After a nearly nonexistent marketing campaign until the final weeks, and dropping all six episodes in two weeks, Marvel’s latest Disney+ show, “Ironheart,” has come and gone. Is it any good?
Ironheart Review
Editor’s Note: No spoilers until the end
The character, introduced in 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” did not have the strongest start. Despite being in a good movie, her role was minimal and felt shoehorned. However, her significance and positive reception in the Marvel Comics left me still anticipating her series, until I saw the marketing. Or rather, the lack of marketing.
There is no greater indication of a show being disappointing than when the studio that created the project shows zero confidence. With almost no marketing at all until the final months leading up to the show, lackluster trailers, and an updated release schedule to push out all six episodes in two weeks (three on June 24 and three on July 1), Disney raised a metaphorical banner in the sky telling everyone, “We don’t think anyone will or should care about this show.” And the sad part is that the show is good. It even has elements that are great.
“Ironheart” tells the story of Riri Williams after the events of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” After her “internship” in Wakanda, she returns to MIT to finish her iron suit project. Unfortunately, she is expelled after it comes to light that she was selling final projects to other students to pay for the materials to make the suit.
This becomes the central arc for Riri throughout the show. Is she a good person? Can she be defined so simply as “good” or “bad?” She seems to have a good soul, but seeks the easiest method to get what she wants. Inevitably, and intentionally, viewers must compare her to Tony Stark and Iron Man. In adversity, Tony saved himself with a box of scraps in “Iron Man.” Then, in “Iron Man 3,” he borrows pocket change from a kid to buy junk from a hardware store to save the day.
Riri, on the other hand, turns to crime to make money to achieve her goals, righteous as they may be. Then again, Tony was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, while Riri had to bring herself up from nothing. The show constantly offers viewers the opportunity to contemplate these ideas.
The show goes down interesting, unconventional routes. It’s a story of family and community, but also fear of losing one’s family and community. Riri, who suffered traumatic losses as a kid, lives in constant fear of losing those she loves again. She has panic attacks numerous times throughout the six-episode season, she gets angry and lashes out at her family and friends, and she ultimately becomes susceptible to the promises of shady figures.
The show is full of exciting action, decent humor, and surprisingly good cinematography. It’s not perfect, however. Despite its short episode count, the show still manages to drag several times. Quiet, talking moments are often good, but there a just a few too many that make these scenes feel redundant and drag the episode pace to a slog. The main antagonist, while excellently performed by Anthony Ramos, seems held down from his full potential when he is restricted to a six-episode streaming show rather than a feature film. The same can be said for a certain someone in the finale. Most importantly, the same can be said for Riri herself, a character introduced in one of the biggest sequels in MCU history, who has been effectively demoted to television.
This has been a major issue since the introduction of Disney+ Marvel shows, an issue that President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige recently said would be amended. Characters from the movies, such as The Scarlet Witch, Vision, Hawkeye, and now Ironheart, are pulled from the silver screen and brought to Disney+, where they are unable to reach their full potential and end up cheapened as a brand.
On the other hand, characters introduced in TV shows who are then brought up to the movies suffer from the “homework” argument, the idea that you cannot understand a new movie without watching 6-12 episodes of a show locked behind a subscription service. This issue was prevalent with “The Marvels,” which carried over characters from “WandaVision” and “Ms. Marvel,” as well as “Captain America: Brave New World,” which effectively acted as a sequel to “Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
Spoilers Ahead
Some of the biggest problems in the show come from massive gaps in logic. Yes, this is a multiverse with magic, mutants, gamma-radiated monsters, and Norse gods. Still, it’s a bit of a stretch for a college student to make an Iron Man suit out of a retro car. It’s a stretch for a man to be equipped with electric cybernetics and expertly use those powers on the same day. So many stretches make a show existing in a world of unbelievable things, to somehow be one of the least believable in the entire MCU. Fantasy and science fiction must be backed by logic. No, Iron Man is not real (yet), but the first film sold us with a logical progression of elements and events to where we can accept that it is real in that universe.
Despite the flaws, this show really comes together with a finale that may be amongst the BEST in MCU television history. The final episode was well written, well paced, well acted, and introduced a character fans have been speculating the arrival of since the first Disney+ MCU show, “WandaVision.”
Mephisto is officially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, perfectly played by Sacha Baron Cohen. The character is charismatic, charming, well-dressed, and terrifyingly scary. His presence throughout the finale is captivating, leaving me on the edge of my seat every time he appears in the pizza shop. Yet, despite only appearing in one episode, his presence is felt since episode one. His slow, progressive manipulation and corruption of Parker Robbins, The Hood, build up his glorious debut. While he appears in a human form, a blink-and-you-miss-it reflection off a spoon teases his devilish true appearance.
But it was not just Mephisto that made this finale great. A cameo does not make something good, despite what some may think. What made this finale great was how Parker and Riri dealt with that character. Parker got what he sold his soul to get, but did he truly?
One of the most controversial elements of the show was the N.A.T.A.L.I.E. artificial intelligence that Riri accidentally creates to power her suit. The AI is a manifestation of Riri’s late best friend, Natalie. The character serves as a replacement for the Tony Stark AI Riri has in the comics, since Riri did not know Tony personally in the MCU.
The AI, while a bit annoying at times, effectively displayed Riri’s inability to cope with loss. Unable to accept her friend’s death, she allows the artificial copy of her friend to fill in the gap. Even when her friend’s brother expresses disgust over the AI, Riri is unable to let it go. Ultimately, after losing Nat while powering her new suit with magic, the show ends with her making a deal with Mephisto, selling her soul to bring the real Natalie back to life. A chilling, dark end to a deeply misguided superhero. I found this incredibly unexpected from the MCU. So often have characters been tempted by darkness only to rise above it, but Riri rejects her “hero moment” in favor of getting what she wants.
Overall, this show was not amongst the best, but it was far from the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe shows (*cough* “Secret Invasion”). While the finale may be one of the best, the show altogether lands somewhere in the middle. It did accomplish many big things for me, however. I did not care much for Riri in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” but now I think she is very fascinating. I love the idea of a character using magic and an iron suit; there’s a lot of potential there! Also, Mephisto’s introduction was brilliant.
Unfortunately, many will miss this show since Disney has swept it under the rug, and, if it does poorly, the future of these characters is uncertain. That said, I do highly recommend this show, especially to see how it ends for yourself!
Score: 5/7
Did you watch “Ironheart” yet? What did you think about it? Let us know in the comments, and watch the trailer below:
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.