Marvel Reveals Cast and Plot for Upcoming Ironheart Series

Ryan Coogler is on a roll. The writer and director has found the box office success his latest film, Sinners, was projecting, and already has another upcoming project in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel Studios’ limited series Ironheart, for which they just released a stylish new trailer today, in advance of the show’s summer 2025 release date.

The six-episode series is an entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will be the final TV series in MCU Phase Five. It stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, AKA Ironheart, who is a teenage engineering prodigy and, in the comics, Tony Stark’s protégé.

Ironheart was originally announced all the way back in December 2020, with a 2023 release. However, in the years since then, Marvel recalibrated their long-term strategy and made the executive decision to reduce the amount of content they releases each year, as a response to concerns about the market becoming oversaturated. The adjusted schedule delayed the original series to this summer. Footage first shown at the 2024 D23 convention set the project up as “a crime show with an Iron Man twist at the center,” suggesting it would be darker and grittier than many other MCU television shows.

Riri Williams was first seen on-screen in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and in that film, she ends up on the wrong side of Namor and his blue-skinned undersea army, after building a vibranium detector while attending MIT. Throughout the film, Riri and Shuri grow close due to their mutual love of science, and Riri eventually creates her armored suit in the mold of Iron Man’s, which Wakanda uses to help hold off the threat. When the dust (and water) settles, Riri is forced to leave the suit with the Wakandans before returning to MIT.

A Tale of Two Inventions

Ironheart takes place a short while after the events of Wakanda Forever. The official synopsis 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).”

The cast includes Lyric Ross as Riri’s best friend, Natalie Washington; Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy; Manny Montana as Cousin John; Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington; and Anji White as Riri’s mother, Ronnie. Shea Couleé also appears as Slug. Jim Rash will be reprising his role as the dean of MIT from 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, which is the first time the character was seen in the MCU. Sacha Baron Cohen will also appear in the show, but Marvel has not yet divulged any details.

The new trailer starts with Riri entering the abandoned pizza restaurant where she’s met up with someone for a job, but she ends up trapped in an elevator full of poison gas with only two minutes to find a way out. However, the elevator malfunction is revealed to be a test (or, as the tester refers to it, an “interview”) that was set up for Riri by The Hood. Over the loudspeaker, he tells her she’s going to die from asphyxiation unless she forces her way into a floor-mounted device to retrieve the gas mask inside. However, Riri refuses to comply with The Hood’s wishes and instead figures out another way to escape.

Impressed by her ingenuity, The Hood offers Riri the opportunity to help him out with a criminal project that he won’t give any more information about, but which he implies is not exactly legal. Riri accepts after some hesitation, expressing that she wants to use her skills to make something “iconic” in the world. However, her friends are not happy about it, and in particular, Riri’s best friend Natalie tries to warn her away from working with The Hood, whose past might not be as clean as Riri is willing to let on. The Hood’s assurances that anyone who ever did anything “iconic” in life had to do “questionable things” to get there may not be unfounded.

Marvel has confirmed that the first three episodes of Ironheart will premiere on Disney+ on June 24, 2025, with the subsequent episodes premiering weekly. While no second season has been announced for the series, it is certainly a possibility if the initial reception to the show’s run is strong enough. For now, fans can get a first look at the action, suspense, and drama between characters in the trailer, as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette that just dropped today.