‘Ironheart’ Has Kinks to Work Out, But Flies High Enough

Since Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has examined which heroes will step up now that most of the original characters have bowed out. In the case of Iron Man, this question has mostly been answered in Spider-Man, but fans of the armored Avenger’s comics know his actual successor comes in Riri “Ironheart” Williams, introduced in 2016 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato, Jr.

Marvel brought Riri into the cinematic fold with 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with the promise of her eventually headlining her own spinoff. (Currently, it’s the only flag planted by that movie which has actually come to fruition.) Despite that real-world, three-year wait, it doesn’t feel like much time has passed between Wakanda and the Ironheart show. As the series opens, Riri (Dominique Thorne) is still interested in building Iron Man-esque suits of armor after she got a taste of it throughout Wakanda, and has no trouble using MIT’s resources (and her classmates’ money) to achieve her dreams.

Within the first minutes of the pilot, we see the fruits of Riri’s genius when she takes her newest suit to fly out of MIT immediately after her expulsion. Watching her fly may evoke memories of watching Iron Man take his own test flight for the first time, mixed with the youthful energy found in the recent Spider-Man films. The suit itself is impressive for something made on a TV budget; there’s a weight and sense of realness to it not seen in this franchise in ages, made all the more impressive by how often it’s around on screen.

Riri’s flight home (and subsequent crash in the middle of the street) also draws the attention of Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins, who leads a gang of thieves and wears a red hood that grants him some magical abilities. He quickly deduces she needs money and recognition and plays on both to get her to join his crew, made up of various specialists that’ve been recruited by Parker and his lieutenant John (Manny Montana). The members of Parker’s crew are also outcasts or have ambitions that require some cash, but unlike Riri, they’re more willing to own that they’re criminals.

This makes for an interesting dynamic as she helps them pull off their heists against the elites of Chicago while growing increasingly wary of Parker’s endgame. Riri may not be as morally gray as the recent New Avengers, but that doesn’t stop her show from constantly challenging her about her complicity in the crew’s actions despite her more noble intentions. Thorne’s as compelling here as she was in Wakanda, and she’s allowed to breathe more life into Riri and go on a more complicated hero’s journey than what’s generally been allowed of most younger heroes in the MCU.

Unlike Kamala Khan or Peter Parker, Riri doesn’t have or want a superheroic mentor to help solve her problems. (Her brief, eventual answer to a “call Wakanda” solution is a funny showcase of Thorne’s comedic talents.) They may share half a name, but Ironheart has a genuine lack of interest in exploring how or whether Riri would actually be an Iron Man successor. Instead, series creator Chinaka Hodge prioritizes how her time in Wakanda and return home are all weighing on her and affect relationships with her various loved ones, including mother Ronnie (Anji White) and friend Natalie (Lyric Ross).

Ironheart is being released in a pair of three-episode chunks, but it won’t take long to wish it were cut into a movie. This criticism can be levied at most live-action MCU shows, but it sticks out here by the way the supporting cast pop in and out without any real arcs of their own and mainly react to Riri and Parker’s actions. While Riri is well-defined, Parker himself is more of a mixed bag; Ramos has enough charisma to buy that he’s put a team together, but his hood never really imbues him with menace and it becomes increasingly clear he was put in the show as a gateway toward what he and other characters could become in the future.

By that point, though, it’s hard to know when or even if these characters will turn up again, given Marvel’s contractions and general uncertainty as it heads toward its next big finish. As far as recent additions go, Ironheart has enough that works that it’d be nice to see Riri and company return in the right format that fits them.

The first three Ironheart episodes are now streaming on Disney+.

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