By Zach Johnson
The time has come for Riri Williams to meet her mettle.
In Marvel Television's Ironheart — the first three episodes launch today at 6 p.m. PT on Disney+ — Riri (Dominique Thorne) is more determined than ever to make her mark on the world. Forced to leave M.I.T., she moves back to her hometown of Chicago, where she plans to build a state-of-the-art iron suit that will rival those of her idol, Tony Stark aka Iron Man. But her ambition is greater than her resources, and the scrappy, genius inventor soon finds herself entangled in a dangerous world pitting magic against technology.
"When we first meet Riri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she's selling homework assignments and bending the rules here and there," executive producer Sev Ohanian said. "She goes on a whole journey over the course of that movie, but what's funny about the opening of Ironheart is that we find her back in the same space; she still has room to grow."
That said, Riri isn't trying to be Iron Man 2.0.
"Iron Man inherited a lot of wealth, similar to T'Challa," said executive producer Ryan Coogler, who directed Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and whose company, Proximity Media, produced Ironheart in association with Marvel Television. "Think about Iron Man and what he built when he was in a cave with a box of scraps. Riri is always working with scraps. She's always trying to make a way out of no way."
Building high-tech armor requires a lot of money, and the fastest way for Riri to get some is by agreeing to work for the charming and mysterious Parker Robbins aka The Hood (Anthony Ramos). He and his crew of misfits — Cousin John (Manny Montana), Clown (Sonia Denis), Slug (Shea Couleé), Jeri (Zoe Terakes), and Roz (Shakira Barrera) — are trying to take control of the city by any means necessary, putting Riri in a morally gray area.
"Riri has a heart of gold and very good intentions, but she is also deeply ambitious," executive producer Zoie Nagelhout said. "What is she willing to do to achieve those ambitions? And how far will she take it? It was fun to explore all the consequences of that."
And Riri isn't the only character whose ambitions may get the best of her. Although his backstory is cloaked in mystery (for now), Parker also wants to make a name for himself.
"Riri and Parker both come from nothing. They are self-starters who are consistently being told, 'Not yet. Not you. Not now,'" head writer and executive producer Chinaka Hodge said. "But Riri and Parker's ambitions are slightly different. If they had been given the proper resources early on, they would have already changed the world. But the circumstances of our story might push Riri and Parker to be 'badder' than they would have been otherwise."
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has previously explored how both magic and technology can be used for good or evil. Ironheart takes it a step further by showing what happens when the two are fused — creating a potent, potentially dangerous combination.
"That is the essence of the MCU," Ohanian said. "You put two things that almost feel disparate together, and somehow, it works. I remember watching The Avengers in theaters. You had a billionaire in a tin suit with a Norse god and a green giant monster; they don't make sense together. I thought, 'How could this ever work and be a consistent, proper, thematic story?' But it is. With Ironheart, it felt like this was a territory we hadn't quite explored just yet, which is fun, because there are more tech and magic stories to be told."
And in Ironheart's final three episodes (streaming July 1 on Disney+), Riri faces many "twists and turns," Ohanian added. While she doesn't always get it right, "She never stops."
"We don't often get the luxury of falling on our faces, so it was very rewarding and healing for me to see Riri mess up and not be dismissed," Coogler said. "The show doesn't judge her. She gets the opportunity to fall on her face, learn from it, and go out and maybe make another mistake. I think there are a lot of people who will be able to relate to that journey."