Dominique Thorne in Ironheart

Three years after making her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Dominique Thorne returns to the MCU as Riri Williams, a kid genius in the vein of Tony Stark, except for three critical differences: she’s young, Black, and broke. Catching up with Riri after her Wakandan adventure—but not belaboring her time there, don’t worry if you don’t remember it or didn’t see it—Ironheart starts with Riri getting booted from MIT after 1) causing property damage, and 2) getting caught selling completed projects to rich kids.

The strength of Ironheart rests on Dominique Thorne, great as the ambitious, determined Riri, who won’t let anything stop her on her quest to be the “greatest inventor of her generation” and to build something “iconic”. The series, created for TV by head writer Chinaka Hodge, understands how to present Riri in the MCU, as a kid who grew up with the weirdness of superheroes, who holds “Mister Stark” in high regard, and who believes in her own power to change the world through her inventions. I just wish they let Riri have a little fun along the way.

For a show that features flying robots and magic—there’s a whole sorcery subplot—Ironheart is quite dour. Yes, Riri is still mired in grief following the deaths of her best friend and beloved stepfather. Yes, she has a chip on her shoulder because she has to work ten times harder to get half as far as white men who lack her brilliance. There are good, grounded reasons for Riri to be spiky. But there’s not much FUN in Ironheart, and ultimately, it’s a show about flying robots and magic. It can be fun! 

That dour tone also contributes to some confusion about Riri’s maturity. Thorne is 27, and she plays Riri like a grown ass woman, but Riri is supposed to be 19(ish). As in, young enough to believably do stupid things, but at no point does Riri scan that young. Again, there are good reasons for Riri to be wise beyond her years, but she is also selfish, cruel, and short-sighted in a way that makes sense for a young person still learning to grapple with consequences—it is pointed out more than once that Riri struggles with personal responsibility. But because she never SEEMS that young, it just makes Riri seem like a bigger asshole than she really is. I wish the writing allowed Riri to just be a kid, at least enough to sell her dumbassery as a product of immaturity, not contemptible moral failings.

The writing shortchanges several characters, though. Anthony Ramos stars as Obviously The Villain Parker, a guy who likes to be called “Hood” because he wears a janky cape with a hood. It whispers ominously in low tones and is definitely some kind of magical possessed object. (I do love the design of the evil cape, it is hideous, the opposite of Doctor Strange’s luxuriously beautiful garment.) There isn’t anything to Parker beyond “greedy” and “daddy issues”, which Ramos still manages to make work because he’s a good actor. But just imagine what he could do with better development!

Ditto for Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy, a guy clearly living some kind of double life. His name sounds fake, he’s a self-described “tech ethicist”—between this and Megan 2.0, it’s a bad week for tech ethicists—and he’s exiled himself to a bland suburban life all while stock piling high-grade weapons and bionics in a bunker. Dude’s got a lot going on! And Ehrenreich, because he, too, is a good actor, manages to give an engaging performance, going toe to toe with Thorne, providing some of the series’ best scenes. But Joe is criminally underwritten—it feels like a big chunk of his plotline got cut. Just as Riri never scans as young as she’s supposed to be, Joe scans as someone who should be Riri’s equal, but his role is simply too reduced to put them on even footing. 

Ironheart has that MCU TV problem of the series feeling like a movie diced at random into episodes, which only highlights the issue with underwritten characters. Because he’s dealing with magic, Parker doesn’t need to be complicated, “it’s magic, stupid” is enough of an explanation for his whole deal. But you can see the shape of a stronger, more thematically rich Ironheart that builds up Joe enough to make him a compelling foil for Riri. Especially as you can see in Joe someone who overthinks every decision, compared to Riri barely thinking anything through at all. The pieces are there, they just don’t add up to much.

Which isn’t to say Ironheart is bad. It isn’t bad. Like a lot of the MCU, it’s fine. You can see the shape of something better around the edges, but that, too, is common in the MCU. These actors deserve better writing, but when Ironheart hits, it hits HARD. There is some stuff in the final two episodes that is electrifying, not only for larger MCU implications, but also in the “good actors doing good acting” stakes. And the combination of technology and magic allows for not only creative action scenes, but also creative storytelling. Ironheart has some interesting ideas and themes, and a killer soundtrack, but in the end, it’s another mediocre Marvel. 

Ironheart episodes 1-3 are now streaming on Disney+, episodes 4-6 will premiere on July 1, 2025.