Ironheart, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest mini-series, premiered on June 24. All episodes are now available for streaming, so here’s what you need to know about the first 3 episodes.
Who Is Ironheart?
This latest project brings us the continued story of Riri Williams, “bad girl genius,” as she calls herself. She first appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and returns to us after finishing her “internship abroad,” which she calls the trip she took with the Wakandans in that movie. She has built herself a suit, kind of like Iron Man’s, with the hopes that hers will be better. However, instead of being a playboy billionaire, as Tony Stark is so often called, she’s a 19-year-old from Chicago, completing assignments for MIT classmates in exchange for money for parts.
The three-episode premiere brings us along Riri’s journey, as she gets reacquainted with an old friend, and gets acquainted with some new ones. It’s clear from the beginning that some of her new friends will become the villains of the story. Take Parker, played by Anthony Ramos, for example. He is seen as the leader of a criminal gang and wears an incredibly sinister cape that may remind you of Dr. Strange’s cape (Ramos’ character also sometimes dresses like a pirate, though, which can be sinister but is sometimes silly). That’s the comic book recipe for “villain” (plus he’s depicted as the villain in the trailers).
While the stakes of Riri’s story are not fully fleshed out in the first three episodes, the trailer reveals that Riri says, “something bigger is at stake.” Despite a true understanding of what the crux of the story will be, like any other introductory superhero story, whether that story starts at the beginning like Iron Man (2008)or we get to know the character more after their first introduction like Tom Holland’s Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)—Ironheart is a hero’s journey. Riri is trying to do something “bigger” and is pursuing it when she comes into contact with Pandora’s box of dangers and things she doesn’t understand but will pretend she does.
Just like in the Iron Man movies, Riri does some testing on her suit that ultimately ends up with a crash landing and the need to put major parts of the suit back together (though this is because the AI in her suit is on the fritz, rather than going a little too far up into the atmosphere and almost freezing to death). Plus, she has “dead family member trauma”—just like Tony’s parents or Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben—and a friend warning her not to get mixed up in the wrong things.
Parts of the show hearken back to previous MCU projects, serving as a mix between the crime-fighting hand-to-hand combat immortalized in Daredevil and other Defenders’ projects and the implications of tech immortalized in the storylines of Vision and Ultron, especially in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)and WandaVision.
For some Marvel fans, the series channels what something like Ms. Marvel does — which The Falcon and the Winter Soldier doesn’t: giving the superhero a personality beyond just throwing punches and taking hits
There are moments of genuine Chicago community that Riri and Ironheart pass through. There are references that are relatable to those of us who are Riri’s age, like Spy Kids (2001) and Thing from The Addams Family (1991). (Or like a possible connection to Rihanna, who goes by @badgalriri on Instagram—Riri calling herself “bad girl genius” may be a nod to this for eagle-eared viewers.)
None of those elements is necessarily a negative criticism. Part of superhero lore, and why we’ll watch three different Spider-Man trilogies over twenty years, is watching the same story told slightly differently, over and over. Superhero origin stories follow patterns, and that pattern doesn’t necessarily negate Riri’s journey as Ironheart.
Fan and Critical Reactions
Some fans do prefer the throwing punches and taking names, without any personality, though what makes the brand of media from the MCU unique is the banter between characters, the relatability, and the humor in it all. Riri is just as self-aware as other Marvel characters are: An MIT dean calls her on her BS when she gives a high-and-mighty monologue about progress and technology. There are also times when moments miss the mark. The most glaring example might be how silly Parker looks while wearing a cape that stands out like a sore thumb from the other more … “urban” … outfits around him.
But the series, at least the first few episodes, is good. This might be because Ryan Coogler is behind it. The director behind this year’s smash success, Sinners (2025), served as the executive producer for the show, bringing his brand of artistry to the project.
However, fans excited for the show took to social media to criticise Disney and Marvel for their rollout of the show. Some were upset by the lack of promotion for the series, citing that perhaps it was because Ironheart is Black. Comment sections on posts from official accounts have been spammed with extremely negative comments.
One X-user tweeted a scene from Iron Man 2 (2010), in which Obadiah Stane criticizes his employee for failing to do what Tony Stark could with a box of scraps. Commenters continued the conversation by questioning why Riri is poor if she’s so smart, suggesting she could have invented something. Others commented that she complained of being held back because she’s a woman and Black, and then cite that she also steals and cheats and got kicked out of school.
And yet, some fans have praised the show for being “unapologetically Black,” or for simply being fun — with many saying Dominique Thorne, who plays Riri, is “doing a great job.”
This doesn’t even address the role of Shea Couleé, known from RuPaul’s Drag Race, the first drag star in the MCU. Couleé’s character, Slug, even uses they/them pronouns. Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., even called Thorne the day of the show’s release to congratulate her on her work. Downey seems to be all-in on the new era of the superhero he brought into this world.
Many critics and reviewers are quick to judge the series negatively. But it’s worth giving it a watch because there are so many impactful moments.
A Note on Marvel’s Phases
However, Ironheart brings Marvel’s Phase Five to a close. Marvel has broken their projects up into phases. Each phase transitions into the next phase. You can find a breakdown here. If Ironheart ends Phase Five, that means Fantastic Four: First Steps, to be released in July, is the beginning of Phase Six.
This new phase is rumored to include Downey’s return to the MCU as villain Doctor Doom and some combination of the Avengers, the “New” Avengers from Thunderbolts* (2025), and the Young Avengers, which will probably be made up of people like Wanda’s sons Billy and Tommy, Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye (played by Hailee Steinfeld), Ms. Marvel, and others, possibly including Ironheart. Again, these are rumors and really can’t be confirmed until those movies come out.
The Ironheart series is only six episodes, but it is rumored that it will have huge implications for the MCU. Maybe the next big crisis or villain is introduced. Or maybe Ironheart will be recruited to an Avengers team.
If you’d like to avoid spoilers for the first three episodes of Ironheart, please stop reading here. We’ve included a few more paragraphs below, but, again, click away now if you want to avoid spoilers. Come back to us once you’ve watched the episodes!
Part of what makes Ironheart successful is its connection with the Iron Man storylines, like the connection to Obadiah Stane (although that’s not what he wants, Joe could still become a villain).
As with any MCU project, fans love to openly discuss their theories and observations. A lot of the focus has been on N.A.T.A.L.I.E., Riri’s AI model that seems to have been generated from part of her own brain. Just like Tony’s artificial intelligence assistant systems, Riri’s AI is an acronym. NATALIE stands for Neuro-Autonomous Technical Assistant and Laboratory Intelligence Entity.
Not only is her acronym a silly combination of words that somehow work, but it is also the name of someone Riri was close to. One of Tony’s most well-known AI models is J.A.R.V.I.S., which stands for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. But if you’ve never seen the series Agent Carter, which follows Peggy Carter’s life in S.H.I.E.L.D. after Steve dies in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), you may not know that J.A.R.V.I.S. is named after someone also: Jarvis, who was the Starks’ loyal butler.
Beyond her name, what’s most impressive about Natalie is the tech that Riri uses. For all the criticisms about her smarts and her capacity to be similar, if not better than Tony Stark, she created Natalie. Natalie has thoughts, feelings, memories, and panic attacks, created from Riri downloading information from her brain to fix the AI in her suit. She accidentally created some version of an autonomous being. The last time the MCU had an AI with thoughts and feelings, Tony created Vision. But Vision needed an infinity stone to live. And while Natalie is tethered to Riri’s tech, Riri created Natalie by herself, without the use of otherworldly powers.
*A note here: the other last time the MCU saw an AI with thoughts and feelings, that was created accidentally, brought us Ultron, who went on a murderous rampage. Natalie was created with different intentions (as was Ultron), but there is still something that feels a little bit off with Natalie. And Riri sees that too — when she refuses to recreate her stepdad for her mom, and when she keeps Natalie at arm’s length at first. Maybe Natalie will be more like a Vision. But she still could be more like an Ultron. Either is interesting and we’ll probably learn more in the next Marvel phase.
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