Review: Marvel's ‘Ironheart' proves the MCU still has room for bold, personal stories

San Francisco Chronicle​

5 hours ago

Marvel's latest spinoff 'Ironheart' lands on Disney+ not with a bang, but with purpose.
Rooted in lesser-known comic book lore, the series is a focused character study — scrappy, assured and determined to prove it deserves its place in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe.
First introduced in 2022's ' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,' Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne, most recently of the East Bay-set 'Freaky Tales ') emerged as a Tony Stark acolyte with the tech skills to match the ego, and just enough imposter syndrome to make her compelling. The film had clearly meant to lay the predicate for Riri's Disney+ solo outing, which makes Marvel's baffling three-year delay in rolling it out feel like a glitch in the algorithm — especially in the post-'Endgame' era, where momentum is more precious than vibranium.
Still, if the passage of time has dulled audience memory, 'Ironheart' makes a strong case for second chances.
Overseen by showrunner Chinaka Hodge and executive producer Ryan Coogler (both Oakland natives), the six-episode show doubles as an origin story and a love letter to the Windy City, to Black girl genius and to the corners of the MCU rarely given a spotlight.
The show picks up with Riri at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where her prodigious intellect is matched only by her impatience with authority. It doesn't take long before a few ethically gray activities to fund her armored super-suit get her booted and sent back to her hometown of Chicago, where she begins to scavenge components from garages and junkyards. Unlike Stark (RIP), Riri doesn't have a billion-dollar R&D budget or a friendly artificial intelligence system on standby (not yet, anyway).
Community, in this case, refers to a cast of grounded, lived-in characters. Anji White (FX's 'Fargo') brings warmth and weariness to the role of Riri's mother, while Lyric Ross ('This Is Us') haunts the edges of Riri's grief as the late best friend whose absence still lingers — in more ways than one.
In one of the show's most intriguing turns, Alden Ehrenreich ('Solo: A Star Wars Story') pops in as Joe, a fellow tech savant with deep ties to Marvel continuity that longtime fans will nod at approvingly.
But the true wildcard is Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins, aka the Hood, a character whose comic book origins are folded into the series with admirable restraint. Ramos, back onscreen after 2024's 'Twisters,' strikes a balance between menace and charisma. His storyline, alongside Riri's, offers a parallel arc that adds emotional depth without cliches.
'Ironheart' may not have the visual pyrotechnics of a big-screen tentpole, but it compensates with texture and authenticity. The show knows when to flex its effects budget while keeping its focus on the characters. The drama isn't in sky battles or CG slugfests; it unfolds in quiet conversations, moral dilemmas and the friction between brilliance and belonging.
Frankly, this is what Marvel should be doing with its Disney+ platform — telling stories too intimate, too off-kilter or too niche, but that resonate because they reflect the lived realities and cultural nuances of the Black experience in ways a big-budget film often can't. Think 'Ms. Marvel' meets 'Iron Man,' with the social consciousness of 'Luke Cage' and a dash of 'Runaways' energy.
Still, for all its strengths, 'Ironheart' feels like it's swimming against the tide of Marvel's broader cultural and corporate recalibration. In an era when the studio is scaling back — pruning timelines, consolidating characters, doubling down on marquee heroes — it's unclear where a show like this fits. But Thorne gives Riri a spark demanding more than a one and done.
Disney+ may have labeled this as a miniseries, but the ending practically screams otherwise. And here's hoping Marvel is paying attention. Because if 'Ironheart' proves anything, it's that there's still a place for stories like this. Personal, poignant, and proudly forged from the disparate corners of a fictional universe made all the richer for it.