IR❤️NHEART!

Ryan, Riri, and Ramos!

Ryan-It’s June 24th, 2025 and Mr. Ryan Coogler has done it again! This time in collaboration with Marvel Television, Disney+, Writer-Chinaka Hodge, Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato Jr, inspired by Eve L. Ewing, Kevin Libranda, Luciano Vecchio, and Matt Milla- Ms. Riri Williams is brought to life in the live-action television series: IRONHEART!

The six episode series available for streaming on Disney+ is a live-action television series created by Chinaka Hodge and is based on the superhero character Ironheart, Riri Williams, who made her debut appearance in the published Marvel Comic “Invincible Iron Man Vol. 3 #7” issued May 2016. Ironheart starred in her own solo comic series by Eve Ewing and Kevin Labranda in 2018.

In this television series, Chinaka Hodge and Ryan Coogler deliver a star-studded, action-packed, big screen theater quality content full of Black joy, Black brilliance, Black ingenuity and two beautiful intelligent Black women as the leads of the newest member of Marvel’s superhero lineup- Ironheart. If you are looking for Blerdy content, culture, and a fire soundtrack…this is the series we’ve ALL been waiting for!

This blog entry will cover the basics on what to expect, what we have so far, and a few spoilers that won’t tell it all but hopefully if you haven’t caught it by now, piques your interest enough to add to them numbers so we show the world not only are Black women superhero worthy but the content we want is here for our enjoyment and we been ready! So, as usual, if you DON’T want spoilers, now is your time to hit the pause, open up another window/turn on your tv, and start streaming the first three episodes to catch up before you continue on from here….If spoilers ain’t no thing but a chicken wing…then scroll on down let’s get to it

-==-=-=-=SPOILERS FROM HERE ON! =-=-=-=-

Riri-Whew!!! We start at the beginning where we have Dominique Thorne playing the main character, Ms. Riri Williams, Bad Girl Genius. We find Chicago native, Ms. Riri at M.I.T. trying to focus on her dream of creating a supersuit better than what Marvel has already shown us before with Iron Man and Captain America. If you recall, Ms. Riri Williams made her cinematic debut in Wakanda Forever, when Shuri and Okoye were hunting her down at M.I.T. in hopes of obtaining her help. There we also got a glimpse of her prototype for her supersuit. However, as often is the case life and establishments can’t fully support Black women or the methods they employ when they are fully and unapologetically about their brilliance. So, she has to make her own way to meet the mark-oh to be Young Gifted and Black! While on her way back home carrying the main components of her suit with her, we get to see the other important people who will light up the screen during this magnificent flight through Chicago! Lyric Ross plays Riri’s best friend since childhood, Natalie, and is the deuteragonist, the person second in importance to the protagonist in a drama. ***SPOILER** She plays the AI known as “Neuro Autonomous Technical Assistant and Laboratory Intelligence Entity” or N.A.T.A.L.I.E for short because that’s wats up! Original Natalie was killed in a drive-by shooting along with Riri’s stepfather, Gary Williams, played by LaRoyce Hawkins. We get flashbacks often on who Natalie and Gary were to Riri. In recreating her suit Ironheart scans her own brainwaves to create an autonomously linked intuitive AI that can sync with her every need and movement and just happens to have her memories and a clear understanding of who her best friend was. We as the audience get a feel for this special friendship and understand she just wasn’t ready to be without that bond in her life. Ronnie Williams is played by Anji White and does a fantastic job making us feel all the motherly love she has for Riri, and we all know what it’s like to be asked if we slammed the door that is NOT ours in our Mama’s house! We meet good friend Xavier played by Matthew Elam and a lil man sidekick, Landon, played by Harper Anthony who happens to have a helpful disposition and an entrepreneurial spirit anytime Riri needs a helping hand. We even got our childhood superstar Cree Summer in a short but absolutely hilarious cameo too!! It’s been all the feels! In three short episodes we get culture, vibes, music that soothes our soul, and get to be seen as Blerds, geeks, nerds, and comic book lovers. We’ve been fed well over the years as there have been many superhero movies, to be true. Ironheart though, this piece, as shown and written pulls us in and nurtures us in a way our community hasn’t seen and experienced since Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther and seeing Shuri in Wakanda Forever. We see family dynamic, love of community, spirituality, and something more profound hidden deep within the writing and portrayed and delivered by the actors and I can say for me, I was home, nestled within the pages of my favorite comics and I wasn’t even done yet. We only in episode 3-But wait…. They got villains in there!

Ramos-No Marvel creation would be complete without the bad guys and Ironheart is in no short supply! We see a crew working on a heist and each have their own special gifts and talents. Anthony Ramos plays “The Hood”, Parker Robbins, a supervillain with the power of invisibility and strength who just happens to be the leader of a new criminal gang working on getting in on the deals and a huge chunk of the money from the elites of the area. The Hood has a smart, strong, capable crew that don’t mind taking orders from his second in command, Cousin John, played by Manny Montana. Sonia Denis plays the character called the Clown and she’s the safe cracker pyrotechnic mastermind. Jaren Merrell is Slug and is the hacker that has bigger dreams than what we see in episode 1. Zoe Terakes is Jeri, one half of the dynamic duo known as the Blood Siblings. Shakira Barrera plays Roz the other half and they are the muscle of the mighty band of misfits. Eric André even makes an appearance as Rampage, the strategy genius who is instantly replaced the moment Riri shows up! Alden Ehrenreich joins the series as Joe McGillicuddy but has secrets of his own and brings back a blast from Marvel past. So much to say and add but although we share some details and spoilers some things are just better experienced first-hand!

The first three episodes range from 43mins to 55mins and they fly by so quickly it leaves you wanting more! Amazing plot and origin stories unfold to a brilliant soundtrack that smoothly and seamlessly get us through not just the heavy emotional parts but got us jamming, clapping, and singing all through the buttkicking!

Released Tuesday June 24, 2025 9pm EST

Episode 1. “Take me Home”

Episode 2. “Will the Real Natalie Please Stand Up?”

Episode 3. “We in Danger, Girl!”

The next three to be released on Tuesday July 1, 2025 at 9pm EST.

If you’ve never heard of Ironheart before…YOU HAVE NOW! Go stream the episodes and tell us what you think, was it as good as you hoped? Are you ready for the next three to drop? Let us know how you feel!