Riri Williams Makes Disney+ Debut

Watch out, Iron Man, there’s a new armored superhero in the MCU.

Marvel Studios revealed a sneak peak of the upcoming Disney+ series “Ironheart” for the audience at the D23 Expo on Friday. The show continues the story of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who made her MCU debut in 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and the footage was very much in keeping with the aesthetics of that film.

“After my internship abroad, I felt stuck,” Riri says, referring to her time in Wakanda. “I want to build something undeniable.”

To do that, however, she says she needs “cash money,” which leads her to Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), who dons a magical hood that gives him access to the dark arts — setting up a clash between him and the scientifically driven Riri. At one point, Parker faces off against Alden Ehrenrich’s character, Joe McGillicuddy.

“Anyone who’s ever accomplished anything in life had to do some questionable things to get it done,” Parker says.

There’s plenty of high-flying shots of Williams in her Ironheart supersuit, including an epic sequence of her smashing up a truck in slow motion. The footage ends with another, light-colored suit zooming towards the camera.

In “Wakanda Forever,” Riri is a super smart MIT student from Chicago who invented her power armor suit and a vibranium detector that catches the eyes of Wakanda’s leaders, the underwater king Namor and the CIA. Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Okoye (Danai Gurira) find Riri and protect her from Namor’s warriors from the aquatic city of Talokan. During an attack on Wakanda by Namor’s forces, Riri’s life is saved by Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), who dies in the watery warfare. Riri teams up with the Wakandans to defeat Namor, and she creates Okoye a flying suit of armor called the Midnight Angel.

The “Ironheart” cast also includes Lyric Ross as Riri’s friend Natalie Washington; Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington; Anji White as Riri’s mom; Manny Montana as Cousin John; and Shea Couleé as Slug.

Riri was originally created by writer Brian Michael Bendis, who helped bring Miles Morales’ Spider-Man to life, and artist Mike Deodato. The miniseries is created by Chinaka Hodge, with Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes each directing three episodes of the six-episode show.