Marvel Cinematic Universe is coming up with a new TV show titled Ironheart. If you are an ardent fan of Marvel Studios, you must remember Ironheart from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The character portrayed by Dominique Thorne is named Riri Williams aka Ironheart. Given the name of the character, she is often confused with Iron Man. If you are also wondering how Ironheart is related to Iron Man, here’s the answer.
Yes, Ironheart Is Connected to Iron Man, But Here’s a Catch
While the names of the two heroes suggest that they might be connected by blood, the teenage hero’s comic roots state otherwise. Iron Man eventually becomes a mentor to Riri Williams.
The first time the duo comes across each other was when the hero saves her and her to-be-stepfather during an alien invasion on Earth. Following that incident, Riri grew determined to become like the superhero who protected her, so she started using all her intellect to build an armor suit. She was a student at M.I.T. at that time, so it wasn’t a huge task to steal materials for her creation.
While testing the suit for the first time, she ended up destroying it. Riri couldn’t stop thinking of the excuses that she would give to her mother for leaving college. However, after returning home, she was surprised to see Tony Stark, who, after learning about Riri, couldn’t resist giving her a visit. Stark decided to mentor her after learning that she wanted to be a superhero.
Tony Stark used his AI version to train Riri Williams. She then assisted the hero in the Civil War II against Carol Danvers or Captain Marvel, wearing a repaired and more powerful suit that helped Riri carry the mantle of Iron Man when the opponent knocked the hero unconscious. Later, with his guidance, Riri made some superhero allies and also joined S.H.I.E.L.D., a transgovernmental intelligence agency.
Riri Williams Forged Her Own Path in the MCU Without Tony Stark
While it was Tony Stark who guided Riri in the comics, the girl created a name for herself in the MCU without any help from Iron Man. In fact, in the MCU, the creators replaced Riri with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Instead of mentoring Riri, Tony Stark in the MCU guided Peter Parker to become an Avenger.
Iron Man was said to be the ‘genius’ superhero, the level of whose intellect was rarely matched, and Williams emerged as one such human who had the audacity to reach up to his level in terms of intellect.
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ironheart forged an armor suit using Wakandian vibranium to fight Namor without Stark’s guidance. That’s all thanks to T’Challa’s sister Shuri, who mentored her and didn’t let her fall, even for a second.
Now, the young hero is all set to lock horns with ‘The Hood’ in her standalone series, Ironheart. If everything goes well, we might see her securing a position in the upcoming MCU projects.
Ironheart releases on Disney+ on June 24, 2025.
