Ironheart (miniseries)

Ironheart is an American television miniseries created by Chinaka Hodge for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. It is the 14th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from Marvel Studios and was produced under its Marvel Television label. Sharing continuity with the films of the MCU, the series begins after the events of the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and follows MIT student Riri Williams as she returns home to Chicago where she discovers secrets that pit technology against magic. Hodge served as head writer for the series, which was also produced by Proximity Media.

Dominique Thorne reprises her role as Riri Williams / Ironheart from Wakanda Forever, starring alongside Lyric Ross, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam, Anji White, Jim Rash, Eric André, Cree Summer, Sonia Denis, Shea Couleé, Zoe Terakes, Shakira Barrera, Anthony Ramos, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Paul Calderón, and Sacha Baron Cohen. The series was announced in December 2020, along with Thorne's casting. Hodge was hired in April 2021, with additional castings revealed in February 2022. Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes joined to direct in April 2022. Filming began at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, by early June, before moving to Chicago in late October, and concluded by early November.

Ironheart premiered on Disney+ with its first three episodes on June 24, 2025, followed by its other three episodes on July 1. It is the conclusion of Phase Five of the MCU. The series received generally positive reviews from critics, but became subject to a review bombing campaign ahead of its release.

Premise

Following the events of the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), MIT student Riri Williams returns home to Chicago where she becomes entangled with the enigmatic Parker Robbins / The Hood, discovering secrets that pit technology against magic and setting her on a path of danger and adventure.

Cast and characters

• Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart:
  An MIT student and genius inventor from Chicago who created a suit of armor like the one built by Tony Stark / Iron Man. Thorne explained that Ironheart would give a "deeper dive" into Riri after the character was previewed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), saying the series helps explain her background and upbringing that made her the person seen in Wakanda Forever, as well as dealing with the events of that film and how they change her outlook on being Ironheart. She read Ironheart comic books by Brian Michael Bendis and Eve Ewing to help understand the character's relationship with her father. Executive producer Sev Ohanian said Riri would be going down a "break[ing] bad" path, similar to the antiheroes Walter White from the Breaking Bad franchise and Tony Soprano from the television series The Sopranos (1999–2007). Alyse Elna Lewis portrays a young Riri.
• Lyric Ross as Natalie Washington and N.A.T.A.L.I.E.:
  Natalie is Riri's deceased best friend that she turns into her in-suit artificial intelligence (AI) N.A.T.A.L.I.E., short for Neuro Autonomous Technical Assistant and Laboratory Intelligence Entity. Kent Churchill portrays a young Natalie.
• Manny Montana as John: Parker Robbins's cousin and a knife-wielding member of his gang
• Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington: Riri's neighbor and friend, and Natalie's brother
• Anji White as Ronnie Williams: Riri's mother
• Jim Rash as Professor Wilkes: A teacher at MIT
• Eric André as Stuart Clarke / Rampage: A tech specialist and member of Parker's gang
• Cree Summer as Madeline Stanton: Ronnie's flamboyant friend, Zelma's mother, and a former Kamar-Taj trainee who runs a joint candy and magic shop
• Sonia Denis as Clown: A pyrotechnics specialist and member of Parker's gang
• Shea Couleé as Slug:
  A hacker from Madripoor and member of Parker's gang. Slug is a former drag queen who wants to redistribute wealth from the privileged to the Chicago community, and uses non-binary pronouns.
• Zoe Terakes as Jeri Blood: The muscle of Parker's gang and former athlete-turned-street fighter who is Roz's brother
• Shakira Barrera as Roz Blood:
  The muscle of Parker's gang and former athlete-turned-street fighter who is Jeri's sister. Barrera previously played Agent King in the seventh season of the Marvel Television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2020).
• Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins / The Hood:
  A gang leader and former ally-turned-enemy of Riri's who dons a cloak that allows him to tap into dark arts and magic. Ramos said Parker was complex and a misfit who "wants to take in other misfits and show the world that you looked at us as outcasts but we're going to end up on top". Parker is from the Chicago neighborhood Humboldt Park, being raised by his mother, who is part of the Puerto Rican street gang-turned activist organization, the Young Lords; in the comics, Parker is from New York City. Executive producer Ryan Coogler said Parker and Riri are two sides of the same coin, and the two bond over their shared quest for greatness.
• Alden Ehrenreich as Ezekiel "Zeke" Stane:
  A tech ethicist and black market arms dealer who is the son of Stark's late mentor-turned-nemesis Obadiah Stane and changed his identity to "Joe McGillicuddy".
• Regan Aliyah as Zelma Stanton: Riri's friend and Madeline's daughter who practices the mystic arts
• Paul Calderón as Arthur Robbins: The CEO of Artworks and Parker's father
• Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto:
  A powerful extra-dimensional demon who originally gave Parker his cloak. According to executive producer Zoie Nagelhout, Mephisto allowed for an "interesting and heightened way to tie together the characters' journeys" in the series, particularly Riri's. Cohen worked with trainer Alfonso Moretti to achieve a more "buff" physique quickly for the role. The rapid change in Cohen's body because of his training required a few alterations to his Mephisto costume to still be able to fit him.

Recurring in the series are Harper Anthony as Landon, a neighborhood boy who charges Riri for odd jobs; LaRoyce Hawkins as Gary Williams, Riri's late stepfather; Tanya Christiansen as Heather, Zeke's neighbor; and Zhaleh as Sheila Zarate, the CEO of TNNL. Rapper Saba appears as himself.

Episodes

Production

Development

A film based on the Marvel Comics character Riri Williams / Ironheart had a script written by Jada Rodriguez by July 2018, when it was listed on the Black List. In December 2020, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced the Disney+ television series Ironheart. In April 2021, Chinaka Hodge was hired to serve as head writer of the series. In March 2022, series actor Anthony Ramos revealed that Ryan Coogler, the director of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Panther (2018) and its sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), was involved in the production; star Dominique Thorne first appears as Riri Williams / Ironheart in Wakanda Forever, and Coogler's production company Proximity Media was set to work alongside Marvel Studios on select Disney+ series as part of a television deal with the Walt Disney Company. In April, Coogler's Proximity Media was confirmed to be producing the series, when Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes joined to each direct three episodes of the series. Ironheart consists of six episodes, and was released under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Television" label. Executive producers on the series include Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, and Zoie Nagelhout; Proximity Media's Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian; and Hodge. Eve Ewing, a writer for Ironheart in the comics, was a consulting producer.

Because Ironheart was developed prior to Marvel Studios' late 2023 shift towards multi-season television series, they were taking a "wait-and-see approach" by May 2025 regarding if it would get a second season.

Writing

Malarie Howard, Francesca Gailes, Jacqueline J. Gailes, Amir Sulaiman, and Cristian Martinez were writers on the series alongside Hodge, with the Gailes both previously writing for the Marvel Studios series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). Ironheart's writers' room for the series was set to begin in May 2021. Feige felt the conflict between Riri's technology and the magic of Parker Robbins / The Hood made the series unique within the MCU. Coogler said Ironheart would take the realism of the MCU's street-level television series such as Daredevil (2015–2018) and combine it with the mystical side of the franchise, as Ironheart features characters that Coogler felt "would be at home" in projects such as the film Doctor Strange (2016) and the miniseries WandaVision (2021).