Marvel releases first look at long-awaited Ironheart TV show and fans are divided
The upcoming series sees Dominique Thorne reprise her role as genius inventor Riri Williams
Marvel fans have faced a half-decade wait for a first look at the Ironheart TV series and it finally dropped today (May 14).
Delayed numerous times since its 2020 announcement, Ironheart was supposed to debut on Disney+ in 2023, but that plan fell through.
Marvel's TV and marketing head honcho Brad Winderbaum spilled the beans on the Phase Zero podcast about what happened: "Frankly, in all honesty, there was a mandate to kind of create as much as we could for Disney Plus as quickly as we could."
He added: "And then, there was a shift, and all of a sudden, we have to start spreading our release dates out. So, that really accounts for a lot of the delays."
The freshly dropped teaser trailer gives fans their first glimpse at Dominique Thorne taking on the role of Riri Williams, a young inventor with a suit to rival Iron Man's. The character made her on-screen debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with the new TV show following on from the events of that blockbuster.
As per the synopsis: "Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri-determined to make her mark on the world-returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka The Hood."
The star-studded cast includes Lyric Ross from This Is Us, Alden Ehrenreich (Weapons), and Regan Aliyah (XO, Kitty), reports Surrey Live. Meanwhile Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler is on board as executive producer.
The just-released trailer reveals Riri's metal armor, which unmistakably echoes Iron Man Tony Stark's iconic suit, nodding to their relationship in the comics.
Reflecting on the source material, Coogler shared: "In the comic book, Riri Williams and Tony Stark had a relationship-she was a student at MIT who came from an almost polar opposite background as Tony, but they came together in their passion to better society. Eventually, the character gets her own identity as Ironheart, and other writers like Eve Ewing picked up from there, taking Riri Williams to Chicago."
The debut Ironheart trailer has received a split response so far from MCU devotees.
"All these super hero shows are so generic why should anyone bother?" said one critical Marvel fan, as another shared: "I'm looking forward to watching it."
Meanwhile a number of fans pointed out the absence of the character of Mephisto. "We want Mephisto we know he in this," said one, as another added: "No sign of Mephisto yet, I hope he is in the show."
Ironheart's first three episodes premiere on Disney+ in the US on June 24, 2025