Disney’s latest Marvel series, Ironheart, has arrived on Disney Plus to low expectations and little excitement among the broader audience. The show centers on Riri Williams, a young black genius who, in the comics, is meant to take over the Iron Man mantle from Tony Stark. In the series, Riri is depicted as misunderstood and financially struggling, which leads her to join a group of criminals. A group made up entirely of “the marginalized,” with people of color, a drag queen, a trans man, and other characters checking the politically correct boxes. In spite of such a diverse cast, the show struggles to deliver a story that feels authentic or engaging.
The main issue with Ironheart is its lack of compelling character development. Riri Williams, played by Dominique Thorne, may be a talented actress, but her character’s journey is shallow. Unlike Tony Stark, who had a clear transformation from a selfish playboy to a hero, Riri never performs a single heroic act in the entire series. The show’s dialogue frequently uses the word “iconic” to describe her, but the word “heroic” is almost never heard. This choice highlights the show’s failure to give Riri a meaningful arc or purpose.
The plot follows Riri as she faces expulsion from school after an experiment goes wrong. She then gets tangled up with a crew of bandits led by a character named the Hood. While the group claims to be helping their community, their actions often feel forced and lack real impact. The show tries to explore themes of trauma and social justice, but these ideas are never developed in a way that feels genuine or impactful. The story quickly becomes repetitive, focusing on Riri’s involvement in criminal activity without showing any real consequences for her actions.
A major spoiler involves Riri creating a highly advanced artificial intelligence that resembles her deceased best friend, who died in a drive-by shooting. This AI is meant to guide Riri, but the show fails to use this plot point to drive her character growth. Instead, Riri’s journey feels stagnant, and the series ends without her learning any significant lessons. This lack of consequences is a recurring problem in recent Marvel productions, where female characters often escape accountability for their actions.
The supporting cast, including Anthony Ramos as the Hood and Manny Montana as his cousin, delivers solid performances, but their characters are not given enough depth. The only standout is Sasha Baron Cohen, who plays Mephisto. His introduction is one of the few bright spots in the series, but it feels out of place and wasted on a show that is unlikely to get a second season, even though it ends with Riri making a deal with the devil at the end, perhaps appropriately.
Ironheart could have easily been condensed into a two-hour made-for-TV movie. The pacing is slow, and the story drags on without much payoff. The show’s attempts at humor are not enough to make up for its lack of substance. In fact, I hope Marvel and Disney are beginning to understand that diversity is no substitute for entertaining story. They’ve been on a downward trajectory with their content lately, and Ironheart is yet another clear example of a terrible idea from conception (see also The Acolyte, Secret Invasion, or the upcoming Wonder Man). The series fails to deliver a compelling story or character development, leaving viewers with little reason to watch beyond curiosity or group viewing for laughs.
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English (US) · 