Watch out, Iron Man, there’s a new armored superhero in the MCU.
Marvel Studios gave audiences a sneak peek at the upcoming Disney+ series “Ironheart” on Friday at the D23 Expo. The series continues the story of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who made her MCU debut in 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and the footage was very reminiscent of that film’s aesthetic.
“After my internship abroad, I felt stuck,” Riri says of her time in Wakanda. “I want to build something undeniable.”
But she needs “cash,” she says, and that leads her to Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), who wears a magical hood that gives him access to the dark arts – which leads to a conflict between him and the scientifically gifted Riri. At one point, Parker faces off against Alden Ehrenrich’s character Joe McGillicuddy.
“Everyone who has ever achieved anything in life has had to do questionable things to get there,” says Parker.
There are plenty of soaring shots of Williams in her Ironheart supersuit, including an epic sequence where she smashes a truck in slow motion. The footage ends with another bright suit hurtling toward the camera.
In “Wakanda Forever,” Riri is a super-smart MIT student from Chicago who invented her Power Armor suit and a vibranium detector that attracts the attention of Wakanda’s leaders, the underwater king Namor, and the CIA. Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) find Riri and protect her from Namor’s warriors from the water city of Talokan. During an attack on Wakanda by Namor’s forces, Riri’s life is saved by Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), who dies in the water war. Riri allies with the Wakandans to defeat Namor, and she creates a suit of flying armor for Okoye called the Midnight Angel.
The “Ironheart” cast also includes Lyric Ross as Riri’s girlfriend Natalie Washington, Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington, Anji White as Riri’s mother, Manny Montana as Cousin John and Shea Couleé as Slug.
Riri was originally created by writer Brian Michael Bendis, who brought Miles Morales’ Spider-Man to life, and artist Mike Deodato. The miniseries was created by Chinaka Hodge, with Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes each directing three episodes of the six-part series.
