Ironheart has landed on Disney+, and it’s got Windy City grit and big Marvel ambition. The new Marvel Television series centers on Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a teenage tech prodigy forced to leave MIT who returns home to Chicago with one goal: build a next-gen iron suit to rival her idol, Tony Stark. But unlike Iron Man, Riri doesn’t have a billion-dollar lab. She’s got a garage, some street smarts—and a whole lot to prove. Writer, director and producer Ryan Coogler (Black Panther, Wakanda Forever) offered his thoughts.
“She’s always working with scraps,” said executive producer Coogler, whose Proximity Media co-produces the series. “She’s always trying to make a way out of no way.”
Shot partially in Chicago and rooted in the city’s energy, Ironheart explores how ambition, identity, and morality collide. Riri’s journey pulls her into an uneasy alliance with Parker Robbins, aka The Hood (Anthony Ramos), a charismatic criminal with his own dreams of power. Together, they toe the line between invention and destruction—between tech and magic.
“Riri has a heart of gold,” said Marvel’s Zoie Nagelhout. “But she’s also deeply ambitious. The question is: what’s she willing to do to achieve her goals?”
The series is driven by that tension. As head writer Chinaka Hodge notes, both Riri and Parker are outsiders who’ve had to fight for every opportunity. “If they’d been given the proper resources early on, they would’ve already changed the world.”
Instead, they operate in the margins—where Marvel’s tech meets the mystical, and good intentions blur fast.
The first three episodes are now streaming, with the final three dropping July 1. And yes, expect big twists.
“She doesn’t always get it right,” said executive producer Sev Ohanian. “But she never stops.”
For Coogler, that tenacity is what makes Riri a hero worth watching. “We don’t always get the luxury of falling on our faces,” he said. “This show gives her room to fail, learn, and try again. That’s real growth—and a story a lot of us can relate to.”
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