Here is everything you need to know before watching Ironheart as Marvel Studios launches Riri Williams’s origin story to close out Phase 5 of the MCU.
Marvel’s latest Disney+ series, Ironheart, is set to premiere this Tuesday—and with it comes the official return of genius inventor Riri Williams, played by Dominique Thorne, as she steps fully into the spotlight following her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Created by Chinaka Hodge and produced by Ryan Coogler, Ironheart explores Riri’s journey from MIT to her roots in Chicago, where she’ll confront not only high-tech enemies, but the emotional weight of her past.
The six-episode series has a unique release plan: the first three episodes will drop on Tuesday, followed by the final three a week later. Directors Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes helm each half of the miniseries, guiding Riri’s evolution as she crafts new tech and navigates a battle that blends science and sorcery.
Riri’s MCU origin began in Wakanda Forever, where her creation of a Vibranium detector accidentally placed her at the center of a war between Wakanda and Talokan. Her skills caught the attention of Princess Shuri, and by the film’s end, Riri had helped forge a strategy against Namor and even built a Wakandan-powered suit of her own—though she had to give it back before returning to school.
Ironheart now picks up where that left off. With Iron Man gone, Riri carries on Stark’s legacy—not as a replacement, but as a spiritual successor. Like Stark, she’s an MIT prodigy, armored up and ready to innovate. In the comics, she even inherited an AI version of Stark for mentorship.
The series stars Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins, aka The Hood—a villain whose red cloak gives him access to dark magic. Ironheart sets up a collision between advanced tech and mystical power, a dynamic teased in trailers showing Riri potentially combining both forces.
Adding intrigue is the rumored appearance of Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto, the demonic villain long speculated to join the MCU since WandaVision. Marvel even fueled the theory by styling the letter “M” in red in Episode 5’s title, “Karma’s a Glitch.”
The ensemble also includes Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, and a growing buzz about Riri’s deeper backstory, including the emotional threads of her late father’s car—first introduced in Wakanda Forever.
Still, questions surround Ironheart’s rollout. The two-week drop feels abrupt, echoing the one-day dump of Echo, one of Marvel’s lowest-performing shows. Add in muted marketing amid the louder campaign for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and the strategy may suggest tempered expectations—or just Marvel still experimenting with its streaming playbook.
Whatever the case, Ironheart wraps up Phase 5 of the MCU by focusing on a fresh voice and a new kind of hero. As Riri Williams returns to the screen, she brings heart, humor, and heavy tech—ready to push Marvel’s next phase into uncharted territory.
