After a long delay,Ironheartis finally set to arrive on Disney+. Thenew trailerreleased confirms the first three episodes will drop together on July 21, 2025. Fans have waited three years to see Riri Williams / Ironheart’s story continue following 2022’sBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever.Dominique Thornestars in the upcoming series, which is being described as a battle between technology and magic. Riri Williams and her armored suit will face off against Parker Robbins / The Hood,played byAnthony Ramos.
Ryan Coogler, who introduced Riri Williams / Ironheart into the Marvel Cinematic Universe inBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverand is an executive producer onIronheart, sat down withMarvel.comto discuss the upcoming Disney+ series following the trailer’s debut. Coogler highlighted thatIronheartwill take Riri Williams, who he describes as a street-level hero, and pit her against The Hood, a character rooted in magic instead of another armored suit.
Coogler compares Riri Williams' world to that ofDaredevil: Born Again, but what happens when a massive magical or cosmic threat from a project likeWandaVisionorDoctor Strangemakes its way to that corner? To that, Coogler said:
“Riri is definitely in conversation with a street-level show likeDaredevil. You’ve got characters trying — both heroes and villains — to make do with what they have. Then you combine that with cosmic Marvel, characters who would be at home in ‘Doctor Strange’or ‘WandaVision.’ That [mix] of street-level Marvel and magical Marvel is a pretty crazy combination.”
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The series will be modeled more on 30-minute comedies than a traditional superhero series.
Ironheart Isn’t Trying to be “The New Iron Man,” But Her Story is a Classic Iron Man Tale
Even though Ironheart is a tech-based hero, Riri Williams seems to have more in common with a character like Daredevil or Spider-Man than Iron Man. She is a working-class character who doesn’t have the resources that Tony Stark had to make his suit. Riri Williams must work with what she has, sometimes dumpster diving for parts. That need for money and parts to build her suit pulls her into the orbit of a criminal like The Hood. This positionsIronheartto deliver on the MCU’s promise thatThe Avengersmade back in 2012 — blurring the lines between genres where fantastical and grounded elements can come together in their own story.
Some might have seen Ironheart as a successor to Iron Man, but the creative team behindIronheartdoesn’t. They acknowledge some similarities between Tony Stark and Riri Williams, but see her own distinctive character, not inheriting the mantle of Iron Man from Tony Stark, like Shuri did as the Black Panther orSam Wilson as Captain America. Even thoughIronheartmight have elements similar to projects likeDaredevil: Born AgainandWandaVision, the character is not like Iron Man. Coogler said:
“That comes from publishing. It was very quickly realized that she was her own character in her own lane. There’s a difference between [Riri] and maybe a Captain America or a Black Panther, where a mantle is being passed. This is a character who was obviously influenced by Tony Stark and inspired by him, but she is also very different and doing her own thing.”
Even though Ironheart will be her own character, in many ways, Marvel has found a way to tell an iconic Iron Man story that the MCU never could. For much of his comic run,Iron Man’s archenemy was The Mandarin, and part of their conflict was the battle between technology and magic. But that wasn’t fully realized on-screen, given that the twist inIron Man 3was that The Mandarin was an impostor and the “real” version of the character was not introduced untilShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,following Tony Stark’s death. With Ironheart vs. the Hood, Marvel is getting to put a new spin on the Iron Man vs the Mandarin conflict that films never could. And maybe in a way that’s more effective and impactful than it could’ve been otherwise.
