Katarzyna Petru
Marvel likes to tell the same story. Someone drops everything, packs up for a big adventure, gets hit on the head, matures, and returns as a new person. The classic "hero's journey," which has been effective since the days of the Odyssey all the way through Thor and Black Panther. Ironheart, the fourteenth live-action series in the MCU on Disney+, wanted to go down that same path. But somewhere along the way, it lost its compass.
As promising as Tony Stark. But without his money
Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) has already been introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as a young, brilliant engineer. Ironheart is meant to be her perfect prologue before hitting the big screen. And at the beginning, everything works: MIT, a brilliant student with an ego bigger than the campus, an armor inspired by Iron Man, being expelled for helping with cheating and demolishing labs. Then a getaway with a prototype to Chicago. All according to the Marvel checklist.
There’s even an echo of Tony – Riri is confident, a bit arrogant, and plays by her own rules. But there’s a crucial difference: Stark had billions, and Riri is a young Black girl from working-class Chicago. And this is where the story takes a turn.
The Hood: magic, a cloak, and a gang that steals only for itself
Enter Parker Robbins, aka The Hood (the great Anthony Ramos), who offers her the classic devil's deal: money to finish the project in exchange for joining the gang. It sounds like Robin Hood, but without the philanthropy – his crew steals from the rich to buy themselves more toys. There are hackers, fiery psychos, and warriors from the convenience store.
Parker has a magical cloak that allows him to disappear and bend bullets like Neo. Magic comes in full force. And here begins the clash with science – something like WandaVision, only less consistent. Witches appear to make Riri realize that armor and math aren't enough. You need something more. But Riri doesn't listen – classic.
Heists like from a VHS and a fight that doesn’t impress
Starting from the third episode, the gang begins real jobs: they disable underground transport, break into a guarded greenhouse like in a heist movie from 2001. You can feel a bit of the vibe from Fast and Furious before the supercar era and 60 Seconds. There’s pace, there are jokes, there’s dirt.
But when it comes to the actual action in armor, it gets poor. The fights are bland, the stakes are low, and they lack grandeur. It’s not the caliber of Iron Man versus Iron Monger. Not even Spider-Man versus Vulture. It’s as if these fights were just meant to happen.
Criminals from the margins. But we have no reason to root for them...
Hodge (the creator of the series) suggests that Parker's gang are victims of the system. Marginalized, forgotten. The thing is... we don't know their story. We don't know what hurts them or what they want besides money. Their revenge has no motive. Their thefts have no purpose.
Riri doesn't come off any better either. She claims to want to protect her loved ones, but throughout the series, she doesn't do that. Her actions are impulsive, self-centered. She acts because she can. Not because she should. And with each passing episode, she resembles an anti-heroine more than Iron Man.
Joe – wasted potential and "Palpatine mode" out of nowhere
There is also Joe McGillicuddy (Alden Ehrenreich), a black market inventor with trauma from a criminal father. Initially, he comes off as interesting: modest, technical, insecure. But then, classically like in a bad sequel, he gets upgrades and lightning from his hands. He transforms into a weapon of mass destruction, because… the script wanted it that way.
Instead of a subtle story about fathers and their mistakes, we get another crazy guy with CGI. And it’s all because Riri drags him into the swamp.
N.A.T.A.L.I.E.: the spirit of a friend who becomes AI
The strongest emotional thread of the series is the friendship between Riri and Natalie (Lyric Ross), Riri's deceased friend who was killed in a shooting along with Riri's stepfather. The girl returns as AI – N.A.T.A.L.I.E. – accidentally generated during Riri's brain scan. She has the memories, personality, and voice of Natalie.
At first, there's a clash: Riri doesn't know if it's blasphemy. But over time, their relationship rebuilds – and you can really feel the heart in this. It's a bit like the transformation of J.A.R.V.I.S. into Vision, only less spectacular, but more human.
Final? A waste of prologue, a wasted heroine
And just when we think that maybe this story will come to a close – that Riri has learned something – the finale comes in. In the last scene, she gets another offer from yet another “magical jerk.” And she makes another stupid decision. As if the whole series didn’t matter.
It's an ending that says one thing: no matter what you've been through, you'll sell your soul if the price is right. Sad? Yes. True? Perhaps. But is that what we expect from the origin story of a new MCU heroine?
Verdict: more frustration than heart
Ironheart had potential. Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, and the rest of the cast give it their all. But the screenplay doesn’t give them anything to work with. The heroine doesn’t undergo a transformation. The antagonists are bland. And the finale undermines the entire story.
There are good moments – heists, chemistry with Natalie, a few emotional scenes. But the whole? Too cynical, too empty, too bland for something that was supposed to be a fresh start for Marvel.
