Review of the series «Ironheart»

On July 1, the Disney+ platform rolled out the last three of the six episodes of the superhero series «Ironheart», which closes Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (but there will be no time to catch your breath, as Earth will inevitably looming Galactus). It tells the story of a student inventor who manages to construct high-tech armor like that worn by Tony Stark. Despite the fact that Robert Downey Jr publicly supported the project, audience did not skimp to extremely low ratings, which, at the time of writing, resulted in a disappointing 4 points on the IMDb movie portal. Let’s see if such a crushing verdict from a clearly angry audience is fair.

«Ironheart»

Genre teen drama, superhero action
Showrunner Chinaka Goj
Directors Sam Bailey, Angela Barnes
Starring Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, Lyric Ross, Manny Montana, Alden Ehrenreich, Jim Rash, Sasha Baron Cohen
Premiere Disney+
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website

After Riri Williams is expelled from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for, let’s call it — «writing coursework for» D- students, she returns to her native Chicago. There, she tries to reassemble the armored suit she designed and stole from MIT at home, but a soldering iron and a screwdriver are not enough to accomplish this intricate plan.

At the same time, a group of criminals led by the mysterious Parker Robbins, also known as The Hood, approaches the cash-strapped unemployed woman with a very tempting offer. With no other choice, Riri gets involved with a bad company that steals from the viciously rich and also meets a black market trader, Joe McGillicuddy, who should have the materials needed to repair the suit. It is clear that these rash steps will lead to bad consequences.

In the very first shot, the main character boldly declares her ambitions. «I will become cooler than Jobs, than Gates, than Hank Pim and Tony Stark combined» — she says. However, the cruel reality quickly shatters this youthful maximalism. Now we seem to have to empathize with the sufferer, but given the adventure she is involved in, it will not work. In particular, because of Dominique Thorne’s anemic performance.

And here we come to the main reasons for the sharply negative public perception of «Ironheart». Let’s leave aside the fact that some fans of the Marvel universe hated the show even before it was released (in this context, the series has a lot in common with the still fresh in our minds «Snow White»). But the main problem is that all of this is perceived as nothing more than a replacement for a cult character who has become a favorite of many viewers. At the same time, it looks like an amateur league no-name has been put on the field instead of the prime Messi.

This contrast is too tangible and painful. Downey Jr. set the bar too high by endowing Stark with fantastic charisma. Dominic Thorne has nothing of his own to offer, nothing to parry Stark’s trademark charm, both from a script and performance point of view. Under different circumstances, without any reference to any succession, this project might have been able to avoid such a wave of hate.

The second important point is that Riri Williams has become the Iron Man for the TikTok generation. Marvel reminds us of some rock/metal bands that try to keep up with the times and change their style or genre to please the younger generation, forgetting about the so-called old fogies. Today’s 40-year-old uncles and aunts, who were a little over 20 at the time of the first «Iron Man» (and who were the main target audience of those films along with teenagers), are unlikely to be interested in a story about the mental torment of a young student.

While Tony Stark rocked out to AC/DC and managed to build a high-tech bucket of nuts in a cave, Riri Williams, of course, is so brilliant that she creates a full-fledged armored suit in her garage. It’s better not to mention Natalie’s artificial intelligence at all. There was no interesting combination of technology and magic here either — one single scene with modest special effects — that’s all the magic.

The final nail in the coffin of the show is the quality of the story and the sheer amount of nonsense stuffed into it. The creators of «Iron Heart» want to remind us how hard it is for black people to live in the white world, to tell a dramatic story about the pain of loss and the psychological trauma that results from it. They try to use the superhero antagonism that is obligatory for the genre. However, attempts to combine such multilayers turn into a disaster because none of the above themes are properly developed, and the story does not feel coherent. And the screenwriters dig not deep but wide, and the boring overlong running time does not do any good.

At the same time, it’s not that the series lacks scope — it was originally positioned as something more down-to-earth, like «Daredevil». Everything in the frame just gives off the feel of schoolboy passions, a gathering of cosplayers (there were even their versions of Gaitana, Ruby Rod, and Niobe from «The Matrix»).

Among the pop culture trivia, it is worth noting a direct reference to the Thing from «Addams Family», references to «Star Trek» and Spock’s trademark, a rich table with various dishes that seemed to have migrated here from Spanish «The Platform». Two moments that instantly remind us of «Terminator».». In one of them, the same thing almost happens to the wonder suit as with the T-800 in the finale of James Cameron’s first film. In the other, the tin can is forced to use a circular saw to get out of the trap, just like Terminatrix did in Rise of the Machines.». There will also be a reason to mention Obadiah Stane — Tony Stark’s anatagonist in the debut film of the 2008 sample.

Riri Williams made her screen debut in «Black Panther: Wakanda Forever» (2022), but she was not memorable at all. Now she’s in the forefront, but if you ask her «who are you without your costume», it’s not clear what her answer will be. Unless it’s «the coolest girl in the neighborhood», but that’s not much of an achievement.