It has been a long time coming but Ironheart is finally here and the new Disney+ series is, in my opinion, worth the wait. Dominique Thorne masters the complexities of Riri Williams in her very own show and if you didn’t already love her, you will.
Riri is one of the smartest characters in the Marvel canon. Her debut in the comics, which was barely 9 years ago, was huge for fans of Iron Man. The character was a mentee of Tony Stark, even created an AI system with Tony’s likeness. But Thorne’s take on the character is a bit different. She’s still the girl who was 15 when she was accepted into MIT on a scholarship but she also has a lot more she’s dealing with.
The series starts with Riri at MIT, struggling to make enough money to fund her AI system, and so she starts helping other students for money. But when the school finds out, she has to return back to Chicago without the backing of her school to help her research. Allowing Riri to thrive in Chicago instead of in Boston gives us a unique look at her life with her mother, seeing those she left behind, and the pain that Riri has to sort through to be the hero she needs to be.
N.A.T.A.L.I.E. (Lyric Ross) is an AI system that Riri accidentally creates in the image of her childhood friend Natalie, who died along with Riri’s stepfather. The pain of Riri’s loss colors the season and makes her actions understandable, even when she’s trying to do something good and making the wrong decisions to get there. Like teaming up with Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) and his crew. Or turning to Joe McGullicuddy (Alden Ehrenreich) for tech help.
She’s a flawed hero but a good one
One of my favorite things about the tech centered characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that all of them have done some less than perfect things to try and advance their tech. Tony Stark literally sold weapons to make money for his technical advances. Peter Parker would steal the tech he used from trash bins to try and make ends meet. So Riri teaming up with a group of people who steal from the rich in order to make money for her own AI system isn’t surprising.
But what I loved about it is that it made Riri question parts of herself because of her own decisions. She’s aware of what is going on, does it because she doesn’t really have a choice, but is still a good person in the end of it all. What Ironheart boils down to is a simple question of morality. How far are you willing to go to get what you need to succeed? It’s what Parker does, what happens with Joe, and it is what makes Riri such a strong character.
She isn’t perfect, she’s flawed and yet there is still so much to love about her. It is why I loved Riri in the comics and why I think Thorne and Ironheart did such a good job of making her a rich and full character to go on this journey with.
Ironheart is captivating, emotional, and beautiful and it is what Riri has always deserved.
(featured image: Disney+)
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