In 2022, Dominique Thorne debuted as Riri Williams in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" with the intention of leading into her own "Ironheart" series for Disney+. Between the Hollywood strikes of 2023 and the reevaluation of the Multiverse Saga plans, the series only now has arrived. And despite some enjoyable elements, the production delays didn't do it any favors.
After being expelled by MIT, Riri returns home to Chicago and resumes her goal of creating her own iron suit. To procure funding for her project, she joins a heist group led by Parker Robbins, affectionately called "The Hood" by his crew for his clothing namesake that grants him powers. But when curiosity and fear start to make Riri second guess her choices, she becomes more determined to finish her suit to protect herself and those she cares about.
I wasn't immediately hooked, but it was by episode 3 that I was starting to get into it. A big theme of the series is "magic vs. technology", specifically Hood's mystic abilities against Riri's high tech suit. Both are brought to life very well by special effects; the latter brings a particular breath of fresh air as we see a "practical" suit that harkens back to Tony's early days compared to the nano capabilities seen in his final battles with Thanos.
Unfortunately, the final episode kind of wrecks the whole thing for me. While it does have a good climax and brings in Sacha Baron Cohen (who gives a more subdued performance than what people would expect from him) as a character that fans have been clamoring for since Phase Four, it doesn't really bring finality and more so a tease for season two. But at this point, I don't see that happening.
While Marvel Studios has recently decided to go "quality over quantity" approach compared to previous years, projects like "Ironheart" and "Agatha All Along" were already pretty far along in production. At least with "Agatha", the story was self-contained and had a real finale but leaves an opening to return to those characters. "Ironheart" ends similarly to "Secret Invasion" where there's huge ramifications but no guarantee of following up on them (unless "Ironheart" leads into potential Young Avengers plans like "Agatha" hints at).
Characters and performances are the real heart of the series though.
Dominque Thorne's return as Riri brings a lot of complexity to the character. It's already been evident the girl is smart. This series alone shows her building iron suits at home and inadvertently creating an AI based on her late best friend. She even gets her own "Iron Man 3" moment in episode 5 to show off her ingenuity without the suit. She's very goal oriented, which can be attributed to a past trauma. But as smart as Riri is, it also makes her closed-off and arrogant, leading her to make some questionable choices that would go on to impact her and those around her. She's kind of like Peter Parker in that way, but not as insecure. This may make her character off-putting to some viewers, especially by the end in spite of her development.
Anthony Ramos portrays Parker Robbins/The Hood, the main antagonist of the series. Ramos' portrayal here is kind of the flipside from when he portrayed Noah Diaz in "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts", where his actions are for the benefit of those he's taken under his charge. But Robbins takes darker methods to achieving these goals rooted in his deeper motivation and hood's influence. Robbins' journey parallels Riri's in a few ways. Besides the "magic vs. technology" theme, both lost their father figures in different ways and while we see Riri begin to let the people in her life help her, Robbins finds himself alone by the final episode.
Alden Ehrenreich portrays Zeke, the son of Obadiah Stane from the very first Iron Man movie. While Zeke would rather distance himself from his father's legacy, the events of the series push him into it, and based on Alden's performance, he's a chip off the old block. Something interesting that comes up though is apparently the cover story that his father died in a plane crash is still in play. You'd think the truth would have come out about it whether it be after Tony went public as Iron Man or when Natasha leaked all of SHIELD's secrets in "Winter Soldier."
Despite what works about "Ironheart", I'd overall find it hard to recommend to anyone outside of those who enjoyed Riri in "Wakanda Forever" or the MCU completionist.
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