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Boston Globe

‘Ironheart' review: Can the Marvel machine reclaim its magic?

Williams has a bit of an anti-hero streak; she's willing to manipulate people and do a little bad in order to get what she wants. She teams up with a gang of ruffians led by the charismatic Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), a villain with a magical cape appropriately called The Hood, who robs the rich. Williams agrees to lend her technological expertise to their heists, in order to score enough money to keep working on her suit. She's obsessed with her pet project because of the traumatic deaths of her stepfather Gary (LaRoyce Hawkins) and best friend Natalie (Lyric Ross), which inspire her to build the Stark-like armor. There's an intriguing sci-fi story bubbling under the surface of 'Ironheart,' as Williams looks to technology to help process her grief. She accidentally uses her memories to recreate Natalie as a sentient AI program, with the resurrected friendship serving as the most heartfelt aspect of the series. Advertisement But while this 'Black Mirror'-style story line is quite captivating, it's too often overshadowed by the messy magical elements that the Marvel machine shoehorns into the show. Advertisement Ramos, whose impressive credits include 'Hamilton' and 'In the Heights,' does his best, but The Hood is the latest laughable villain to join Marvel's recent rogues gallery. And if his Red Riding Hood getup wasn't questionable enough, he's backed by one of the least intimidating TV gangs I've ever seen, like a campy CW version of the 'Ocean's 11″ crew. Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins/The Hood in "Ironheart." Marvel It's a shame, because the grounded family drama and timely sci-fi themes actually work, as does Thorne's powerful performance. The influence of director Ryan Coogler ( But like Williams's choices, the good doesn't always outweigh the bad, leaving 'Ironheart' an ultimately disappointing entry in the MCU. IRONHEART Starring: Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam, and Anji White. On Disney+. Matt Juul can be reached at