5 Things to Know Before ‘Ironheart’

Riri Williams is taking flight.

Marvel Television’s Ironheart is almost here, reintroducing Dominique Thorne’s young, genius inventor from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The six-episode TV series follows Riri as she returns to her hometown of Chicago, and the result is a twisty tale of science and magic, chronicling how Riri fights to forge her legacy.

Here, we break down five things to know before Ironheart premieres July 24 on Disney+.

1. Riri Williams is stepping into the spotlight.

Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato, Riri Williams has a brief but impactful history in Marvel Comics, starting with INVINCIBLE IRON MAN (2015) #7. Introduced as a teenage genius, Riri studies at MIT, where she uses her brains and scrappy ingenuity to craft a state-of-the-art armored suit.

Riri joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and now, she is headlining her own series with Ironheart. Thorne says she jumped at the chance to explore Riri’s next chapter, and the show reveals more about her past as she fights to build her future.

“What was interesting for me was how different Riri’s story and entrance into the MCU was in comparison to other characters,” Thorne says. “After bringing Riri to life in the world of Wakanda, we had an amazing opportunity to follow that up with a deep dive into the character that allows for the exploration of her origin story. We’re not necessarily going back in time; it’s more of catching up and seeing the effects of how those first pivotal moments of her life have shaped her, and seeing the person that she’s trying to become.”

2. A new antagonist rises.

Riri’s quest for greatness puts her on a collision course with Parker Robbins, aka the Hood (Anthony Ramos). Parker made his comics debut in THE HOOD (2002) #1, created by Brian K. Vaughan, Kyle Hotz, and Eric Powell. On the page, Parker is a young criminal who acquires a mysterious red cloak, granting him demonic powers.

On screen, Riri and Parker have a lot in common, and they initially team up on jobs around Chicago, bonding over their shared ambitions. But Riri soon discovers that her charming new ally might be hiding dark secrets.

“Parker believes truly that what he is doing is good," Ramos teased at D23 Expo in 2022. "He loves his people.”

3. Riri’s story picks up after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

MCU fans first met Riri in 2022’s Wakanda Forever, when the young MIT student struck up a friendship with Shuri. Ironheart follows Riri as she leaves school and returns to her hometown of Chicago, determined to make her mark on the world. There, she reconnects with family and friends, while also forging new relationships. (The cast includes Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam, and Anji White.)

Black Panther and Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler returns as an executive producer, and Coogler’s company Proximity Media produced Ironheart in association with Marvel Television.

“It was really great to have Ryan as an executive producer,” head writer and executive producer Chinaka Hodge says. “He really helped with the storytelling of Ironheart. The comic book and Wakanda Forever did a really great job of laying a backstory for Riri and her origin story. In our series, we’re telling the story of what happens the days after Wakanda, in the formative years of this Super Hero.”

4. Riri isn’t following in Iron Man’s footsteps.

At first glance, Riri has a lot in common with the late, great Tony Stark. After all, both heroes are brilliant engineers and inventors, and they use their genius intellect to build life-saving technology and metal suits. But they both come from wildly different backgrounds, and the younger, scrappier Riri doesn’t have Tony’s wealth or influence as the head of Stark Industries.

Thorne and the filmmakers wanted Riri to stand on her own in Ironheart, and the series follows her as she takes her first steps toward being a hero. Just like in the comics, Riri isn’t taking over the mantle of Iron Man, and she’s eager to craft her own path in the world. (Still, Tony Stark himself — Robert Downey Jr. — has given the show his stamp of approval, and the actor recently crashed a Good Morning America interview with Thorne to declare, “Iron Man loves Ironheart.”)

“A lot of people think that she’s a successor to the Iron Man legacy, but in the comic, Riri and Tony had a friendship,” Coogler explains. “He was kind of advising her, and eventually, she got her own identity as Ironheart.”

“It’s really about her proving herself and achieving her own legacy,” executive producer Zoie Nagelhout adds.

5. The show blends magic and technology.

Riri usually works with gadgets and circuits, but Ironheart finds her entangled with the more magical side of the MCU. Hodge and Nagelhout were particularly interested in exploring the tension between the scientific and the mystical, as Riri realizes her world might be bigger — and stranger — than she expected.

The result is a series that’s grounded and down-to-earth — but also not afraid to veer into the fantastic. As Coogler puts it: “That [mix] of street-level Marvel and magical Marvel is a pretty crazy combination.”

Marvel Television’s Ironheart launches with a 3-episode premiere June 24 at 6 p.m. PT/ 9 p.m. ET, only on Disney+.