New footage has revealed our best look yet at the debut of Riri Williams aka Ironheart, who will do battle alongside Shuri, M’Baku and the rest of Wakanda in the upcoming Marvel sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Courtesy of Target, new footage of Ironheart, who will be portrayed by If Beale Street Could Talk star Dominique Thorne, reveals how her emergence as the MCU’s latest superhero will take a lot of inspiration from her iron-themed predecessor, Tony Stark aka Iron Man.
Created in 2016 by writers Brian Michael Bendis, and artist Mike Deodato, Riri Williams is a teenage engineering student and certified super-genius who crafts a suit of armor similar to that of Marvel legend Iron Man. While in the comics, Williams meets with Tony Stark about taking up the mantle, the live-action depiction will introduce Ironheart into a world where Stark has, of course, died following the battle with Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. A change that should result in a much more emotional, powerful moment when Ironheart takes to the skies.
Set to be portrayed by If Beale Street Could Talk and Judas and the Black Messiah star Dominique Thorne, Riri will make her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before launching into her own Disney+ series. Consisting of six episodes, the Ironheart series stars Lyric Ross, Harper Anthony, Manny Montana, Alden Ehrenreich, Shea Couleé, Zoe Terakes, and Regan Aliyah, with In the Heights actor Anthony Ramos starring as the villain of the piece, Parker Robbins aka The Hood.
Ironheart is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in late 2023, and will be part of Phase Five of the MCU.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Will Land in Theaters Next Month
Directed by Ryan Coogler, who has co-written the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever stars Letitia Wright as Shuri, Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams aka Ironheart, Michaela Coel as Aneka, Tenoch Huerta as Namor, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, and Angela Bassett as Ramonda. Additionally, the rest of the supporting cast will include Isaach de Bankolé, Dorothy Steel, Danny Sapani, Mabel Cadena, Alex Livinalli, Kamaru Usman, and Richard Schiff.
“In Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death,” the recently released synopsis reads. “As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livinalli. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 11, 2022.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 11, 2022, as the final film in Phase Four of the MCU.