When several new Marvel series were announced as part of future Disney+ programming, there were quite a few surprises in store for comic book fans. One of the most important was Ironheart. The series, described as the story of “the creator of the most advanced armor since Iron Man,” will star Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams.
You may have heard of Riri when she made waves in the Marvel universe in 2016 in the pages of The Invincible Iron Man. She featured Tony Stark as her mentor, teamed up with Spider-Man Miles Morales and Ms. Marvel, and even faced Thanos. And now, Ironheart will appear in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before jumping into his own series. So let’s meet the cool teen to get an idea of what Disney+ may have in store for us.
Who is Ironheart/Riri Williams?
Discovered as a prodigy at a very young age, Riri Williams was determined to be an astronaut until her life was changed forever by an act of violence. When Tony Stark could no longer be Iron Man, Riri stepped into his place in an advanced high-tech outfit. that she built herself.
Ironheart may be just a teenager, but the talented inventor is following in the footsteps of Tony Stark and paving his own way.
The Origins of Ironheart
Riri Williams was a bright 15-year-old student at MIT when she dared to build a high-tech armor like Iron Man’s. Working in her bedroom with parts she borrowed from campus labs, she soon succeeded. However, on her first attempt at superheroicity, her costume fell apart around her. Undaunted, Riri continued to work on the reverse-engineered Mark-41 armor and finally caught the attention of Tony Stark himself.
Realizing that he needed an artificial intelligence to make the most of the armor, he cheekily asked Stark for one. He was intrigued, but the AI was excessively expensive. Soon, the events of Civil War II took his attention away, and Iron Man was left incapacitated when the conflict broke out. Still, Stark, recognizing Riri as a kindred spirit and the future of superheroes, had planned ahead. He had created an advanced AI construct of himself to help her while recovering in a coma. Riri finally had the AI she needed and her outfit was complete.
The cool teen was inspired to become an armored heroine when her stepfather and best friend were killed in a drive-by shooting. Determined to find a more appropriate superhero name than Iron Girl or Iron Maiden, Riri settled on Ironheart in honor of her fallen loved ones.
Riri acts as Ironheart with the love and support of his mother in Chicagowho will never stop caring about the young superheroine.
Ironheart powers and abilities
Riri Williams es an engineering prodigy with a super genius intellect. His armor is on par with Stark’s advanced suit, and he relies on his digitized AI consciousness to teach and guide her in its use.
The thrusters on his hands and feet give Ironheart the power to fly. In her arsenal are explosive grenades, lasers, precision missiles and much more, designed and built by Riri herself. After her suit was destroyed by Thanos, Riri designed Ironheart 3.0 with a magenta and black design different from Iron Man’s classic red and gold. She’s constantly tweaking the engineering and adding new technology, like an experimental stealth mode and power cells. solar.
The Champions, a young team that included Miles Morales and Kamala Khan, soon took an interest in Ironheart. Riri, who doesn’t usually make many friends, was nervous about joining her ranks, but she quickly adapted. Her adventures as part of the team took her around the world, to space and even to another dimension. Her inventions and her quick thinking made her an invaluable member of the team.
He became independent for a time and returned to MIT, where he built a new AI with a design based on the friend he had lost. But a new law banning teens from being superheroes brought her back to the Champions as they navigated the new normal together.
The villains of Ironheart
Riri is relatively new to the crime-fighting scene, but she jumped in carefully. She first she faced the ninjas led by an Inhuman with the ability to control technology. Later, as part of the Champions, he faced formidable enemies such as Thanos and Man-Thing.
When Ironheart returned to Chicago on his solo adventures, the mystical villain Midnight Fire took an interest in her. He offered her a position with the Ten Rings, a global organization of mercenaries. Riri rejected it. She tracked down Midnight Fire with the help of Wasp Stoppable, Doctor Strange, and Shuri and Okoye of Wakanda, eventually finding him, along with his biological father.
Ironheart on television and video games
- TV: Disney+ won’t mark the first time we’ve seen Ironheart on the small screen. She was the protagonist of Marvel Rising: Ironheart, a 2019 animated film that told her origin story in the Marvel Rising universe. She was played by Sofia Wylie. She returned for another animated adventure a few months later, Battle of the Bands. In 2020, Ironheart, again voiced by Wylie, appeared in Spider-Man: Maximum Venom on Disney XD.
- Games: Riri has also participated in mobile games such as Avengers Academy, Marvel Future Fight, Marvel Puzzle Quest, and Marvel Strike Force. He was also playable in Lego Marvel Superheroes 2 with the Champions DLC character pack.
Riri Williams en Black Panther: Wakanda Forever y el UCM
Riri seems willing to take the place of Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although apparently he will not have the help of Tony Stark as a mentor after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Whether he’s part of the multiverse, a fractured timeline, or a new hero inspired by Tony’s sacrifice, he’ll fit right in with the young roster gearing up for Phase 4.
Riri’s appearance in the MCU is a mystery for now, although we do know that Dominique Thorne will play her and that will appear in the sequel to Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, before his own series. And certainly, the addition of him will be welcome. Could we even see Champions teaming up in the MCU? Marvel’s future on Disney+ may be bright.