- calendar_today September 1, 2025
Marvel’s Ironheart Could Set Stage for Phase Six Stories
Ryan Coogler had an incredibly successful box office year in 2023, and his winning streak appears to be continuing into 2024. After just coming off the theatrical success of his latest feature, Sinners, the acclaimed director already has his next project in the bag. And Marvel fans, we have some more exciting news for you! Marvel has just released a sleek new trailer for its upcoming limited series Ironheart, set to premiere in June 2025.
Featuring a brand new superhero from the Marvel Comics universe, the six-episode series stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams—aka Ironheart, a teenage tech genius who was Tony Stark’s protégé in the original comic books. This will be the last series in what’s known as the MCU’s Phase Five.
Ironheart had previously been announced all the way back in December 2020 and was scheduled for release in 2023. However, Marvel has since changed its long-term plans in order to release less content per year, which helped with concerns about an oversaturated market. As a result, the official premiere date was pushed to this summer. Footage first shown at the 2024 D23 convention promised that the series would be “a crime show with an Iron Man twist at the center.” This darker, more grounded tone has set it apart from other MCU series.
The character made her first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the movie, Riri gets dragged into a conflict with Namor and his army of blue-skinned people after developing a vibranium detector during her time at MIT. She eventually bonds with Shuri during the movie over their shared interest in science, and in the process, she also designs and builds her armored suit in the spirit of Iron Man. After helping Wakanda defeat the invaders, she is forced to leave the suit behind with the Wakandans when she returns to MIT.
Setting Up Conflict Between Magic and Tech
Ironheart begins just after the events of Wakanda Forever. As per the official description, “Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri—determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins, aka ‘The Hood’ (Anthony Ramos).”
The cast is rounded out by Lyric Ross as Riri’s best friend Natalie Washington; Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy; Manny Montana as Cousin John; Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington; and Anji White as Riri’s mother, Ronnie. Additionally, Shea Coulée is joining as Slug. Jim Rash is also returning to the MCU as the dean of MIT, a character he first played back in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. Sacha Baron Cohen has also signed on for an undisclosed role.
The recently released trailer wastes no time in getting down to business. It opens with Riri breaking into a closed pizza restaurant and finding herself trapped in an elevator with no air and only two minutes left to live. The whole thing is revealed to be an orchestrated test—or, as the man behind the stunt calls it, an “interview”—by a mysterious figure known as The Hood. The villain, via an intercom, tells Riri she will suffocate in the elevator unless she can break into the room-mounted device containing a gas mask. Riri, however, refuses to comply with his demands and instead finds her inventive solution.
The Hood is so impressed by her quick thinking that he offers to take her under his wing. Riri, in true super-genius fashion, has a desire to prove herself and wants to build something that is truly “iconic.” However, she has to think twice about taking on a job with a less-than-law-abiding character. She has some hesitations, but eventually, she agrees to his terms. The decision is met with a resounding warning from her friends, most notably her bestie Natalie, who is worried about The Hood’s shady motives. That’s probably for good reason, especially after The Hood tells Riri, “Anyone who has ever accomplished anything iconic in life has had to do some questionable things to get it done.”
As you might expect, the series will likely explore this concept of gray-area decisions for those who are looking to make it big in a super-serious world. This is all the more relatable for Riri, who is a supremely intelligent teen with a very specific drive to prove herself. The question is, just how far is she willing to go to get what she wants—and what damage will it do?
Marvel has confirmed that the first three episodes of Ironheart will be released on Disney+ on June 24, 2025, with the remaining three episodes dropping weekly. It’s unknown at this time whether or not there will be a second season, but Marvel has not ruled out the possibility if the first six-episode arc is a success. Fans can check out an early look at the series’ tone, action, drama, and characters through the trailer and a newly released behind-the-scenes featurette.
Coogler’s track record of making genre-bending movies with character-centric stories bodes well for the series, and Thorne has certainly shown promise as a grounded and dynamic Riri Williams. Ironheart could very well be the next big thing in Marvel series, bringing a street-level crime drama to Iron Man’s high-tech legacy and opening the door for the MCU’s future.
