After Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri Williams returns to Chicago in Ironheart, where tech meets magic in a grounded, genre-bending Marvel series.

There is a mid-credits scene in the season finale. The following includes spoilers for Episodes 1-3.
When we last saw Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), the brilliant MIT student had built a vibranium detector and an Iron Man–esque exosuit. Unfortunately, her genius has landed her in hot water with the university, resulting in expulsion—and a suit-powered return home to Chicago. It’s a shame, too; someone with her intellect has so much to offer. But without the expulsion, there wouldn’t be a show—or at least not this version of Ironheart.

Coming home also means confronting trauma. Riri’s best friend Natalie Washington (Lyric Ross) and her stepfather Gary Williams (LaRoyce Hawkins) were killed in a garage shooting. Locked out of MIT’s systems, Riri begins rebuilding her suit from scratch. But when a glitch emerges in the new AI, it results in something unexpected—and deeply personal: Natalie returns, not just as a voice in the suit, but as a holographic AI, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. Projected through either the armor or a necklace Riri wears, Natalie’s presence is both comforting and complicated, blurring the lines between memory, grief, and machine.

When she’s not building in the garage, Riri gets caught up with Parker Robbins/The Hood (Anthony Ramos) and his crew. During one of their jobs, she uses tech from Joe McGillicuddy (Alden Ehrenreich) to tear off a piece of Robbins’ hood—but accidentally leaves it behind at the scene. The mistake all but guarantees Joe will be dragged into a conflict he never intended to join.

Oh, and by the way: Joe is actually Ezekiel Stane—the son of Obadiah Stane. He’s been trying not to follow in his father’s villainous footsteps, but his past still casts a long shadow. Even with cutting-edge tech, Riri quickly learns that it won’t be enough to counter the kind of magic The Hood is wielding.

In pitting technology against sorcery, Ironheart taps into the mystical side of the MCU, with visual and thematic links to Doctor Strange. The corrupted markings on The Hood’s face echo those of Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), expanding a corner of the universe that Marvel has only occasionally explored. The premise is rich with potential, though at times it feels weighed down by competing plot threads. Then again, maybe that’s the heat exhaustion talking. It was extremely hot over the weekend!

The back half of the series leans hard into the magic-versus-tech conflict, with higher stakes and a more focused narrative. The Hood is no easy villain to defeat—certainly not one Riri can face alone. She’ll need her friends and family to rise to the challenge. Without spoiling too much (since the final episodes won’t premiere until next week), it’s safe to say Ironheart finds firmer footing as it builds toward its climax.

Joining the cast, Alden Ehrenreich becomes the second Han Solo actor to cross into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Harrison Ford. It’s a fun piece of trivia, and his role in Ironheart weaves intriguing threads into the larger MCU narrative. The Star Wars and Marvel club continues to grow after so many films and series.

Ironheart has the makings of a solid Marvel series, though it’s occasionally hindered by uneven episode runtimes—some run close to 40 minutes, others nearly an hour. The show also introduces a mysterious new character played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Whether his character is a one-off or something more expansive remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Marvel has yet to confirm if the series will continue beyond this season. What we do know is that series is the final installment of Phase 5.

CREATOR/HEAD WRITER/SHOWRUNNER: Chinaka Hodge
DIRECTORS: Sam Bailey (1-3), Angela Barnes (4-6)
WRITERS: Chinaka Hodge (1, 6), Malarie Howard (2), Francesca Gailes & Jacqueline J. Gailes (3), Amir Sulaiman (4), Cristian Martinez (5)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Zoie Nagelhout, Chinaka Hodge, Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler
CAST: Dominique Thorne, Lyric Ross, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam, Anji White, with Anthony Ramos and Alden Ehrenreich
SPECIAL GUEST STAR: Sacha Baron Cohen

Disney+ will launch the first 3 episodes of Ironheart on June 24, 2025. The second three episodes will follow on July 1, 2025. Grade: 3.5/5

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