brian Tee as Quinn, and Robert Montesinos as Guillermo Villanueva.

1923 Season 2

Premiere Date: February 23

Where to Watch: Paramount+

The Yellowstone prequel series 1923 is on the verge of releasing season 2. Starring Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton and Helen Mirren as Cara Dutton, the show follows the Dutton family on their Montana ranch in the early 20th century. Now that Yellowstone has concluded, fans of the franchise can turn their full attention to 1923 in less than two months. Brandon Sklenar’s Spencer Dutton, Darren Mann’s Jack Dutton, Julia Schlaepfer’s Alexandra Dutton, Brian Geraghty’s Zane Davis, Aminah Nieves’ Teonna Rainwater, and Michelle Randolph’s Elizabeth Strafford are all expected to return in season 2.

Daredevil: Born Again

Premiere Date: March 4

Where to Watch: Disney+

Daredevil: Born Again will spotlight Charlie Cox’s lawyer by day and vigilante by night Matt Murdock. Following Netflix’s Daredevil series, which ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2018, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen finally has a show in the MCU. Other characters from the Netflix series featuring in Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again include Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson, Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page, Wilson Bethel’s Benjamin Poindexter, and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher.

The Wheel of Time Season 3

Premiere Date: March 13

Where to Watch: Prime Video

The Wheel of Time season 3 is just a couple of months away. The high fantasy series based on the novels written by Robert Jordan aired its second season in 2023. Anchored by Rosamund Pike’s Moiraine Damodred, The Wheel of Time season 3 will adapt the fourth book, The Shadow Rising. Returning to the show alongside Pike are Daniel Henney’s Lan Mandragoran, Zöe Robins’ Nynaeve al’Meara, Joshua Stradowski’s Rand al’Thor, and many more. New cast members in season 3 include Olivia Williams, Luke Fetherston, Callum Kerr, Nuno Lopes, and Shohreh Aghdashloo.

The Studio

Premiere Date: March 26

Where to Watch: Apple TV+

The Studio is one of several new original TV shows coming to Apple TV+ in 2025. The comedy series was co-created by Seth Rogan, who also stars as a newly appointed movie studio head tasked with bringing about success while managing his unruly team of executives and dealing with corporate powers. The Studio also features Kathryn Hahn, Bryan Cranston, Chase Sui Wonders, Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Zac Efron, Paul Dano, and Usher.

Andor Season 2

Premiere Date: April 22

Where to Watch: Disney+

Andor‘s incredibly well-received first season aired in 2022, and season 2 is on it’s way soon. The Rogue One prequel series turns toward a full-scale rebellion in its second and final season, as Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor transforms from a hardened spy into a galactic hero. Returning characters include Adria Arjona’s Bix Caleen, Kyle Soller’s Syril Karn, Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael, Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma, and Fiona Shaw’s Maarva Andor.

The Bear Season 4

Premiere Date: June

Where to Watch: Hulu

The Bear is set to premiere its fourth season in 2025, just one year after airing season 3. The Emmy-winning Hulu series centers on a band of restaurateurs who transform a Chicago sandwich shop into a fine dining establishment. Season 3 took time to delve into the main character’s backstories, and season 4 promises more flashbacks, as well as current events at the restaurant. Jeremy Allen White’s Carmen, Ayo Edebiri’s Sydney, Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Richie, Liza Colón Zayas’ Tina, Lionel Boyce’s Marcus, Matty Matheson’s Neil, and Jamie Lee Curtis’ Donna will return in The Bear season 4.

Ironheart

Premiere Date: June 24

Where to Watch: Disney+

The second of the MCU’s trio of live-action shows in 2025 is none other than Ironheart, starring Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams almost three years after making her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Ironheart takes place following the events of the aforementioned film. Anthony Ramos, Alden Ehrenreich, Zoe Terakes, Manny Montana, and Lyric Ross are also part of the cast.

Eyes of Wakanda

Premiere Date: August 6

Where to Watch: Disney+

Marvel will reintroduce viewers to the world of Black Panther with the animated miniseries Eyes of Wakanda, which will chronicle different Wakandan warriors thoughout history. Developed by Ryan Coogler, the show will consist of four episodes. Eyes of Wakanda‘s voice cast features Danai Gurira, Winnie Harlow, Cress Williams, Patricia Belcher, Larry Herron, Adam Gold, Lynn Whitfield, Jacques Colimon, Jona Xiao, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Gary Anthony Williams, Zeke Alton, Steve Toussaint, and Anika Noni Rose.

Marvel Zombies

Premiere Date: October 3

Where to Watch: Disney+

Based on the Marvel Comics series of the same title, Marvel Zombies takes place in an alternate universe in which MCU heroes have turned into zombies. Characters that will appear in the show include Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop, Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel, and Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart.

Wonder Man

Premiere Date: December

Where to Watch: Disney+

The MCU’s third and final live-action series of 2025 will arrive on Disney+ at the very end of the year. Wonder Man stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, a Hollywood actor who auditions to play the lead character in a superhero TV show. Ben Kingsley will reprise his role as Trevor Slattery — who he last portrayed in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Wonder Man‘s cast also includes Ed Harris, Demetrius Grosse, Lauren Glazier, Byron Bowers, and Emmanuel McCord.

Stranger Things Season 5

Premiere Date: TBA

Where to Watch: Netflix

Stranger Things season 5 has been a long time coming. Netflix’s wildly popular horror series dropped its fourth season in 2022, leading to the release of its fifth and final chapter in 2025. While an exact release date has not been announced yet, it’s worth noting that three out of Stranger Things‘ four seasons aired during the summer months. Season 5 will bring back Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, and Noah Schnapp as Will Byers. Coming off their showdown with Vecna at the end of season 4, the group will look to solve the mystery of the Upside Down and defeat the supernatural forces attacking their hometown of Hawkins, Indiana once and for all.

The Last of Us Season 2

Premiere Date: TBA

Where to Watch: Max

Season 2 of HBO and Max’s The Last of Us will adapt the story of the hit survival horror video game The Last of Us Part II. Like the games, the TV series takes place after a zombie pandemic has ravaged civilization, prompting survivors to divide and protect themselves and their loved ones under strenuous circumstances. The main duo of Bella Ramsey’s Ellie Williams and Pedro Pascal’s Joel Miller will again exist at the forefront of The Last of Us in the second season, and they will be joined by some new faces. Isabela Merced is set to portray Ellie’s love interest Dina, while Kaitlyn Dever will play Abby Anderson. Other new castings include Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Young Mazino as Jesse, Danny Ramirez as Manny, Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, Spencer Lord as Owen, Finn McCager as Caleb, and Ariela Barer as Mel. Catherine O’Hara will also join The Last of Us season 2 in a role believed to be that of Joel’s therapist.

It: Welcome to Derry

Premiere Date: TBA

Where to Watch: Max

The It movies, based on the terrifying Stephen King novel, have given way to a new prequel series. It: Welcome to Derry will travel back to the 1960s in Derry, Maine and explore the origins of Pennywise the Clown. Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Taylour Paige, James Remar, and Stephen Rider will star in Welcome to Derry, while Bill Skarsgård will reprise his role as Pennywise.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight

Premiere Date: TBA

Where to Watch: Max

Game of Thrones fans despairing over the long wait for House of the Dragon season 3 are in luck, as the franchise has a new spinoff coming to Max this year. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight adapts George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas as part of his A Song of Ice and Fire book series. Peter Claffey will star as Ser Duncan the Tall aka Dunk, a hedge knight. Dexter Sol Ansell will play Prince Aegon Targaryen aka Egg, who is Dunk’s squire. The rest of the main cast consists of Finn Bennett as Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen, Bertie Carvel as Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen, Tanzyn Crawford as Tanselle, Daniel Ings as Ser Lyonel Baratheon, and Sam Spruell as Prince Maekar Targaryen.

For All Mankind Season 5

Premiere Date: TBA

Where to Watch: Apple TV+

For All Mankind will resume its alternate history narrative in 2025, immersing viewers in the 2010s following its near-decade-long time jump. Season 5 will likely focus on asteroid mining and the continued development of civilization on Mars. Returning characters include Joel Kinnaman’s Ed Baldwin, Cynthy Wu’s Kelly Baldwin, Coral Peña’s Aleida Rosales, Edi Gathegi’s Dev Ayessa, Toby Kebbell’s Miles Dale, Tyner Rushing’s Samantha Massey, Daniel Stern’s Eli Hobson, Svetlana Efremova’s Irina Morozova, and more. Joining the cast of For All Mankind in season 5 are Costa Ronin, Mireille Enos, Tyler Labine, Sean Kaufman, Ruby Cruz, Ines Asserson, and Barrett Carnahan.

Foundation Season 3

Premiere Date: TBA

Where to Watch: Apple TV+

Apple TV+’s array of impressive sci-fi shows wouldn’t be complete without Foundation. Inspired by Isaac Asimov’s novels, the series chronicles a vast sci-fi fantasy universe in which a genetic dynasty rules. Lee Pace’s Brother Day and Jared Harris’ Hari Seldon lead season 5’s recurring characters. Troy Kotsur, Alexander Siddig, Cherry Jones, Synnøve Karlsen, Cody Fern, Tómas Lemarquis, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing, and Leo Bill will join Foundation season 3 as series regulars. Additionally, Pilou Asbæk will take over the role of Warlord aka the Mule, previously portrayed by Mikael Persbrandt.

Peacemaker Season 2

Premiere Date: TBA

Where to Watch: Max

DC is primed to have a big year in 2025, and Peacemaker figures in the comic book franchise’s exciting lineup. The Suicide Squad spinoff show’s sophomore season will continue the story of John Cena’s Peacemaker with Danielle Brooks’ Leota Adebayo, Steve Agee’s John Economos, Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt, and Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante also expected to appear. Written and directed by James Gunn, Peacemaker is poised to thrill fans again following its critically claimed first season in 2022.

The Sandman Season 2

Premiere Date: TBA

Where to Watch: Netflix

The Sandman will return to Netflix at some point in 2025. Starring Tom Sturridge as the popular DC Comics character Lord Morpheus aka Dream, the series follows its central figure as he seeks to reclaim his lost powerful materials after spending decades imprisoned in a glass bottle by a wizard. Among the returnees in season 2 are Kirby Howell-Baptiste’s Death, Gwendoline Christie’s Lucifer, and Vivienne Acheampong’s Lucienne. New castings include Laurence O’Fuarain as Thor, Freddie Fox as Loki, Clive Russell as Odin, Indya Moore as Wanda, Ruairi O’Connor as Orpheus, Steve Coogan as Barnabas, Ann Skelly as Nuala, Barry Sloane as Destruction, Adrian Lester as Destiny, Douglas Booth as Cluracan, Esme Creed-Miles as Delirium, and Jack Gleeson as Puck.

Be sure to check ComicBook for all your TV coverage!

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2025 is going to be a big year for Marvel Studios, especially their shows on Disney+. The MCU on Disney+ has been a mixed bag for fans. While shows like WandaVision and Loki were praised by fans and critics, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and others weren’t nearly as popular or important to the overall MCU. After the success of Deadpool & Wolverine, the MCU seemingly has new life and the upcoming slate of Marvel shows has a lot riding on it. Marvel has released some new images from Ironheart, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Wonder Man, Marvel Zombies, and Eyes of Wakanda, showing off some new looks for some well-known characters.

The images for Ironheart show off new armor for the heroine, and new aspects of her personality have been revealed, saying that she’ll be just as arrogant as Tony Stark. The image for Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man shows off the hero in a very different Spider-Man costume from what fans have seen. The Wonder Man images show off the main character, played by Yahya Abdul Mateen II, in two separate looks, one with him at night and the other with him talking with the returning Trevor Slattery, played by Ben Kingsley. The image from Marvel Zombies shows a zombie Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet in the show’s signature art style. Finally, the image from Eyes Of Wakanda showcases a group of mysterious characters led by the Lion walking away from a burning village.

These images don’t give up much about each show, but will definitely serve to keep the hype train running for Marvel Studios in 2025. Marvel has already released trailers for these projects and these new images will definitely be pored over by fans to figure out more about what is going on in each of these shows. Marvel Studios’ slate of live-action and animated TV projects have a little something for every fan of the MCU, expanding on characters like Ironheart, who didn’t get a lot of chance to shine, giving fans a new animated Spider-Man series, expanding on the MCU Marvel Zombies mythos, introducing Wonder Man to the MCU, and digging into the lore of Wakanda. 2024 re-ignited fan interest in the MCU, with Agatha All Along bringing the goods on Disney+.

2025 should be a great time for MCU fans on Disney+, giving them a diverse slate of projects that will take advantage of the new interest and bring the MCU back to dominance. This is very important, as James Gunn’s DCU will dropping the double whammy of Peacemaker Season 2 and Superman: Legacy.

It all begins with Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on January 29, 2025. Ironheart debuts on June 24, 2025. Eyes of Wakanda is set for August 6, 2025. Marvel Zombies will start stalking viewers in time for Halloween 2025, and Wonder Man will premiere in December 2025, all on Disney+.

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A new trailer for Disney+’s 2025 output offers new looks at a slew of shows, including Daredevil: Born Again, Star Wars: Andor, and Ironheart. While Disney has already laid out what Marvel fans can look forward to over the next 13 months, there is still plenty to get excited for from other properties. Also keep in mind that Disney+ subscribers also have access to Hulu for a wider range of choices. From returning series to brand-new shows, Marvel and Star Wars fans will be eating good come 2025. Disney+’s new trailer is provides a look at the new and returning favorites.

One of the first shows featured in the Disney+ 2025 trailer is Ironheart starring Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart, reprising her role from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Next up is Season 4 of the Hulu original The Bear and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, premiering in December. As far as other big franchises go, we have Goosebumps: The Vanishing premiering January 2025 on Disney+, Alien: Earth on Hulu/Disney+, the return of Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio in Daredevil: Born Again, Glen Powell as a disgraced college quarterback in Chad Powers, Season 2 of Andor, the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu/Disney+, and Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

[RELATED: Marvel TV Head Compares Daredevil: Born Again to X-Men ’97, Teases “New Direction”]

All of the Marvel shows premiering on Disney+ in 2025

On the small screen, there’s What If.. ? Season 3 on December 22nd, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on January 29, 2025; Daredevil: Born Again on March 4, 2025, Ironheart on June 24th, Eyes of Wakanda on August 6, 2025; Marvel Zombies in October 2025, and Wonder Man in December 2025. Four of these are animated series, with the other three live-action. There’s also the Disney+ debut of Deadpool & Wolverine on November 12th.

Marvel previously said it was scaling back the amount of content it was putting out in theaters and on Disney+, but 2025 looks to be a departure from that mandate. We are back to three Marvel movies landing in theaters in 2025: Captain America: Brave New World on February 14, 2025; Thunderbolts* on May 2, 2025; and The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25, 2025.

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When Riri Williams returns in Marvel’s Ironheart series, she’ll be sporting some new armor. Fans got to meet Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart for the first time in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The young genius helped Shuri and the nation of Wakanda in their battle against Namor and Talokan, aka Atlantis. We’ve known Ironheart would star in her own Disney+ series for awhile, and we finally know when Ironheart will debut. Thanks to a new Marvel trailer highlighting all of the Disney+ content coming in 2025, we got a sneak peek at Ironheart, along with the armor Riri will be donning. And from the early look of it, it’s a major improvement from the armors Ironheart has worn in the comics.

Ironheart’s comics origin involves reverse-engineering her own Iron Man armor. Keep in mind she did all this in her tiny dorm room on the campus of M.I.T. After several iterations and tinkering with her suit, Ironheart eventually settles on a slimmed-down version of armor similar to Iron Man. She even moves from the trademark red-and-gold color scheme to something of her own choosing. Something we’ve noticed from Ironheart’s armors in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the Marvel sizzle reel of her upcoming series is how they’ve kept their bulkier frame. And in our opinion, that’s a good thing.

Ironheart’s MCU armor distinguishes her from Iron Man

Let’s take a look back at the different armors we’ve seen from Ironheart during her short tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Similar to her comic origin, Riri Williams has built an Iron Man-esque armor while at school. However, she uses the advanced technology of Wakanda to create the armor we see Ironheart use in the climax of Wakanda Forever. It’s much bulkier and larger than the armor used by Iron Man and War Machine, but in a way that should be expected. Riri should want to have as much protection as possible if she’s going into battle, and she’s less concerned with flexibility and agility.

An example of how quickly Iron Man can soar through the air is the Battle of New York from 2012’s The Avengers. Iron Man zips through the New York City skyline while being chased by Chitauri, and is able to navigate through the wormhole open in the sky. That’s something Ironheart probably isn’t able to do in her current state, but we’re pretty confident in saying Ironheart’s armor could withstand a blast from a Chitauri soldier.

The Marvel trailer reveals Ironheart sticks with the bulkier design, even smashing a car with it in the middle of the street. The choice to go with this armor doesn’t pigeonhole Ironheart as a copy of Iron Man or War Machine. Ironheart isn’t here to replace Tony Stark, but rather be a hero in her own right. Plus, it doesn’t mean that Ironheart is going to stop tinkering and modifying the armor she uses. There could come a point where Ironheart adopts a comics-accurate suit of armor, but for now we like what she’s wearing.

What do you think about Riri Williams’ armor in Ironheart? Let us know your thoughts on social media @ComicBook!

The post Ironheart’s New MCU Armor Is A Major Upgrade, And It Keeps Her Unique appeared first on ComicBook.com.

After years of being in the works and very brief glimpses of footage, Marvel’s Ironheart series is set to finally head to Disney+ next year. The show will not only explore the solo story of Riri Williams / Ironheart (Dominique Thorne), but will introduce fan-favorite villain Parker Robbins / The Hood, who is confirmed to be played by Twisters and In the Heights star Anthony Ramos. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ramos dove a bit more into how The Hood’s powers will manifest onscreen in Ironheart, and the emotional toll is it going to have on Parker as a character.

“I get to play this villain, The Hood, and Parker Robbins in the comics, he gets this hood, and it’s too powerful for him,” Ramos explained. “It’s overwhelming, and it starts to damage his body. You can see it on the outside, and you can see how it’s even affecting him on the inside and his personality and how it’s actually, literally, physically and mentally and emotionally breaking him, but it’s giving him so much power that he’s addicted. He’s like, ‘I can’t let it go.'”

“It becomes this weapon to seek vengeance, and for him, he’s starting off small, and he’s stealing in the comics, and then gradually it grows,” Ramos continued. “It grows and grows and grows, and just like his power, I think, it becomes a little overwhelming for him, but I’m excited. I’m excited for y’all to see what we did with this character and just the art department, and our visual effects team and special effects makeup, too. Jonah [Levy] and his whole team, they were amazing with the tattoos and the scars. They really did a crazy job.”

What Is Ironheart About?

Ironheart stars Thorne as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. Ironheart also stars Lyric Ross, Shea Couleé, Zoe Terakes, Alden Ehrenreich, Manny Montana, Shakira Barrera, and Harper Anthony cast in currently-unknown roles.

The Ironheart Disney+ series was first confirmed during 2020’s Disney Investor Day presentation. Snowpiercer writer, playwright, poet, and educator Chinaka Hodge will be serving as the series’ head writer, with Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes directing, and Ryan Coogler’s Proximity among the producers on the series. Coogler, Hodge, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian serve as executive producers alongside Marvel Studios‘ Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, and Zoie Nagelhout.

Ironheart is expected to debut on Disney+ in 2025. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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Marvel Studios has put forth a lot of renewed effort this year, trying to assure its fanbase (and Disney shareholders) that the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise still has promising years ahead of it. Numerous reports broke alleging widespread trouble behind the scenes of the MCU after Avengers: Endgame, while fans and insiders both seemed to agree that the franchise had begun putting out too much quantity, at the high cost of quality. Then there have been real-life events like celebrity scandals (Jonathan Majors) and Hollywood politics (Actors and Writers strikes), which have forced Marvel to make big pivots with production timetables and the overarching story of the current MCU Multiverse Saga.

But now, big changes have been made. Disney CEO Bob Iger stepped back in; the entire content strategy for franchises like the MCU or Star Wars is changing back to ‘quality over quantity’. Marvel Studios has started to have major PR successes with its previews for upcoming 2025 projects like Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, or Daredevil: Born Again, but there still so many unanswered questions facing the franchise, moving forward. One of the biggest questions is, without a doubt: Can the MCU Multiverse Saga land this nose-diving plane? 

The End Is Nigh

Let’s take a look at how much runway we have left: 

Phase Five of the MCU will conclude next year, following the releases of Agatha All Along, Captain America: Brave New World, Daredevil: Born Again, Thunderbolts* and Ironheart (in that order). 

Phase Six of the MCU will end the Multiverse Saga, and is currently scheduled to run 2026-2027. Confirmed projects in that phase include Fantastic Four: First Steps and Blade (in 2025); Avengers: Doomsday and the Vision Quest Disney+ series (in 2026), and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. 

There is room in that schedule for other projects to be added, like the Wonder Man Disney+ series already in development, or any number of Marvel Special Presentation features. However, there’s not a lot of runway between now (Fall 2024 at the time of writing this) and the summer of 2027, when the Multiverse Saga will end. Given how many characters and storylines will have been introduced in MCU Phases 4 – 6, it feels nearly impossible that this Multiverse Saga can pull off a massive, well-earned climax like Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame did; or that the franchise can even find a way to make the Multiverse Saga feel like a tight, interconnected story like the Infinity Saga (mostly) was.

Why The Multiverse Saga Ending Will Be A FAIL

It’s hard to see how the Multiverse Saga can do little more than pull together many of the characters that were introduced in Phases 4 – 6, but that will (in many cases) be only the second (third, tops) time we see those characters operating in the MCU. We haven’t had multiple projects featuring Shang-Chi, Shuri/Black Panther II, or The Eternals; meanwhile, veteran franchises like Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and Spider-Man have seen massive status quo shifts that haven’t been addressed, while the Fantastic Four will be a very new set of characters and mythos in the MCU. 

Equally unsure are the relevance and importance of the Disney+ series and their characters. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Anthony Mackie’s Captain America are obvious sure bets for the climatic Secret Wars event – but Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, Hawkeye, and Kate Bishop, She-Hulk, Peggy Carter or even Daredevil are far less certain to make an appearance. Even if they do, again, it will be only the second time dedicated fans see many of those characters onscreen – and it will be a first introduction for all those fans who only watch movies and skip the TV shows. 

…That’s not even counting Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom and the work needed to re-introduce the Multiverse Saga’s main antagonist and replace Jonathan Majors’ Kang. 

Can Marvel Studios bring the Multiverse Saga to an end by Summer 2027? Certainly. And frankly, the sooner the franchise moves past this quagmire of character variants and alternate timelines, the better. But the ending is most likely going to feel rushed and the larger interconnect story will likely still look riddled with plot holes, logical inconsistencies, and dangling plot threads for individual franchises that are not sufficiently answered – and a soft reboot into Phase 7 will look more like an escape hatch, rather than another hard-earned win. 

The next MCU release will be the Agatha All Along Disney+ series on September 19th. 

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Marvel Studios’s retooling is already paying dividends for one hero. Last week, the company celebrated 85 years with a fresh look at Daredevil: Born Again, Thunderbolts* and Ironheart. That last hero’s new clip showed off a very impressive costume upgrade for Riri Williams. In the Marvel Studios 85 teaser, Dominique Thorne’s young Avenger flew through traffic in a fresh suit. After the response to Ironheart’s design in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel has opted to lean into realism a little more for the character’s Disney+ debut. That swap shows that taking a bit more time to refine VFX is already paying dividends one year in. Check out the teaser up above.

The changes over at Disney+ and Marvel Studios have been no real secret. To start out Phase 4, there were numerous series and movies that populated those first two years back in theaters after 2020. Due to numerous factors, Marvel made the choice to pull back and focus on what’s already on its plate. You can see some of that from how the Studio approached San Diego Comic-Con and D23. ComicBook’s Phase Zero podcast spoke to Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum about the change in pace back in March and his comments kind of sum things up.

“I mean, frankly, in all honesty, there was a mandate to kind of create as much as we could for Disney+ as quickly as we could,” Winderbaum said in the interview. “And then there was a shift. And all of a sudden, we have to start spreading our release dates out. So, that really accounts for a lot of the delays.” “Now, we’re using that time. We’re not sitting idle. So, it’s like it stays in the oven. You can bake certain things a little more. It’s actually, I think, ultimately, it’s only going to make things better. But, most of it is just frankly shrapnel from the business.” 

Ironheart Gets A Bunch Of New Looks 

All these different Ironheart armors share more than just color schemes with Tony Stark’s iconic looks. I spoke with Dominique Thorne for ComicBook and asked about the physical design of some of the suits we’re set to see in the Disney+ series. The Riri Williams actress actually told me that the costumes were designed by Legacy Studios. They worked on the Iron Man armor and some other film favorite franchises. It seems like there might be some more links to Tony Stark. But, for now, fans are left to wonder until more information about Ironheart drops early next year.

“The Legacy folks, that suit is built by Legacy Studios,” Thorne told me during our interview. “The same folks that built the Iron Man suit, they built a bunch of the Star Wars pieces. They are literal geniuses. The same folks that built the Mark I suit were brought over to Ironheart to build the practical versions of those suits as well.” 

Do you like what you’ve seen out of Riri’s armor so far? Is it an improvement on the design from Wakanda Forever? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon include Ironheart, a new Disney+ exclusive series revolving around Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Riri Williams / Ironheart (Dominique Thorne). The series, which is expected to debut on Disney+ next year, just screened its latest footage at the 2024 D23 Expo, which showcased a bit of Riri’s adventures as a superheroine and a young adult in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Thorne and Parker Robbins / The Hood star Anthony Ramos teased the significance that Chicago has in the Ironheart series.

“It’s an invitation to explore her roots and her upbringing,” Thorne explained. “We’re taking it back to her hometown of Chicago, and a bit of a battle ensues as she’s debating between or considering how she wants to use what she realizes is a powerful wealth of knowledge, realizing just how much genius she has in her, deciding what she’s going to do with that. We see that play out in the environment when she gets back home as well — she has these options. Who and how am I going to use these things that I now know about myself?”

“Parker Robbins in the comics is from New York, but being able to flip his story and making him from Chicago, we made him from Humboldt Park, which has, obviously, a large Puerto Rican population,” Ramos revealed. “We created this whole backstory with his mom being from the Young Lords and raising him that way. Chicago plays a huge part in the identity of all of our characters and the identity of this show, so I’m really excited for people to experience that. It was just a gift to be able to shoot there. It’s an amazing city, one of the greatest cities in the world.”

What Is Ironheart About?

Ironheart stars Thorne as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. Ironheart also stars Lyric Ross, Shea Couleé, Zoe Terakes, Alden Ehrenreich, Manny Montana, Shakira Barrera, and Harper Anthony cast in currently-unknown roles.

The Ironheart Disney+ series was first confirmed during 2020’s Disney Investor Day presentation. Snowpiercer writer, playwright, poet, and educator Chinaka Hodge will be serving as the series’ head writer, with Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes directing, and Ryan Coogler’s Proximity among the producers on the series. Coogler, Hodge, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian serve as executive producers alongside Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, and Zoie Nagelhout.

Ironheart is expected to debut on Disney+ in 2025. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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Marvel Studios is coming to San Diego Comic-Con 2024 with something to prove. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been stumbling since Avengers: Endgame ended the Infinity Saga in 2019 – and honestly, the MCU presentations in SDCC’s famous Hall H have stumbled along with the franchise. 

However, Marvel Studios has made some very public re-orientation moves to get the franchise back to its former great heights, and for many fans, Marvel’s Hall H Presentation at SDCC 2024 will be the place to prove those changes are working. 

With those kinds of stakes on the table, Marvel needs to put out a lot of PR fires, on a lot of fronts. Let’s break down what they need to show fans during the Hall H presentation, in order to do it: 

Deadpool & Wolverine

San Diego Comic-Con 2024 takes place from Thursday, July 25th – Sunday, July 28th, with Marvel typically doing Hall H on Saturday night. Deadpool & Wolverine will be released in theaters on Friday, July 26th; if you think these two events will not be related, you’re crazy. 

Expect Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and the Deadpool & Wolverine team to be working the crowds at SDCC – culminating in some kind of major fan-screening event, which is a proud Comic-Con tradition. Since Deadpool 3 will be out, and its MCU changes will be flooding the Internet, Marvel Studios could come to Hall H with some very important announcements for a new MCU franchise… 

Captain America: Brave New World

Captain America: Brave New World will supposedly be a game-changing chapter of the MCU – a la Captain America: The Winter Soldier. With the movie largely in the can by now, and the fact that footage was already shown at CinemaCon 2024, we can pretty much bank on the fact that Captain America 4 will be a big part of Marvel’s Hall H presentation. 

A new trailer + SDCC-exclusive sizzle reel footage are the traditional offerings for fans – and we can probably expect the all-star ensemble cast (which includes Anthony Mackie, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, wrestler Seth Rollins, and Harrison Ford) to attend and entertain the Hall H crowd. 

Official first looks at Mackie’s new Captain America costume; Nelson’s design as Marvel villain “The Leader,” or teases of Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross becoming Red Hulk would all go viral. 

Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* will hit theaters in the summer of 2025, and will reportedly serve as a companion piece to Captain America: Brave New World. Thunderbolts* is also currently finished production, making a Hall H trailer and/or sizzle reel a sure bet. 

With its eclectic ensemble of characters (Val, Ghost, Red Guardian, Black Widow II, Winter Soldier, US Agent, and Taskmaster), played by a fun collection of actors (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hannah John-Kamen, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, and Olga Kurylenko), a Thunderbolts* panel with all of the principal cast seems like a no-brainer for Marvel Studios. Like Fantastic Four, the real selling point of Thunderbolts* will be seeing this oddball team of characters interacting – a concept the cast can demonstrate first-hand to a Hall H crowd. 

BONUS POINTS if Harrison Ford does some kind of bit about his transition between the Captain America 4 and Thunderbolts* panels, since he appears in both films. 

Fantastic Four

The saga of the MCU Fantastic Four is going to be worth a whole book when all is said and done. One of the first big comic book movies of the 2000s has been on a long, hard, road to winning fan approval and box office success. 

Marvel Studios needs to turn all the bad stigma about the Fantastic Four around – and Hall H is the place to start doing it. F4 hasn’t started filming yet, so no footage is expected; however, early concept art (See above) has gotten fans buzzing, so more reveals of Fantastic Four’s 1960s period piece setting, characters, and story arc would be a big deal. More importantly: introducing the core cast of the film and having fans enjoy seeing them banter together onstage would be a big PR win for Marvel Studios. 

Fantastic Four could also cause major uproar and generate headlines if director Matt Shakman and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige reveal the actor who will play the MCU Doctor Doom on the Hall H stage during the panel. 

Blade

The other MCU project that has a lot of negative stigma attached to it is the MCU reboot of Blade. The project has red-hot stars like multi-Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali and horror queen Mia Goth (X, Pearl, Maxxxine) attached – and yet, reports of wild story concepts, multiple writer/script changes, and multiple directors walking away from the project have made the vampire-action film feel truly cursed. 

If Marvel Studios can get its act together by the time of Comic-Con, having Ali, Goth, and a locked-in creative team (writer, director) all appear on stage together would be a shot of confidence the project sorely needs. 

X-Men

If Marvel Studios wants to easily bring down the house at Comic-Con 2024, the X-Men are their best weapon to deploy. 

Fans are currently foaming at the mouth for any kind of indication about what the MCU X-Men reboot will be – and who will be playing the characters. With Deadpool & Wolverine potentially establishing a foundation for the MCU X-Men reboot, and X-Men comics getting a reboot, Hall H could be the place where fans first get their first introduction to the new generation of X-Men movie and TV show actors. Marvel fans remember the milestone event in 2010 when Kevin Feige first brought the Avengers cast onstage together in Hall H – could it be the X-Men’s turn? 

Daredevil: Born Again

Daredevil: Born Again is the Marvel TV series reboot that has been filming for months now, so there’s enough material in the can for Marvel Studios to pull off a full-fledged Hall H panel for the show. 

Series stars Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/Kingpin) are pros at doing convention panels, and the returning stars of the Marvel Netflix Daredevil series (Elden Henson, Deborah Ann Woll, Wilson Bethel, Jon Bernthal) will probably be bringing the enthusiasm, as well. 

Rolling out a first trailer for Daredevil: Born Again during the Hall H presentation seems like a no-brainer, followed by a cast and crew Q&A. It would also be a great place to finally clear up what’s happening with other Marvel Netflix Defenders characters, like Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, or Mike Colter’s Luke Cage. Surprise pop-outs from either of those two actors would be major. 

Agatha All Along

We now know it’s officially titled Agatha All Along; we know production on the miniseries is complete, and its release date in September comes right after Comic-Con. So, expect Agatha and the gang to be in Hall H. 

Agatha All Along’s cast is stacked with talent, including series star Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus), Joe Locke (Heartstopper), Patti LuPone (American Horror Story), Sasheer Zamata (SNL), Debra Jo Rupp (That ’90s Show) and others. Bringing the ladies out as an ensemble would be a show-stopper worthy of Hall H – and one funny panel, to boot. Sprinkle in an Agatha trailer that reveals connections to the larger MCU and this minor dark horse project could generate major buzz heading into its premiere date. 

Ironheart

It was confirmed earlier this summer that Marvel’s Ironheart series is still set for release in 2025. That show was in production in 2023, but then it dropped off the map when Disney+ didn’t put it on the release slate for 2024. 

Ironheart will not only continue events started in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but it will also introduce a pivotal new Marvel villain in The Hood (Anthony Ramos). An Ironheart teaser trailer giving fans a first look at the series – plus an appearance by the cast to answer questions about the release delay – would be timely  

Wonder Man

Marvel and Disney recently confirmed that the Wonder Man Disney+ miniseries is also still happening – and if Daredevil and Ironheart get to be part of Hall H at SDCC 2024, it only makes sense for Wonder Man to be part of it too. Since the show will also be representing the “Marvel Spotlight” lane of the MCU (alongside Werewolf by Night and Echo), it will be somewhat important to include it in the portfolio of new MCU content. 

Wonder Man is already in production, so a sizzle reel of footage – teasing the show’s “extremely different” tone – is easily doable. Getting stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (HBO’s Watchmen), Demetrius Grosse, Ben Kingsley, Ed Harris, and Josh Gad together onstage will be impressive. A crew member died while filming Wonder Man, so a moment of recognition for that tragedy would be appropriate. 

Marvel Animation

Marvel Studios has officially brought back the Marvel Animation brand, and while it may seem like second-tier content for a Hall H panel, the fact that it’s Marvel Studios content warrants it. Marvel animation would be a great way to open the panel and warm up the crowd, with new reveals from several series in the pipeline: 

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – The Spider-Man animated series will examine an alt-universe origin story for the MCU Peter Parker/Spider-Man, where Norman Osborn became his mentor instead of Tony Stark. The show will feature MCU crossovers like Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, but returning Peter Parker to high school in his formative days as Spider-Man is a choice that fans need to be sold on. 

Eyes of Wakanda – The animated series chronicling stories of  Wakanda’s “War Dog” operatives around the globe is still apparently on track for a 2024 release. Letting the world know the Wakanda animated show exists sounds like a job for Hall H. 

X-Men ’97 – If Comic-Con 2024 isn’t the place where the MCU’s live-action X-Men gets announced, there’s also the X-Men ’97 animated series to lean on, as the show became a major breakout hit this year. Fans will be thrilled about any big reveals for X-Men ’97 Season 2 – from storyline info to new (or returning) characters. Any kind of panel with the voice actors of the show would also please the Hall H crowd. 

What If…? Season 3 – Marvel teased What If…? Season 3 as soon as Season 2 ended. No reason to think a sizzle reel for the third season would be left out of a Hall H presentation. And if indeed there is a What If…?/X-Men ’97 crossover on the way, Comic-Con would be the place to announce it. 

Stay tuned for all the latest ComicBook.com coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2024! 

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It has been over three years since Marvel Studios branched out into the world of television, telling the stories of characters from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a new medium. The grand experiment has evolved in some fascinating ways in the time since, resulting in Internet-breaking projects like WandaVision and Loki, as well as the forming of the Marvel Spotlight banner for more standalone projects like Echo. This week, during Disney’s Upfronts presentation, Marvel Studios unveiled new release dates or windows for its next three live-action shows — Agatha All Along, Daredevil: Born Again, and Ironheart. In the process, these announcements revealed the return of the Marvel Television label, which was previously used as the standalone production company behind projects like Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the “Defendersverse” of shows.

While speaking with ComicBook about the recent Season 1 finale of X-Men ’97, Marvel Studios Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation Brad Winderbaum explained the decision to resurrect the Marvel Television label, and how it could help future projects be more accessible to audiences.

“We want to make sure that Marvel stays an open door for people to come in and explore,” Winderbaum revealed. “On the heels of Endgame, I think there was, maybe, a little bit of an obligation to watch absolutely everything in order to watch anything. As you know, as a comics fan, they’re designed to just pop in, find something that you like, and use that to enter you into the universe, and then you can explore and weave around based on your own preferences. So part of the rebranding of Marvel Studios, Marvel Television, Marvel Animation, even Marvel Spotlight is to, I think, try to tell the audience, ‘You can jump in anywhere. They’re interconnected but they’re not. You don’t have to watch A to enjoy B. You can follow your bliss. You can follow your own preferences and find the thing you want within the tapestry of Marvel.'”

What Is the Next Marvel Television Show?

The next live-action Marvel Television project is expected to be Agatha All Along, which will debut on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere on Wednesday, September 18th. In addition to Kathryn Hahn reprising her WandaVision role of Agatha Harkness, the cast of Agatha All Along will include fellow WandaVision alums Deborah Jo Rupp as Sharon Davis and Emma Caulfield Ford as Sarah Proctor. New cast members will include Joe Locke, Aubrey Plaza, Ali Ahn, Maria Dizzia, Sasheer Zamata, and Patti LuPone. Agatha All Along will be directed by head writer Jac Schaeffer, as well as Gandja Monteiro. Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Brad Winderbaum serve as executive producers on the series.

“I know a little bit, but I can’t say anything,” Caulfield told ComicBook in a previous interview. “I can’t tell you what to expect, because that would reveal something. I know little, just enough to keep me in the right zone. I think it’s all going to be really fun. I haven’t seen [Kathryn Hahn] yet. I really love her. She’s just the best, effortlessly cool.”

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After some of the recent struggles with Marvel Studios’ output, the company has brought back the defunct Marvel Television. If you can believe it, there was a time when Marvel Television and Marvel Studios were two separate entities with conflicting goals. Marvel Television was run by Jeph Loeb, with Kevin Feige spearheading Marvel Studios. The latter is where the feature films were developed, leaving Marvel Television to concentrate on shows that would air on broadcast television. Marvel Television was shut down in 2019, with Marvel Studios taking on the task of creating shows for Disney+. As Disney looks to streamline its Marvel content, Marvel Television is rising from the ashes like a phoenix.

During its upfronts presentation on Tuesday, Disney confirmed release dates and windows for its streaming shows Daredevil: Born Again, the retitled Agatha All Along, and Ironheart. The logo treatment for all three shows featured the Marvel Television banner, rather than Marvel Studios. This presumably means that going forward, all live-action television/streaming projects will fall under Marvel Studios, with Marvel Animation handling animated projects like X-Men ’97 and What If…?, and Marvel Studios continuing with feature films, as Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige oversees everything.

Disney CEO speaks on Marvel’s decrease in content

Speaking during Disney’s earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the House of Mouse is shifting its focus on quality over quantity, and that that strategy is “particularly true with Marvel.”

“We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three,” Iger said. “And we’re working hard on what that path is.”

“[Marvel has] a couple of good films in ’25 and then we’re heading to more Avengers which we’re extremely excited about,” Iger added, alluding to blockbuster 2025 projects Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four. “Overall, I feel great about the slate. It’s something, as you know, that I’ve committed to spending more and more time on. The team is one that I have tremendous confidence in and the IP that we’re mining, including all the sequels that we’re doing, is second to none.”

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Ironheart is suiting up next year on Disney+. The Marvel Television series — starring Dominique Thorne as genius inventor Riri Williams, returning after her big screen debut in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — will officially take flight in 2025, Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige announced Tuesday during Disney’s upfront presentation. The studio also slated its WandaVision spinoff, now titled Agatha All Along, for September 2024 and dated Daredevil: Born Again for March 2025.

Disney also unveiled the updated logo for Ironheart, which you can see below.

Ryan Coogler, who introduced Ironheart in his Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever, also serves as executive producer on the series via his Proximity Media banner. Chinaka Hodge, a writer on TNT’s Snowpiercer and Netflix’s The Midnight Club, is the head writer and series creator on the series based on the Marvel Comics character created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato.

“I think what I can say is that it definitely is offering folks a deeper dive into this character that I gather might have maybe piqued some interest [in Wakanda Forever],” Thorne told Deadline at the upfronts. “I think maybe she raised a couple questions, and lots of those could be answered in the show.”

In Ironheart, the teenage super-genius who created the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man “returns from MIT to her hometown of Chicago and beginsto unravel threads that bring danger and adventure right to her doorstep,” per the official synopsis. Anthony Ramos (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) plays Parker Robbins, a.k.a. the mystical misfit known as The Hood, and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story) is credited as Joe McGillicuddy, a new character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The six-episode series filmed in Atlanta and Chicago and wrapped production earlier this year. When ComicBook asked producer Brad Winderbaum for an update on the series (which was announced in 2020), the Marvel Studios executive explained that Disney was parsing out its Marvel television slate.

 “I mean, frankly, in all honesty, there was a mandate to kind ofcreate as much as we could for Disney+ as quickly as we could,”Winderbaum told ComicBook’s Phase Zero. “And then there was a shift. And allof a sudden, we have to start spreading our release dates out. So, thatreally accounts for a lot of the delays.” 

“Now, we’re using that time.We’re not sitting idle,” he continued. “So, it’s like it stays in the oven. You can bakecertain things a little more. It’s actually, I think, ultimately, it’sonly going to make things better. But, most of it is just franklyshrapnel from the business.”

Marvel’s Ironheart premieres sometime in 2025 on Disney+.

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Marvel just gave fans an update on what’s happening with Ironheart. ComicBook.com’s Phase Zero podcast sat down with Marvel head of streaming Brad Winderbaum to talk about X-Men ’97. However, near the end of the conversation, the producer dropped some information about Ironheart and the delays. Dominique Thorne’s hero is still coming. But, there’s going to be a little wait for her appearance on Disney+.

It’s been well-documented that there’s some adjustment going on with the Disney+ MCU release schedule. Winderbaum acknowledges the role of the larger business desires with streaming. Now, with Disney CEO Bob Iger talking about narrowing down projects and the like, Marvel Studios has the luxury of really refining everything coming out.

 “I mean, frankly, in all honesty, there was a mandate to kind of create as much as we could for Disney+ as quickly as we could,” Winderbaum said in the interview. “And then there was a shift. And all of a sudden, we have to start spreading our release dates out. So, that really accounts for a lot of the delays.” “Now, we’re using that time. We’re not sitting idle. So, it’s like it stays in the oven. You can bake certain things a little more. It’s actually, I think, ultimately, it’s only going to make things better. But, most of it is just frankly shrapnel from the business.” 

Nova Coming To The MCU

Winderbaum wasn’t done breaking the Internet it seems. He told ComicBook.com that Marvel Studios is in early development on a Nova project. While things are still in the early stages, there are a lot of comics fans who would love to see any version of the character pop-up. Winderbaum clearly loves Richard Rider and all versions of the concept. (He had to be thrilled with that fun episode of What If…? Season 2.) Still, these things take time, and they’re working to get this one right. 

 “We love Nova. We are in really early development on Nova. We have a new system behind-the-scenes at Marvel Studios,” Winderbaum said. “We’re more like a traditional studio now. We’re developing more than we actually will produce. There are plans to develop Nova. I love Nova, too. I love Rich Rider, too. I hope it gets to the screen. The world is always chaos. There’s always things. You gotta conjure these things to make them happen but I would love to see a Nova show, one day.”

Why Were People Worried About Ironheart?

Fans became even more concerned about Ironheart after Bob Iger’s recent comments at a Morgan Stanley Conference. The Disney CEO admitted that their studios have been secretly cancelling movies. The focus on theatrical strategy was apparent, but with shows getting canceled across the industry left and right, fans were going to be a bit nervous. Still, it looks like a lot of the Marvel stuff is safe for now. Here’s what the executive said back then.

“You have to kill things you no longer believe in, and that’s not easy in this business, because either you’ve gotten started, you have some sunk costs, or it’s a relationship with either your employees or with the creative community,” Iger told the assembled press. “It’s not an easy thing, but you got to make those tough calls. We’ve actually made those tough calls. We’ve not been that public about it, but we’ve killed a few projects already, that we just didn’t feel were strong enough.”

Does this make you feel better about Ironheart? Let us know down in the comments!

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