Yesterday saw the first ever head to head battle between DC’s Superman and Marvel’s Iron Man knock-off, when Marvel Studios released the first official trailer for Ironheart, just hours before Warner Bros. released its first full trailer for James Gunn’s Superman and the contrast between the two could not have been sharper.
The challenger was Ironheart, the newest Disney+ series starring Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a teenage genius who builds her own Iron Man-inspired suit of armor. The series is set to premiere June 24 with a six-episode run. Despite Marvel’s hopes to launch another breakout hero, the trailer’s debut sparked a wave of skepticism and criticism across social media and YouTube, many questioning Disney’s investment in a character who has struggled to win over comic fans and now faces similar resistance on screen.
One commenter summed up the mood: “Pro tip: keep your expectations low, so you wont be disappointed.”
Even among those open to the series, there’s a sense of disappointment. Some fans lamented the lack of connection to Tony Stark and questioned whether Riri Williams has the depth or appeal to carry a show, especially given her divisive reputation in the comics, where many have argued she comes off more like a villain than a hero. Her self-centeredness in the trailer, is true to the character as written in the comics, which could be a disaster as her desire for “relevance” make her less endearing as a hero. And much like the dwindling sales of the character’s comics, the trailer has been ratioed with more downvotes than upvotes on YouTube.
The tepid response to Ironheart stands in stark contrast to the overwhelmingly positive reception for the Superman trailer, which was also released yesterday. While The Superman trailer generated lots of excitement and praise from fans, who celebrated its tone and the return of a classic hero, and a sense of hope. This split reaction fueled even more debate about the direction of Marvel’s latest series and whether Disney’s investment in Ironheart can pay off in the competitive landscape. Odds are, it won’t add a single subscription to Disney+ and if they still include the reported identity politics in this series, it’s going to go over worse than Star Wars: The Acolyte.
See Also Ironheart’s Inclusivity: Disney adds Trans Actor & Drag Queen to MCU Series
With a lead character who remains polarizing and a trailer that failed to generate much, if any, excitement, Ironheart is a risky gamble for Marvel and Disney+. Whether audiences will embrace a hero whose actions and attitudes have often been described as more in line with a villain than a classic Marvel protagonist remains to be seen.
Related Ironheart: Disney Replaces RDJ’s ‘Iron Man’ with Sassy Teenage Girl
The trailers were both discussed in length on Midnight’s Edge in the Morning. Check out this great, and funny discussion below:
What was your reaction to the trailers? Sound off in the comments section below.
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