- calendar_today September 1, 2025
Ryan Coogler’s Next Big Project: Marvel’s Ironheart
Ryan Coogler is having a good year. With the box office success of his most recent film, Sinners, the celebrated director already has another upcoming project. Marvel’s limited series Ironheart will find Coogler returning to television with a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series, and just yesterday, the studio dropped a sleek new trailer for the show, which will arrive in June 2025.
Ironheart will be a six-episode series following Dominique Thorne’s character Riri Williams (aka Ironheart), a teenage tech genius and protégé of Tony Stark from the comics. It will serve as the final television installment of the MCU’s Phase Five.
Ironheart was announced back in December 2020, and initially, the show was intended to arrive in 2023. However, later that year, Marvel reorganized its long-term plans, deciding that it would be prudent to cut down on the amount of content it released each year, owing to a sentiment of market saturation. The delay moved the show to this summer. Footage that was teased during the 2024 D23 convention described the series as “basically a crime show with an Iron Man twist at the center,” and the tone is expected to be a lot darker and more grounded than that of many of the MCU’s other series.
Marvel fans may be familiar with the character of Riri Williams, who was first introduced in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the movie, she stumbles into conflict with Namor and his blue-skinned army after inventing a vibranium detector while a student at MIT. After the Wakandan princess Shuri—connected to Riri through a shared love of science—makes an armored suit in Iron Man’s likeness to help the Wakandans fight back, Riri makes her own to help as well. By the end of the film, after a peace accord has been signed, Riri leaves the suit with the Wakandans before returning to school.
A Battle of Wits, Heart, and Will
Ironheart picks up shortly after the events of Wakanda Forever. In the official synopsis for the show, Marvel writes, “Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri—determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins, aka ‘The Hood’ (Anthony Ramos).”
A number of actors and actresses will join Thorne on the show. Lyric Ross will take on the role of Riri’s best friend, Natalie Washington; Alden Ehrenreich will play Joe McGillicuddy; Manny Montana is Cousin John; Matthew Elam is Xavier Washington; and Anji White will appear as Riri’s mother, Ronnie. Shea Couleé will be featured in the series as Slug. The MCU will also see a return from Jim Rash as the dean of MIT. Rash previously had a cameo in the role in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War, and will reprise it for Ironheart. Sacha Baron Cohen is confirmed to appear as well, but Marvel has not yet shared any details about his character.
The new trailer immediately dives into the action. It opens with Riri entering a closed pizza restaurant and finding the entrance locked, only to be locked in an elevator full of poison gas with only two minutes until she is killed. As she quickly begins working on her improvised solution, she is met by the voice of The Hood over the intercom. He explains that the ordeal is part of an interview that he has arranged to test her, and at that point, he cannot open the elevator, but she is sure to suffocate if she does not break into the floor-mounted device with the gas mask inside. Riri, however, will have none of it and instead uses her creative solution to escape.
Impressed by her resolve, The Hood tells Riri that if she wants, he will bring her along on whatever scheme he has planned. Riri, eager to prove herself and create something truly “iconic,” ultimately agrees after just a moment’s hesitation. However, her decision is met with a great deal of concern from her friends, particularly Natalie, who tries to warn her about The Hood’s sketchy morals. She may very well have a point as well, as The Hood tells Riri after that, “Anyone who has ever accomplished anything iconic in life has had to do some questionable things to get it done.”
The series will likely be grappling with these ethical compromises, as Riri’s immense talent and ambition lead her to test the limits of what she will do to reach her goals. Fans will be curious to see just how far Riri will go in the name of her ambitions, and what damage she may cause as a result.
Marvel has already confirmed that the first three episodes of Ironheart will premiere on Disney+ on June 24, 2025. The remaining three episodes will then be released weekly. The studio has not announced whether a second season is on the table, but one may yet be a possibility depending on the reception of the first season. In the meantime, fans can get a sense of the action, suspense, and character drama with the new trailer and a newly released behind-the-scenes featurette.
Coogler’s history of balancing spectacle with grounded, emotionally resonant storytelling combined with Thorne’s early portrayal of Riri bodes well for the series. Ironheart promises to be both a street-level crime series and the next logical extension of the MCU’s approach to Iron Man, suggesting another exciting new chapter in the MCU’s future.
