A Disappointing Disaster for the MCU

Almost three years after principal photography wrapped, Ironheart lands with a thud. It fulfills the worst fears of fans who genuinely looked forward to the six-episode limited series, and bolsters those spewing venom against a Black female superhero. Online haters will rage against the POC and LGBTQ+ cast members as the source of Ironheart’s significant failures, but that’s utter nonsense. Vibrant multiculturalism is actually one of the show’s positive aspects. The flawed narrative, awful exposition, poorly written characters and disappointing action are what will challenge Secret Invasion as the MCU’s biggest streaming flop.

The premiere, “Take Me Home”, sees Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) getting booted from MIT and losing her Stark scholarship. Riri’s unscrupulous methods of earning money to perfect her armor aren’t tolerated in an institution that takes rules seriously, and she continues her propensity for lawlessness by stealing the suit and flying back to Chicago, where her aerial acrobatics don’t go unnoticed.

An MCU Disaster

Ironheart

1.5
/5

Release Date

June 24, 2025

Network

Disney+

Showrunner

Chinaka Hodge

Directors

Angela Barnes, Sam Bailey

Writers

Chinaka Hodge

Ronnie (Anji White) is overjoyed to have her daughter home, but Riri remains focused on iron-suit glory, visiting junkyards with Xavier (Matthew Elam), the brother of her tragically deceased best friend, to scrounge for parts. Then Riri gets a cash infusion from the heavily tattooed John (Manny Montana), who hints at more riches. She accepts his invitation to meet Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) —clad in a red hood like an obvious supervillain — and his gang of “Blood Siblings.” They’ve been robbing tech CEOs to support Parker’s mysterious agenda, and Riri throws caution to the wind and joins their next heist.

Riri was introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as a teenage genius who was willing to help Shuri save her country from an existential threat. She didn’t ask to be paid for her contribution, and did the right thing instinctively. Here, Riri lacks a moral compass and is obsessed with being smarter and more successful than “Jobs, Gates, Stark and Pym.” She gives little thought to aiding a criminal enterprise, even when innocent people get hurt. We later learn another reason for her aggressive drive, but serving as hired muscle for bad guys just doesn’t jibe with how her character was originally depicted.

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The upcoming MCU series stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams and is executive produced by Ryan Coogler.

The supporting cast is frustratingly oblivious. Ronnie and Xavier constantly wonder why Riri’s always gone and how she’s getting paid, but they ask no serious questions when she declares that they may all be in serious danger. These are ostensibly smart people who supposedly care deeply for Riri, but they just stand aside when she’s conspicuously up to no good. How can Ronnie be that surprised that Riri is in trouble? Her blind ignorance becomes even more absurd when Ronnie finally gets a clue after several episodes.

Parker, imbued with magic from his red hood, can disappear like Harry Potter and could make Neo jealous with his ability to bend bullets in the air. He sneaks into secure locations, and has no issues handling any kind of physical threat. So why does he need the Blood Siblings and Riri’s help? Parker has no foresight or aptitude for abstract thought, and his elaborate schemes are laughable given that Parker could easily accomplish them on his own. Nothing goes according to plan, because someone else always makes a mistake.

Ironheart Wastes Anthony Ramos

Disney+

Lazy writing permeates the series, and Ironheart’s plot progression depends on pure luck and ludicrous speed. For example, Parker and John struggle to plan their first heist — until they literally look up to see Riri rocketing across the sky. She then needs specific technology to fix the suit; 20 seconds of screen time lead her inexplicably to Joe McGillicuddy (Alden Ehrenreich) a pushover nerd who just happens to have a secret bunker, an arsenal of illegal gear that he’s somehow never touched and a fear of confrontation that makes him willing to hand everything over.

Huge reveals are also mishandled in a way that softens their impact. The iron armor’s AI is a pivotal character with major ethical and philosophical implications. This should have been narrative gold, but the AI is mishandled in clunky scenes full of implausible reactions to its presence. Similarly, the penultimate episode drops a plot grenade that finally addresses the Red Hood’s backstory, then deflates the epic twist with terrible dialogue and a truly bizarre interaction.

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Despite what people will say, it looks like ‘Ironheart’ is already having an impact on the MCU.

There’s nothing impressive in the action scenes either, which are full of achingly dull CGI. Ironheart’s lack of any compelling action is the final nail in the coffin. The series will draw unfair comparisons to Star Wars’ The Acolyte from those railing against diverse casting, fueled by the belief that Disney is pushing a liberal agenda. Success defeats ugly negativity, but unfortunately Ironheart falls woefully short.

Ironheart is a production of Marvel Studios and Proximity Media. The first three episodes premiere June 24th on Disney+ with the remaining season released the following week. You can watch it here.

You can view the original article HERE.