Disney+'s Ironheart Series Cast, Head Writer, Director, Producers And More Details
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" had a whole lot on its proverbial plate. It had to deal with the passing of both actor Chadwick Boseman and his beloved character, King T'Challa. It also had to pick a new hero to take the mantle of Black Panther, set up a new threat in the form of the long-awaited Namor, and examine Wakanda through a post-"Infinity War" lens. And it accomplished those tasks incredibly well, all while introducing a brand new player to the MCU — Riri Williams, aka Ironheart.
Delightfully portrayed by Dominique Thorne, Riri was a genius M.I.T. student who spent her spare time building Tony Stark-inspired suits and vibranium detectors, the latter of which put her on Namor's bad list. With the angry underwater king wanting her dead, Riri wound up in Wakanda, where she allied with the new Black Panther, Shuri, to keep the African kingdom safe from its Talokan foes. Now, Riri is returning to the MCU with her own series, becoming an Iron Man-inspired hero with some mysterious new enemies to deal with. If you want to learn more about the upcoming Disney+ series, read on for everything you need to know about "Ironheart."
When will Ironheart be released?
When will Riri Williams soar onto our TV screens? She's been waiting to take flight for quite a while. "Ironheart" seemingly wrapped filming all the way back in November 2022, and at one point, the Disney+ series was slated for a fall 2023 release. Obviously, that didn't happen, with Disney CEO Bob Iger wanting to both scale things back a bit in the streaming department and reduce the overall Marvel output.
However, it's not all doom and gloom for Ironheart fans. At the Disney Upfront presentation in May 2024, the studio released a short teaser for the upcoming MCU series. It didn't reveal much — people in attendance reported footage of Riri stealing gadgets from her MIT campus to build a new super suit, which eventually leads to her expulsion — but after all this time, we're just happy to learn the series is still heading our way. In fact, Disney confirmed the show will air sometime in 2025, and lead actress Dominique Thorne has promised that it will be worth the wait, telling Deadline in January 2024, "Strap in. Get ready. It'll be a ride. ... It is an epic journey and one that I'm very excited to share."
Who is starring in Ironheart?
Needless to say, Dominique Thorne is returning to "Ironheart" as the titular character, having first played Riri Williams in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." In addition to her MCU work, Thorne has starred in two incredibly prestigious projects: "Judas and the Black Messiah" and "If Beale Street Could Talk."
Joining Williams, we'll see "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" and "Hamilton" star Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins, aka The Hood. In the comics, Robbins is a low-level crook who becomes a magical supervillain after stealing a clock and a pair of boots empowered by the interdimensional demon Dormammu. It's also been rumored that Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" fame will be showing up in the series, with word on the street saying he'll appear as the devilish Mephisto. (In fairness, people have been guessing that Mephisto would show up in everything from "WandaVision" to "Spider-Man: No Way Home," so we'll see.)
Rounding out the cast, we've got Anji White ("Fargo" Season 4), Manny Montana ("Good Girls"), Shakira Barrera ("GLOW"), Regan Aliyah ("XO, Kitty"), Shea Couleé ("RuPaul's Drag Race"), Zoe Terakes ("Wentworth"), Paul Calderón ("Bosch"), Cree Summer ("Atlantis: The Lost Empire"), and Han Solo himself — no, not Harrison Ford. We're talking about Alden Ehrenreich of "Solo: A Star Wars Story." You can also expect to see Jim Rash of "Community" reprising his part as the M.I.T. liaison from "Captain America: Civil War."
Who is the head writer on Ironheart?
Thanks to their Disney+ shows, Marvel Studios has been able to shine a bright spotlight on several unsung creatives who definitely deserved more attention. For example, there's Jac Schaeffer, Michael Waldron, and Bisha K. Ali. Similarly, the head writer for "Ironheart" isn't a household name, and the MCU show will no doubt introduce her to a wider audience. However, it seems that Chinaka Hodge was always going to achieve greatness, even if "Ironheart" hadn't come along.
Hodge became a Sundance fellow in 2013, formed a hip-hop group called The Getback with Daveed Diggs, has published two poetry collections, and has been a key part of the San Francisco-based theater company Youth Speaks/The Living Word Project. Plus, she was named one of the Kennedy Center's Next 50 — "leaders who are lighting the way forward through art and action," according to the website.
Additionally, Hodge has worked on several popular TV shows, including "Snowpiercer" and "The Midnight Club." Speaking to the Kennedy Center about what she wants from her career as a writer, Hodge explained, "I'm really interested in expanding what representation looks like, and I want to write stories that expand who's on camera, with the widest lens possible."
Who is directing and producing Ironheart?
With Chinaka Hodge writing "Ironheart," who's directing the series? Well, those duties have gone to Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes, both of whom have helmed episodes of some of your favorite TV series. When it comes to Bailey, she's worked on shows like "Dear White People," "Grown-ish," "The Chi," and "Mixed-ish." As for Barnes, she's directed installments of "Atlanta," "Killing It," "Blindspotting," and "Mythic Quest." The two will split the series in half, with Bailey taking the first three episodes and Barnes taking the last three.
On the producing side of things, we've got quite the talented lineup, including Hodge, Sev Ohanian ("Run," "Searching"), and Zinzi Coogler ("Space Jam: A New Legacy," "Creed III"). Of course, the biggest name on the producing side of things is Ryan Cooger, one of Marvel's key directors. Coogler directed both "Black Panther" films, introducing the world to Riri Williams in "Wakanda Forever."