Latest news with #DominiqueThorne
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Lyric Ross Cherishes Her AI Natalie in ‘Ironheart'
[This story contains spoilers from the finale.] It's hard to forget Lyric Ross as Deja in This Is Us. At such a young age, she delivered a standout performance. For some actors, that can be a hard act to follow in adulthood. Not for Ross. As the AI version of Riri Williams' best friend Natalie in Marvel Studios' Ironheart series on Disney+, Ross has been one of the show's many unexpected delights. More from The Hollywood Reporter Where and When to Watch 'Thunderbolts*' Online 'Ironheart' Review: Marvel's 'Black Panther' Spinoff Finds Its Voice Between a Clumsy Pilot and a Frustrating Finale Dominique Thorne Shares Robert Downey Jr.'s Reaction to 'Ironheart': "He Immediately Just Got It" Black Panther fans first met Ironheart's Dominique Thorne's Riri in Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever three years ago, but her character actually first appeared in the comics in 2016 in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 3 #7. After several other comic appearances, she got her own standalone Ironheart comic in 2018. A teenage prodigy from the South Side of Chicago, Riri attends MIT with every intention of following in Tony Stark's or, rather, Iron Man's, footsteps. Lack of finances, however, complicates that goal in the Ironheart series created by playwright and former Snowpiercer staff writer Chinaka Hodge, which released its season finale on Tuesday. Produced by Ryan Coogler, Ironheart showed a fallen hero in Riri. Her attempts to stay at MIT by any means necessary get her expelled, sending her back home to Chicago without any legitimate way to move forward with her own plans. Back home, she got mixed up with a nefarious group of hackers led by Anthony Ramos' character The Hood. But she also has to face the hole left in her heart from losing her stepfather Gary (Chicago PD's LaRoyce Hawkins) and best friend Natalie to violence. In her grief, she produces an AI version of her best friend whose loss is also felt by Xavier (Matthew Elam), Natalie's brother and maybe Riri's potential love interest. Ross spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about what makes her AI Natalie different from the real Natalie, how she and Thorne created their best friend chemistry, why Ironheart has been a great follow-up to This Is Us, filming in her native Chicago, ignoring the backlash and if we will see more of AI Natalie moving forward. *** Who is the real Natalie and who is the AI Natalie? I think the AI Natalie is that light you can't put out even if you try. She is there to stay whether you like it or not. Very determined, little to no fear, which is one of the things I loved about her. You don't see her getting shaken up by anything really. She takes on challenges seamlessly. The real Natalie is a friend, nurturer, supporter. She's everything that she says she is, in all her confidence, and nobody can tell her different. She embraces challenges like AI Natalie, just with that confidence that she can do anything and everything. And she is always there for her friend Riri. So very similar, but, at the same time, they have their different struggles. We haven't really seen much of the real Natalie. It's more so been flashbacks, but we get to come back to her at the end of the show and see she's a little more calm than AI Natalie, who's kind of all over the place and a very big personality, which they both have, but she's just a little bit more that in who she is, and she understands that and everything that comes with it. So, just different little things. She's very smart. The AI Natalie does things that I don't think she's supposed to be able to do. Oh, absolutely. And that is all shout out to Riri because that is her creation. [AI Natalie] couldn't do that alone, and, of course, [Riri] didn't do it on purpose, which shows you where her mind can go, the fact that she created something that she wasn't supposed to create that was bigger than her own vision should say a lot. Talk about how you and Dominique built the chemistry that we see, because it's quite electric. It seems like it was there from the jump. From our first chemistry read and through our rehearsals, it just stayed consistent. Of course, we put our efforts in just being around each other and having conversations and lunches, if we could. We didn't always have that much time to just hang, but we would take some moments to just be in each other's presence and talk things out, laugh and just hash out random things. So, it was pretty easy and relaxing for me. Let's talk about what AI Natalie represents, because at the end of the day, it's still grief because, at the end of the day, she's lost her friend to gun violence. I think one of the beautiful things about their dynamic is that Riri is forced to grieve in a way. She's been running away from all of that for I don't know how long, and rightfully so, nobody wants to relive those things in order to heal. But what Natalie comes with is a lot of accountability, a lot of honesty, vulnerability, and [Riri] learns a lot throughout that, I guess, new relationship and the contrast between the real Natalie and the AI Natalie. It's a lot to learn between the two and how to deal with tragedy like that, especially when it hits so close to home. Natalie's brother Xavier or Xay, as he's affectionately known, has a very different reaction to AI Natalie. I would, too. It makes a lot of sense where AI Natalie is coming from, but she's focusing on the joy and happiness of all these memories that she's getting, not necessarily the bad part of whatever these people that were affected by those events are going through. It seems like she's blinded by all of the positivity coming from those memories, so she doesn't give room to understand the fact that it's not going to be the same with the people who are affected. And that comes with understanding humans and how they work, understanding that she is not human so she's not going to feel the same in any way. Even though she gets a sense of emotions, the human way of things is a lot harder to understand. Tech is easy for her. She's up for this new challenge of understanding what it means to live, what reality is. So, it's a pretty complex situation. Talk a little bit about playing Deja on for so long and then being able to go into a completely different project. How gratifying is that? And what are the things that you learned playing Deja that help with this role? This whole Ironheart Natalie situation was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something completely different from Deja and from myself. I heard a lot of horror stories about people being on a show for however many years and not doing much outside of that, and they kind of get stuck in that cycle or rhythm that whatever show brings, and I didn't want to be like that. I was trying to find something that would really break me out of that shell. I [thought] a low budget indie film, but Marvel came along and they said they wanted me to be a part of this journey. I was really excited and really scared at the same time. This is unlike anything that I've ever done, but I wanted to check my range as an actor and as a creative to see what I can do, and that's still the journey that I'm on for whatever my next project will be. And how dope was it to be able to do it in a project set in your city? I was super excited. One of the things that I dreamed of when I was little is getting to go to work downtown in the city, just to do something. I didn't care if it was extra work on Chicago Fire. That was Hollywood to me. I loved seeing the skyscrapers while getting to do what I love. So the fact that I was being taken out of my home in L.A. for however many years just to come back to do something on this scale is, I don't know, I can't explain it. It was that personal to me, and to my folks. All my family is from Chicago. It's a really cool situation that I couldn't come up with myself. That was God. Given all the backlash to before people even saw it, how gratifying is it to see the outpouring of love afterwards? Knowing in your heart that you had done something that was spectacular, how special is it to see people feel that and give you that love back? Absolutely. There was a lot of heart behind it. I knew what we put into it was what we were going to get out of it, whether it looked that way or not. I just knew that that was going to happen. And the fact that people were saying all these horrible things about it without it coming out yet, some people were talking about it before the trailers came out, with the obnoxious actions of that, you've got a choice of what you can believe: Believe in what you did or believe in what the people are saying. I appreciate the love that this show has been getting, but even if there wasn't love at the end of the day, we still made something very special. People are entitled to their own opinions, but I've seen everybody's hard work, day in and day out, blood, sweat and tears. There was so much passion from everybody coming into this show and the fact that we could come together and just take in everything that we've made, it all turned out beautifully. We're sad because it looks like Natalie has gone away. Do you envision an world in which we get more Natalie? I hope that we get more Natalie. There's more for me to explore about her. I know for sure that five months or so was not enough. Selfishly, I want Natalie back. But we will see. I haven't heard anything, so y'all just might find out at the same time I do. *** All six episodes of Ironheart are now streaming on Disney+. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise Solve the daily Crossword
Gizmodo
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Watch Robert Downey Jr. Geek Out About ‘Ironheart' for 14 Minutes
It's still unclear what impact, if any, the events of Ironheart will have on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but at least one person in it has already felt the effects. That would be Robert Downey Jr., the former Tony Stark, current Victor Von Doom and basically the Godfather of the MCU. Downey is a busy man, but he still found time to sit down with Ironheart star Dominique Thorne to geek out about the show for 14 minutes, and it's just a delight. In what's apparently just part one of two from a larger conversation, Marvel just posted Downey and Thorne talking about the first three episodes of Ironheart. They're going to talk about the last three eventually too. But, here, Downey asks Thorne all about her process, specific scenes, character choices, and so much more, all as he contextualizes the latest show into the larger scope of the franchise. Check it out. And while there aren't any major revelations there, you can just tell that Downey is being totally sincere about his love of this show. He's a great actor, clearly, but he wouldn't have done this kind of promotion for a show he didn't actually care about and enjoy. And he seems genuinely curious and excited about everything Thorne has to say. Now, I do wish they were able to at least talk a bit more about spoilers since this is out weeks after those episodes first dropped. For example, I would love to hear Downey's thoughts about Alden Ehrenreich's character since he's so wrapped up in the history of Iron Man. But maybe that comes in the next installment. And maybe we'll see what the latest MCU mega-villain has to say about that other new MCU mega-villain. All episodes of Ironheart are now on Disney+ and, like Robert Downey Jr. says, they're great. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ironheart Head Writer Shares the Sweet, Real-Life Inspiration for Landon, the Kid With the Wagon
Marvel Television's Ironheart opened with a sequence that resulted in 'bad girl genius' Riri Williams' (Dominique Thorne) expulsion from MIT. As she flew home to Chicago — in her self-made supersuit — the school-assigned AI assistant glitched out, leading to a very bumpy landing. Helping Riri complete the final blocks of her trip home, by lugging the pieces of her busted suit in his wagon — in trade for an Andrew Jackson, mind you — was a local youth named Landon, played by Harper Anthony. Landon would resurface later in the six-episode season, as part of the team of friends and family that helps Riri re-re-rebuild her suit, in time for a pivotal face-off with The Hood. More from TVLine Is Leanne Morgan Sitcom Reba Redux? Did Bear 'Cave' Grow? Does Last of Us News Bode Well for Part III Game? Did Lucifer Botch Beach Pick? And More TV Qs! Save the Dates: Delayed Digman! Season 2, Eyes of Wakanda and More Marvel's Big TV Teases: Will Mephisto Go the Way of the Power Broker, Hulk's Son, Super Skrull G'iah...? When I hopped on my recent Zoom with Ironheart head writer Chinaka Hodge and fellow EP Ryan Coogler, I couldn't help but first acknowledge the series' young cast. Led by Thorne but also featuring great work by Lyric Ross (as N.A.T.A.L.I.E.) and scene stealer Regan Aliyha (as Zelma), the cast, I noted, was 'dynamite — down to the kid with the wagon!' Both Hodge and Coogler replied to my kudos with appreciative clapping, after which the former elaborated on the series' youngest character. 'Thank you for bringing up 'the kid with the wagon,'' she said. 'That's the one character that doesn't exist in publishing, and is the one character that came from my mind. And I love Landon the character and Harper the actor infinitely.' Hodge went on to explain Landon's origin. 'I stared writing this during the COVID/shelter in place era, and there was a kid who lived on my block named Landon,' she shared. 'He would come over and poke his nose in — 'What are you doing, Miss 'Naka, what are you writing? What's this show, what's this show? Can you put me in this show? Put me in this show!'' And when all was said and done, there a young boy named Landon is, helping out one of Marvel's newest heroes. 'So I'm very glad that Landon lives' as a character, 'and Harper makes him sing,' Hodge smiled. Want scoop on any Marvel TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@ and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line! Best of TVLine Yellowjackets' Tawny Cypress Talks Episode 4's Tai/Van Reunion: 'We're All Worried About Taissa' Vampire Diaries Turns 10: How Real-Life Plot Twists Shaped Everything From the Love Triangle to the Final Death Vampire Diaries' Biggest Twists Revisited (and Explained)
The Review Geek
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
Ironheart Season 1 Review – Another forgettable MCU project
Season 1 Episode Guide Episode 1 -| Review Score – 2/5 Episode 2 -| Review Score – 1.5/5 Episode 3 -| Review Score – 2/5 Episode 4 -| Review Score – 1/5 Episode 5 -| Review Score – 2/5 Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3/5 In recent years, the MCU has been delivering a constant batch of disappointing, half-baked works. Unfortunately, Ironheart is the newest project in that group. Although it has a few interesting ideas and a good cast, with Dominique Thorne as the titular hero, the show is rarely entertaining. Riri Williams returns to Chicago, her hometown, to rebuild her suit and a super AI as we kick off the end of Phase 5. However, she's got no money for it. As a result, RiRi is swept up in a life of crime, working with The Hood and his gang of criminals. Ironheart's biggest problem is the number of elements it needs to handle and its inability to accomplish that in the course of six episodes. Talking about The Hood's plot alone, there are already many factors to coordinate. The villain's backstory, his crew, Riri's life of crime weighing on her, the use of magic, and the heists, to name but a few. However, there are even more working pieces, such as Riri's own tragic backstory, her AI, a blooming romance, and another important antagonist, Ezekiel Stane. Because of that, there's not enough time to develop anything well. Consequently, viewers can't latch onto any idea. When Riri joins The Hood, for example, there's no weight to her decision to team up with criminals. The show only brings that up once a mission goes wrong, then her doubts about being a bad person become relevant. But, as it had no gravity before, it's hard to feel captivated by her dilemma. This is before mentioning how lazy decisions and conveniences often happen for a quick resolution. Ezekiel starts as a friend of Riri's, but he soon begins to hate her. In their first fight, he spews out his revengeful supervillain speech and seems overjoyed in destroying the girl's armour. But when he gets the chance to kill her seconds later, he goes back on what he said and immediately gives up. But the villain who suffers the most is Parker Robbins, The Hood. Anthony Ramos is a good actor, but he isn't menacing at all. For the majority of Ironheart, he and his crew give off the vibe of lackeys more than of dangerous criminals. His cloak only makes him seem goofier and it's hard to overstate how much of a terrible costume design it is. The series attempts to explore his backstory, but it never goes deep enough so it feels like the result of another lazy decision. Ultimately, The Hood joins the (massive) list of half-baked and forgettable MCU villains. Sadly, the protagonist suffers the same fate. She has many flaws, which could help her be more relatable. But we don't watch her grow or even try to overcome these flaws, so viewers can't sympathize with her struggles. The dramatic scenes are great, mostly thanks to the cast, but they are far and few between. The same goes for the action. It's always fluid and creative, being very fun to watch. Yet, with so many aspects to handle, two of them working well doesn't save the show. Episode 6 has an incredible fight between Riri and The Hood, in which we finally see her mixing magic with technology. It's visually creative, presents high stakes for both her and Parker, and has a smart twist that leads to her victory. The last episode also delivers a few good dialogues and drama, making it the best of the bunch. However, watching it is weird. Everything is tied to plot threads that can be developed in a future season or movie that seems unlikely to happen. Regardless of how good these moments are, it's too late to change the story, and they probably won't lead to anything. Ironheart proves that Dominique Thorne is a good choice for the character, but that she also deserves a better project. Even if not in a future season, it'd be nice seeing her act as Riri Williams once again with a script that can develop her character more.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Marvel's Big TV Teases: Will Mephisto Go the Way of the Power Broker, Hulk's Son, Super Skrull G'iah…?
The following contains spoilers from… well, every MCU television series that has streamed on Disney+ thus far. The season finale of Marvel Television's Ironheart introduced — at long last, after four-and-a-half years of teases — the devilish baddie that is Mephisto, as played by Sacha Baron Cohen. More from TVLine Ironheart Boss Explains That Fight Set at a White Castle, 'One of the Truest Midwest Things You Could Do!' Ironheart Boss Talks About [Spoiler] Finally Joining the MCU, and Where/If Finale Cliffhanger Will Get Resolved Ironheart Boss on Episode 3's [Spoiler] Reveal: 'It's So Much Fun to Reach Back' in MCU History - Grade It! But given the track record of big Marvel TV show teases failing to have 'legs' in the ongoing MCU, we must wonder: Will Mephisto ever be seen again? That Ironheart finale not only put a face (…or two) to Mephisto, it left us with the upsetting realization that hero Riri Williams (played by Dominique Thorne) had made a literal deal with said devil, to get back her dearly departed best friend and stepsister, Natalie (Lyric Ross). Ironheart, though, has yet to be renewed, and the way that the series — which wrapped filming back in late 2022 — was slow-walked onto our screens has many leery of Marvel's future plans for Riri & Co. (Looking at TVLine's own backstage data, reader engagement with Ironheart was on par with Daredevil: Born Again, which famously never cracked Nielsen's Top 10 streaming chart, and it put up barely one-third of Agatha All Along's numbers.) How worried should fans be that 's loose threads will never be tied up? Let's revisit many other MCU TV shows' big teases, and how/if they ever got resolved…. SHOW FINALE DATE THE BIG TEASE(S) FOLLOW-UP? WandaVision 3/5/2021 Wanda went a bit crazy after 'losing' her sons; White Vision is out roaming the world 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness turned Wanda into full-on villain; upcoming Disney+ series will continue Vision's quest The Falcon and the Winter Soldier 4/23/2021 Sam Wilson is now the true Captain America; Sharon Carter is the villainous 'Power Broker'! 2025's Captain America: Brave New World continued Sam's story; Sharon has not been mentioned/heard from since Loki (Season 1) 7/14/2021 There's an alternate timeline ruled by Kang the Conqueror! 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania further teased Kang threat (before the MCU got de-Kang'd by Jonathan Majors' legal issues) Hawkeye 12/22/2021 Wilson Fisk is still crime-ing, maybe minus an eye Fisk resurfaced, with a scar, in Disney+'s Echo Moon Knight 5/4/2022 Marc Spector has a second alter, cab driver Jake! [Crickets] Ms. Marvel 7/13/2022 Carol Danvers abruptly trades places with teenage (mutant?) Kamala Khan 2023's The Marvels explained the Carol/Kamala/Monica Rambeau switcheroos She-Hulk: Attorney at Law 8/13/2022 Matt Murdock is still Daredeviling; Emil Blonsky aka Abomination was freed from prison by Wong and brought to Kamar-Taj; Hulk has a son, Skaar, from his time on Sakaar Matt/Daredevil resurfaced in Disney+'s Echo; Blonsky/Abomination and Skaar have not been mentioned since Secret Invasion 7/26/2023 Dead Talos' daughter G'iah has the powers of Drax, Hulk, Thor and many others — even the mighty Captain Marvel; Rhodey had been a Skrull 'for a while' G'iah hasn't been mentioned since — even in The Marvels, which ignored the entirety of Secret Invasion; the long-delayed Armor Wars TV series-turned-movie by some accounts will address Rhodey's 'lost' time Loki (Season 2) 11/9/2023 Loki as God of Stories now holds together the Time Loom's dying branches Loki hasn't been mentioned since, not even in 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine, which had a TVA/branched timelines element — but Tom Hiddleston is in the Avengers: Doomsday cast Echo 1/9/2024 Wilson Fisk has eyes on the NYC mayoralty Daredevil: Born Again followed Fisk's election/first acts as NYC mayor Agatha All Along 10/30/2024 Agatha and Billy Maximoff unite to find Billy's twin By some accounts, Tommy may figure into the upcoming Vision series; there are no plans for Agatha Season 2 per se Daredevil: Born Again 4/15/2025 Matt is forming an 'army' to fight fascist Mayor Fisk Jessica Jones may be a part of said army, given that Marvel vet Krysten Ritter appears in Born Again Season 2 Ironheart 7/1/2025 Riri made a deal with the devil aka Mephisto TBD! Want scoop on any other Marvel TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@ and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line! Best of TVLine TV's 30+ Best Cliffhangers of All Time From Buffy, Friends, Grey's Anatomy, Twin Peaks, Severance, Soap and More 20+ Age-Defying Parent-Child Castings From Blue Bloods, ER, Ginny & Georgia, Golden Girls, Supernatural and More Young Sheldon Easter Eggs: Every Nod to The Big Bang Theory (and Every Future Reveal) Across 7 Seasons
