Note: The following article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart, who seems to be Iron Man's MCU replacement. The MCU began with Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark. The character quickly became a fan-favorite and continued to be a pivotal part of the franchise for over a decade. Iron Man was retired in 2019's Avengers: Endgame, when he sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos' army. Stark has remained away from the MCU since, but Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) is now set to take his place in the franchise. The young inventor plays a pivotal role in Wakanda Forever, which sees her build the first machine in history capable of detecting vibranium.
Her invention leads Namor (Tenoch Huerta) to want to kill her, but Shuri (Letitia Wright) and her mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), step in to protect her. In Wakanda, Riri builds herself a high-tech suit of armor. In the comics, Riri took over Iron Man after the hero became incapacitated, and it appears she will have a similar responsibility in the MCU. Ironheart is poised to become a major part of the franchise, having her own standalone series on Disney+ on the way. Here is a breakdown of who Riri Williams/Ironheart is and what her MCU future looks like.
Ironheart's Origin & Powers In Marvel Comics
In the comics, Riri Williams is a 15-year-old MIT student. She was revealed to be a child prodigy at a young age, after which she dedicated her life to technological advancements. As a teenager, Riri used Iron Man's Mark 41 suit as the basis for her first armor. However, building her suit out of parts she stole from MIT put her at odds with the school, and she left. After thwarting a prison break, Williams was approached by Tony Stark, who, impressed by Riri's capabilities, became her superhero mentor.
Williams later helped Iron Man during Civil War II, a conflict that pitted him against Captain Marvel over an ideology conflict centered around a young Inhuman able to predict the future. Following the event's climactic conclusion, Tony fell into a coma, after which Riri stepped in to fill his place as Ironheart. Her suit grants her the ability to fly and shoot energy beams out of her hands. Much like Iron Man, it also grants her superhuman strength and durability. Ironheart also has magnetic-related abilities and can trap enemies in energy bubbles.
How Wakanda Forever Changes Ironheart's Story
While Riri's comic origin is tied to Iron Man, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever offers a different take on her superhero journey. For the most part, though, the film retains the essence of her background, conveying it through different characters and situations to fit its narrative. In the MCU, Riri's vibranium-detecting invention is used by the U.S. government to take Talokan's resources, which angers Namor and prompts him to want to kill her. This leads the Wakandans to protect Riri, which sets off a war between Talokan and Wakanda. The comics similarly force her into a major superhuman conflict when she s Tony Stark's side in Civil War II.
While the circumstances that led her to become Ironheart on the printed page and live-action are completely different, both interpretations retain the idea of Riri being in the middle of a conflict between two powerful sides. Another similarity is the concept of Williams having a mentor, the difference being that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever replaces Tony Stark with Shuri and Ramonda. Regarding her upbringing, her MCU backstory appears to be similar to the source material, given that Riri mentions her step-father and hints at her dad's death. The biggest deviation is the fact that, while she is 15 years old in the comics, she is 19 in the MCU.
How Ironheart Can Replace Iron Man In The MCU
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever proved that Ironheart is a fitting replacement for Iron Man. Riri Williams and Tony Stark share many similarities. They are both inventors who attended MIT and built highly advanced armors. These similarities will allow Riri to easily fill the technological touch that Stark provided to the MCU. However, despite their perceived homogeneity, Ironheart's potential as the MCU's new "Iron Man" doesn't lie on her shared traits with the billionaire, but on the fact that she can offer a different perspective on what it means to be an Iron Man-like character.
Putting their conceptual resemblance aside, Riri Williams is not Tony Stark. There are differences between them, both in of background and personality. She may be seemingly poised to be the MCU's new Iron Man, but her distinctive nature gives her the opportunity to make that role her own. Wakanda Forever showed that Williams doesn't need to emulate Tony Stark. She is her own person, capable of filling Iron Man's shoes in her style, providing the franchise with a fresh iteration of an armor-clad hero.
How Powerful Is Ironheart's MCU Armor Compared To Iron Man's?
In Wakanda Forever, Riri built herself an armor using Wakandan technology to face Namor's Talokan forces. However, as she fought the Talokanil, the suit seemed to be significantly weaker than Iron Man's, given how much she struggled with individual soldiers. It could be argued that the Talokanil are remarkably strong. However, Iron Man defeated Chitauri, Ultron bots and of Thanos' army. He was also able to significantly damage Ultron, whose body was made of vibranium, and even had a one-on-one fight with the Mad Titan. Taking that into consideration, Tony Stark's suits appear to have been more powerful than Riri's armor.
If accurate, it would be surprising, seeing how her suit was made with Wakandan technology. There is, however, a caveat. Black Panther 2 established that Riri's only suit prior to going to Wakanda was her makeshift Ironheart Mark I armor. Thus, it could be argued her armor exhibited weaker qualities than Iron Man's because it was her first time building a proper, advanced suit, using technology she had only come across days prior. As such, though Iron Man's newest armors seemed to be stronger than Williams', that could be only temporary, and a new, more powerful suit from her could appear in Disney+'s Ironheart.
Is Riri Williams Smarter Than Tony Stark In The MCU?
Riri Williams and Tony Stark are two of the smartest individuals in the MCU, but she may be smarter than him. Wakanda Forever made Riri's technological prowess clear early on when it revealed the U.S. government had used her school project for a major military operation. Then, when Shuri met Riri in her dorm room, the new Black Panther became stunned by Riri's intelligence, and by the fact that she was able to manufacture a vibranium-detecting device (the first of its kind) with no help. Shuri being impressed by her provides a relatively reliable metric with which to compare the young engineer to Tony Stark.
That's because Infinity War hinted at Shuri being smarter than Stark and Banner when she proposed a much more efficient method to create Vision. Taking that into consideration, paired with how quickly Riri adapted to Wakandan technology to develop her suit, she appears to be smarter than Stark. Of course, Tony Stark performed impressive feats throughout his tenure in the MCU, the biggest of which was figuring out time travel in Avengers: Endgame. However, it could be argued that Wakanda Forever only offered a glimpse at Riri's brilliance, and that Ironheart could expand on it, providing a clearer idea of the extent of her abilities.
When Will Ironheart Appear Next In The MCU?
Riri Williams' MCU journey has just begun. The character's next official appearance is in the Ironheart series, which will premiere on Disney+ in the fall of 2023. The series will pit Riri's technology against magic. In the Heights actor Anthony Ramos will portray the villainous Hood, a criminal who in the comics wears a mystical cloak that imbues him with magical abilities. Though not much else is known about the MCU TV show, the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are expected to play into its story.
Speaking with CinemaBlend, Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore revealed that Ironheart would be a direct sequel of Black Panther 2: "So, the show is a direct sequel to the movie. So, Riri is carrying the experiences she had in this movie back home to MIT, and there are some interesting repercussions to her adventures that will set her on a fun course." Ironheart seems to have a promising future, and as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever showed, she is a perfect replacement for Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
