Riri Williams was a breakout character from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her MIT-trained skills allowed her fit right in with Shuri and the rest of the Wakandan geniuses, but we haven’t seen any sign of her since. Thankfully, that will all change with the premiere of Ironheart, her own spinoff series on Disney+.
However, Ironheart was a victim of Marvel’s new “quality over quantity” mandate, and sat on the shelves for years. But a new teaser from Disney Upfronts reveals just what’s in store for one of Marvel’s newest heroes. Check out the trailer below.
The trailer begins with Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) trapped in an elevator filled with toxic smoke while the voice of Parker Robbins, aka The Hood (Anthony Ramos) describes it as her “interview.” She could hack into a device that contains a gas mask, but Riri chooses a different strategy: hacking the elevator itself.
We then see Riri refer to her “internship abroad,” meaning her foray into Wakanda, and how she’s looking to make something “iconic,” but The Hood warns her that people who are iconic often have to do questionable things. The main conflict of this series seems to be her tenuous alliance with The Hood, which may not be the smartest choice.
Riri Williams in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
It certainly looks like Riri achieves that iconic thing, because we see her don a new white version of the Iron-Man-esque armor she wore in Wakanda Forever, and we even see it in action, completely flipping a truck on the road. Robert Downey, Jr. may be coming back in Avengers: Doomsday, but Ironheart is bringing that classic Iron Man action back.
Fans shouldn’t take the delay of this series from its original 2023 planned release date to be a mark on its quality. In 2024, Marvel exec Brad Winderbaum revealed on ComicBook.com's Phase Zero podcast the slowdown was just an effort to give the show more time to develop. “We're not sitting idle. So, it stays in the oven,” he said. “You can bake certain things a little more. It's actually, I think, ultimately, it's only going to make things better.”
Ironheart will premiere on June 24 with a three-episode premiere at the now-traditional time of 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, so settle in to binge the first half of the show all at once.
