Riri Williams is back in Ironheart, a show that blasts off with emotion, high stakes, and a finale that will have fans talking and theorizing for a while.
Ironheart Review
A little over 2 years ago, Riri Williams made her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. This young genius longed to build an iron suit, just like Tony Stark did, in an effort to keep people safe. Fast forward and Riri is back, same mission but when you're a Williams and not a Stark, money and resources don't come easy. So our superstar has to do some questionable jobs with The Hood in order to get the necessary funds needed to see her dream become reality.
After spending time reestablishing the character, Ironheart blasts off and doesn't look back. The stakes and emotions are high as science and magic clash leading to a morally grey outcome and a big reveal that will have fans talking. Dominique Thorne and Anthony Ramos anchor the story, with Alden Ehrenreich and a surprise actor livening things up whenever they are on screen. Tony Stark's legacy is handled with care and she truly blazes her own path, skirting the “sidekick” or “replacement character” complaint. That's not to say there aren't some issues with the series, and I will dive into that below, but overall it's worth the watch and deserves better than the online forced hate I've seen plaguing it even before the first three episodes were available to the public.
Riri (Thorne) is a brilliant MIT student who is working to build her own version of the Iron Man suit. In order to make money to use for that suit, Riri ends up selling completed assignments to students at neighboring colleges. She's soon found out and due to multiple reasons, is kicked out of MIT, forcing her to go back home to Chicago. There she reconnects with her mother, Ronnie (Anji White) and Xavier (Matthew Elam), the brother of her best friend, Natalie (Lyric Ross). It also means she must face the grief she has been running from since her stepfather and Natalie died. Oh and she still needs money for her suit.
This leads her to Parker Robbins (Ramos) and his crew. The fact that he goes by the nickname “Hood” while wearing a leather red hood that emits weird energy should be an automatic red flag but Riri needs money. She also buys into his promise that they don't hurt people, there is a twisted justice to their scheming, and most importantly the money is great. To say more would spoil too much but you know inevitably she sees Parker for the villain he is and decides to do something about it.
It's easy to forgive Riri for not seeing the giant walking red flag (cape) that is Parker because she's a twenty-something, who is not only trying to figure her life out but is also still processing a very traumatic event. Her prefrontal cortex is still developing so she is owed some slack. But like any good hero, she tries her best to fix her mistakes. Thorne was made for this role, giving Riri a sense of dogged determination, vulnerability, and stubbornness. The grief she is walking with is a constant companion, and Thorne lets it simmer below the surface, spilling out in key moments like NATALIE's creation and flashbacks of her as a child.
The first three episodes focus on reintroducing Riri as well as setting the stage for the big confrontations, reveals, and the surprise twist that happens in the back half of the show. Ramos is his charming, charismatic self as “The Hood,” although when he is wearing the magical cloak he is far more menacing than alluring. Still his easy going smile puts Riri and the audience at ease, at least at first. But as the cloak continues to take its toll on him (all magic comes with a price), he slips further away from Parker and becomes Sméagol-lite in his obsessions. We also meet his team, his cousin, the knife-loving John (Manny Montana), hacker Slug (Shea Couleé), and munitions specialist Clown (Sonia Denis). The ragtag group has their own likable quirks and Riri's interactions with this found family make you care at least somewhat about them.
Then there is Ehrenreich’s “Joe,” whom she meets in episode 2. Ehrenreich and Thorne have a great chemistry between them that pays off towards the end of the series. (Not to mention the well-timed Alanis Morissette needle-drop) Head writer Chinaka Hodge put in the work, giving the main characters a solid foundation for their conflicts and motivations. Which in turn gives their interactions with one another more depth.
There are lots of other things I enjoyed about this show beyond the strong performances from the cast. I enjoyed the cinematography and special effects which happened to be more grounded than I was originally expecting. The Ironheart suit itself looked amazing. And the well-choreographed fight scenes – especially the one in White Castle – were exciting. Then there is the concept of magic vs science, something the MCU has skirted around for quite awhile but faced it head-on in this series. The way in which these opposites work in tandem as well as repel one another makes for a good watch, and has implications for future team-ups and face-offs. And naturally there are comic book and MCU easter eggs sprinkled throughout that eagle-eyed fans will love trying to catch.
What didn't really work for me overall was NATALIE. Don't get me wrong, Ross is great in the role and her bond with Thorne's Riri is solid. But she is supposed to be an AI interface, a hologram, and at times she is just too real. It's hard to appreciate how amazing this invention of Riri's is when it just seems like she is acting with another human. It isn't until NATALIE “glitches” that you remember she's not actually real. Although most of the CGI works, Ehrenreich's Zeke doesn't work well at all. In the comics, Ezekiel has his own suit, here they forgo that (likely to not have to budget for two Iron suits) in favor of just making them come out of his body without any special armor. It looks meh at best and cheesy at worst.
Verdict
Ironheart flies high thanks to strong performances, grounded effects, and a universal story of overcoming obstacles in the pursuit of making dreams come true. Though I had some nitpicks, they don't detract from my overall enjoyment of the show. The surprise ending and inclusion of *that* character are bound to have fans theorizing. I know my geeky friends and I have already started doing just that. Don't let the online vitriol keep you away from this show, Thorne, Ramos, and the rest of the cast deliver a solid MCU entry that deserves to be seen.
Ironheart episodes 1-3 are now streaming on Disney+. Episodes 4-6 will stream July 1.
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