An Ironheart movie script has surfaced. The Black List is a list of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood and, recently, a script for an Ironheart movie, written by Jada Rodriguez, was put forth by the group as "one of the best scripts our readers read last week." That means Marvel could possibly have something up their sleeves when it comes to having a successor to Iron Man down the road. At the present time, we have a lot more questions than answers.
Here's what we know for sure; a script for Ironheart exists. That much is certain and that means Marvel has at least thought about making the movie happen. As reported by That Hashtag Show, for Jada Rodriguez to write the script, she either would have had to own the IP or be commissioned to write the script. Since there's no way she actually owns that chunk of Marvel's IP, process of elimination gets you to Marvel Studios hiring her to pen the script. Per The Black List, here's a brief synopsis of the movie.
"When a young African American girl loses hope in humanity, she dedicates her life, with the help of Tony Stark, to becoming a superhero... not knowing she is her own worst enemy..."
For those who may not be familiar, Riri Williams is a successor to Tony Stark in the world of Marvel Comics. She was created by Brian Michael Bendis and is depicted as a young teenage prodigy who reverse-engineers the Iron Man armor tech all by herself, while studying at MIT. She was admitted to MIT at age 11. She was first introduced in 2016's Invincible Iron Man #7 and later took over the title as the lead character and became known as Ironheart.
This could make for a fascinating development. Little is known about the Marvel Cinematic Universe beyond next year's Avengers 4, which will conclude Phase 3. We know that Spider-Man: Far From Home and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which recently lost director James Gunn, are set in stone, as well as the Black Widow standalone. Beyond that, much has yet to be revealed. This would make for an interesting way to keep a version of Iron Man in the MCU once Robert Downey Jr. moves on. Though, the synopsis implies the actor may play a mentor role in Ironheart. This would also be a majorly inclusive move by Marvel, putting a female, African American hero front-and-center in her own franchise.
Unfortunately, Marvel Studios isn't likely to confirm this news any time soon. They're keeping tight-lipped about the future until Avengers 4 comes out. Which is reasonable, considering that there are a lot of questions fans have going into that movie and any titles that are announced beyond it could serve as pretty big spoilers. This is, nonetheless, a curious reveal and we'll be sure to keep you up to date as more details on the potential project are made available. This news comes to us courtesy of That Hashtag Show.