3.5 out of 5 stars

Riri “Ironheart” Williams (Dominique Thorne) was introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), but this Disney+ miniseries provides the Marvel whizz-kid with added backstory. A genius MIT student, Riri dreams of becoming bigger than “Gates, Jobs, Pym, and Stark combined”, thanks to her advanced Iron Man-style suits. We’re reacquainted with her just as she’s ousted from MIT for helping her peers cheat in return for payments to fund her science projects. Riri may be brilliant but she’s prone to destroying her surroundings, so she grabs her prototype mech suit and flies back to her modest Chicago neighbourhood.

The opening two episodes of Ironheart spend too long introducing audiences to its world. This series, premiering almost three years after Riri’s MCU introduction thanks to various delays, is less than ideal, but showrunner Chinaka Hodge does a good job reintroducing the character to those who may not remember her time in Wakanda. Riri, much like Tony Stark, is presented less as a superhero and more as an antihero too concerned with fundraising for her own experiments than doing good in the community.

Ironheart feels more like the grounded, street-level television that Marvel’s often hinted at. With no aliens or billionaire sponsors, Riri’s struggling to fund her world-changing technology. In a world of invasions, body-snatchers, and sorcerers, it’s nice to see the MCU take its characters back to their roots and not repeat superhero formulas.

Being back in Chicago and under the watchful eye of her mother, Ronnie (Anji White), doesn’t keep Riri out of trouble. In her almost never-ending quest for money, she starts working with Parker Robbins/The Hood (Anthony Ramos) and his local crew (who include actors Eric André and Shea Coulée). Parker doesn’t just want to be associated with The Hood, as he exclusively robs the area’s elite, inviting a Robin Hood comparison with his signature caped look. But this cape is more than just an homage to a legend; it has its own mystical powers which become clearer over time. Suspend belief that a local low-level criminal would get away with wandering around Chicago in a cape without being ridiculed.

The early episodes are dedicated to a heist, and it’s one of the series’ weakest aspects. Parker Robbins isn’t captivating enough to keep viewers engaged, while his gang of hackers and tech kids fails to make an impact, despite likeable performances. The poorly written and performed heist plot may turn people off, when, in fact, Ironheart has so much more to give in its back half….

Ironheart excels when it’s dealing with the emotional weight of Riri’s past trauma. Under her self-assured façade, she’s still dealing with the loss of her stepfather, Gary (LaRoyce Hawkins), and best friend, Natalie (Lyric Ross), in a drive-by shooting five years prior. This trauma is displayed when Riri accidentally manifests her deceased best friend as her holographic A.I. interface. Riri’s inner turmoil and the battle between financial gains and moral obligations deliver some of the strongest moments. Sadly, Disney/Marvel seem obliged to ruin emotional beats with laser gun fights and overlong villainous speeches. Riri’s more layered and complicated than many other heroes in the MCU, making her a fascinating lead who is perhaps too interesting to be shoved into a six-episode miniseries.

It takes some time for Ironheart to find its groove and make us care about the characters. It’s not until mid-season that Ironheart understands what it wants to say, adding another dimension to an already stuffed narrative. The writing struggles by trying to explore too many undercooked plots and characters, darting between different genres, characters, and storylines. The addition of magic, witchcraft, and spirituality suddenly gives the narrative drive and purpose, but it has to balance that with the other side quests.

The MCU continues to fail to understand television pacing and editing, making Ironheart feel more like a film edited into TV episodes than a narrative made for an episodic format. The hard edits used throughout not only make some of the plots hard to follow, but they also make the dialogue seem much clunkier than it was likely intended initially. Ironheart, by its last two episodes, has an identity crisis as well as an editing one. Is this a heist show involving a tech genius, or a series about magic colliding with science? Does this want to be a backdoor into a Doctor Strange spin-off or Riri Williams’ origin story? Ironheart isn’t sure and doesn’t have the time to do everything it wants to.

As is common for Marvel, Ironheart has a villain problem. As the episodes unravel, the real bad guys of the series make themselves known. Anthony Ramos (Twisters) gives a poor performance as The Hood, a sympathetic robber who wastes too much time on pompous speeches. Bumbling scientist Joe McGillicuddy’s (Alden Ehrenreich) story loses its way midway through as the short episode run struggles to fit in his whole character arc.

A villainous addition late in the narrative (which I won’t spoil) not only gives the show purpose but also threatens to do something big for the MCU. How much this villain lands depends on how he’s used in the future of Marvel on film and TV, however, so it’s either a genius addition to the universe or a waste of a character fans have long wanted to see on-screen.

Mostly, Ironheart feels detached from the broader MCU. Minus one character’s connection to Iron Man and some throwaway lines, no prior knowledge is required. For fans of the franchise, Tony Stark’s inner battle between good and evil looms over Riri’s decisions, but if you’re not well-versed in the lore, Ironheart still has a lot to love. It’s a relief not to have to research the entire MCU back catalogue to understand a quick gag or know who a side character is.

Ironheart does a good job setting up its own world and characters, but struggles to know what to do with them. With only six episodes to explore Riri and her story, the miniseries struggles to balance all the concepts and subplots, so come the finale, Ironheart feels like an MCU filler reliant on future material to deliver a worthy payoff.

USA | 2025 | 6 EPISODES | 2.39:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

writers: Chinaka Hodge, Malarie Howard, Francesca Gailes, Jacqueline J. Gailes, Amir Sulaiman, Cristian Martinez (based on Marvel Comics).
directors: Sam Bailey & Angela Barnes.
starring: Dominique Thorne, Lyric Ross, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam, Jim Rash, Anji White, Eric André, Cree Summer, Shea Couleé, Zoe Terraces, Shakira Barrera, Anthony Ramos, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Paul Calderón & Sacha Baron Cohen.