IRONHEART

Ironheart boasts two great performances from Dominique Thorne and Lyric Ross who inject this solo Marvel outing with an undeniable heart and entertainment value, that even though there are some good ideas at play, the awkward pitting of Riri’s technology against the villain’s magic greatly holds the story back.

Riri Williams made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut back in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making a scene stealing turn as the genius inventor with her Iron Man inspired suit, but she hasn’t been seen again until now. Shot back in 2022 and held for release, marking the final entry of Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is an expectation riding on Ironheart to propel the franchise in the last phase of The Multiverse Saga. As she did in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Dominique Thorne impresses as Riri Williams, this time with a far more emotional arc for her character in the series’ leading role, and the supporting cast of Alden Ehrenreich, Lyric Ross, Anji White, Regan Aliyah and Matthew Elam all deliver strong performances. And while there is interesting thematic material at play with the ideas being explored in Riri’s first solo outing, the clashing of technology and magic creates a jarring split narrative focus that does this underdeveloped story no favours by the time the series reaches its rushed conclusion.

Without question, it is the cast that makes Ironheart an enjoyable watch. Thorne continues to shine as Riri Williams, packing an insane amount of heart, humour, and spunk into the role to bring this young superhero to life. For her second out as Riri, Thorne is gifted with a more personal and emotional arc for Riri, allowing her to truly develop the character as she grapples with her past and finds herself in a situation where she does not have help from her Wakandan allies, forcing her to become the hero she was destined to be. With moments of vulnerability, despair, pure joy, excitement, a dash of romance, and heroicness, Thorne is the linchpin of the entire series and instantly makes the audience care for Riri. It’s the type of performance that we have seen time and time from the leads of each Marvel project, creating a noble hero with heart that should have fans demanding that Riri not have to wait another three years before appearing in her next Marvel outing.

Thorne is nothing without her talented co-stars, the majority of who are excellent. Ross is a wonderful addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Natasha, Riri’s best friend, creating some truly fun and vibrant moments within this heavier narrative, while also developing an onscreen bond with Thorne that propels Riri’s arc over the six episodes. Aliyah is lots of fun as Riri’s friend Zelma, while White is a delight as Riri’s mother Ronnie, adding in some great comedic bits and tender moments while she and Thorne explore their characters’ traumatic past. Ehrenreich continues to prove himself a great actor in the role of Joe, making for a great ally to Riri in the dangerous world she finds herself intertwined in, excelling once the true direction for his character is revealed halfway through the series. The only weak link is Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins, the film’s main villain, not because he gives a bad performance, but because the writing and motivation of his character are so underdeveloped that it leaves Ramos little to work with.

It’s easy to see the potential within Ironheart when focusing on Riri as a character. There is a great coming of age story underneath the heists by Parker Robbins and his team and the technology, where Riri has to face her past, leave behind the shelters of childhood and school, and face the consequences of her choices as she becomes a hero in her own right. It’s bolstered by sentimental moments between Riri and Natalie, her mother Ronnie, her friend and love interest Xavier, and her new found acquaintance Joe, with each of these relationships playing an important role in Riri’s development over the miniseries. Within these relationships, the heart of Ironheart is found and creates an endearing character arc for Riri that invests audiences in this otherwise relatively minor Marvel superhero.

But beyond that, the rest of the narrative is shaky. The action sequences are entertaining and help raise the stakes for the story, providing that popcorn entertainment that Marvel is known for, and while the heist plotline is enough to propel the story forward and maintain the audience’s attention over six episodes, the mixing of magic and technology just does not sit right. With science and technology being the primary focus of Riri’s storyline, anytime the focus shifts to Parker, his magical powers and their origins, it feels like you are in a different Marvel series. Never mind the fact that Parker is one of the most underdeveloped villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his motivations for robbing the successful are pretty much nonexistent until far too late in the series and relying on a worn out cliché that does little to make Parker an interesting villain. This results in the momentum of the series suffering greatly when it shifts its focus away from Riri towards Parker and his team, losing that lightning in a bottle energy that comes from Riri, her family and her friends.

Given the positioning of Ironheart in the chronology of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the closing entry of Phase 5, fans are expecting there to be major developments that will set up storylines for the sixth phase and final phase of The Multiverse Saga, and there is without question one major one… even if it comes too late in the miniseries to explore it and leaves it feeling more like a credit scene playing out as the miniseries’ closing scene. There are nods and connections to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, both to its magical side and scientific side, and as with the miniseries’ overall writing, it is the science and technology ones that play better than the magic. The major connection on the technological side plays out as an extension of one of the miniseries’ main thematic ideas, enriching the storyline of that character and the series as a whole, whereas the magical ones feel like a plug for a specific Marvel property without enriching the storylines at play here. While there is the potential for the magical nods to fuel further storytelling within the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, given the slowdown of content production to focus on quality over quantity, it will be a long wait to see how that plotline plays out… if in fact it is even revisited.

As a defender and true fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe who has genuinely enjoyed almost every single film and television series over the franchises’ seventeen year run, each new entry is always a reason for celebration. Even with issues that can be nitpicked for those looking for something wrong, the majority of the Marvel Studios project have known how to entertain and thrill viewers with that big screen superhero spectacle (whether for the big or small screen), while creating rich narratives for both its heroes and villains. And while there is no doubt that audiences are going to love Dominique Thorne once again as Riri Williams, the series as a whole does not measure up to the standard set by other entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Dominique Thorne and Lyric Ross shine from start to finish in the lead roles and are supported by a strong supporting cast featuring Alden Ehrenreich and Anji White, though when the focus shifts to Anthony Ramos’s Parker Robbins, the lacking writing for the villain and jarring clash of technology and magic become evidently apparent and weakens the potential Ironheart had as a solo adventure for Riri Williams, sadly relegating it as a bottom tier entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.