Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart Set to Premiere This Summer

Marvel fans have a lot to look forward to in the coming years, and not just because Avengers 5 is in development. Ryan Coogler, director of this year’s hit Sinners, has already jumped on board for one of the studio’s next big projects. Ironheart is an upcoming MCU limited series starring Dominique Thorne, and a new trailer has just been released.

Marvel’s latest trailer for Ironheart shows the series will dive right into a gritty, high-stakes action environment when the series arrives in June of 2025. Riri Williams (Thorne), also known as Ironheart, is a teenage inventor and engineer who idolizes the late Tony Stark. Starring six episodes, the series is expected to bring a more down-to-earth feel to the MCU, despite taking place within the same continuity. And it will be the final television entry in MCU Phase Five.

Ironheart, which was first announced way back in December 2020, was expected to hit screens in 2023, but those plans changed. Marvel has since restructured its overall slate with fewer releases per year to avoid what they called “consumer fatigue,” and the series will now debut this summer. Footage first debuted at the 2024 D23 convention, and it was described as “a crime show with an Iron Man twist at the center.”

The character of Riri Williams first appeared in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the movie, Riri creates a vibranium detector while at MIT, unwittingly drawing the ire of Namor and his blue-skinned army. Riri befriends Shuri while at Wakanda due to their shared love of science. After the Wakandans are defeated by Namor and his forces, Riri builds an iron suit similar to Iron Man’s and helps Wakanda defeat Namor. Before the pair can leave Wakanda and go their separate ways, Riri must leave the suit with the Wakandans. When the dust settles, Riri returns to MIT to continue her education.

A Marvel Series Where Technology Meets Sorcery

Ironheart takes place a few months after the conclusion of Wakanda Forever. The official synopsis for the MCU series reads: “Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, 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’ (Anthony Ramos).”

A number of actors will be included in the cast. Lyric Ross will play Riri’s best friend, Natalie Washington. Alden Ehrenreich is Joe McGillicuddy. Manny Montana will play Cousin John. Matthew Elam will play Xavier Washington. Anji White will be Riri’s mother, Ronnie. Shea Couleé will be Slug. Jim Rash returns as the dean of MIT, a role he previously played in Captain America: Civil War. Sacha Baron Cohen has also been announced, although his role has yet to be revealed.

A new trailer for Ironheart shows Riri arriving at a shuttered pizza shop, only to find the doors locked behind her in a gas-filled elevator. Riri must find a way out within two minutes, or she will die. The test—or “interview,” as the man setting up the meeting calls it—is being administered by the mysterious The Hood. An intercom message is broadcast to Riri that she will suffocate unless she breaks into the floor-mounted housing to access a gas mask. But Riri has no intention of doing that, and instead comes up with an innovative solution to the problem.

Impressed, The Hood asks Riri to join him in a shadowy operation. Something that, he hints, may not be legal. But Riri is eager to prove her worth and build something “iconic,” and agrees after a moment’s hesitation. Riri’s friends aren’t as quick to jump on board, and she is quickly warned by her best friend, Natalie,t hat The Hood may not be what he seems. After all, The Hood tells Riri that “Anyone who has ever accomplished anything iconic in life has had to do some questionable things to get it done.”

Of course, whether Riri is willing to go that far is still up for debate, and Marvel fans will have to wait until June 2025 to see for themselves. In the meantime, the first three episodes of Ironheart will be released on Disney+ beginning June 24, with the following three to drop weekly thereafter. It is still possible for a second season to be greenlit if the initial series has a positive reception, but nothing has been confirmed. For now, there is a new trailer and a behind-the-scenes featurette to whet fans’ appetites.

While Ryan Coogler’s filmography has been mixed, he proved with Black Panther and its sequel that he is capable of taking on the enormous baggage of genre blockbusters and making them his own. Combined with the talents of a promising newcomer like Dominique Thorne, Ironheart might just be the next place to look.