What you need to remember about ‘Ironheart’ before the Marvel series premiere

Whoever said there was room for only one iron hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Riri Williams, aka Ironheart (played by Dominique Thorne), takes flight in a six-episode series that's premiering on Disney+ on Tuesday — three years after the character's big-screen introduction in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

That's a long time in between appearances, and whole Marvel multiverses of have lived and died in the interim. Here's our primer to get you up to Tony Stark-style speed.

Who is Ironheart again?

With the linchpin of the MCU gone to his great reward, it was time for a new inventor to demonstrate their (heavy) mettle. Enter Riri, a Chicago-born tech savant eager to continue Stark's good work. Before she can launch her own one-woman industry, though, she's attending Boston's famed MIT — the prime place for next-gen inventors and engineers to get their reps in before saving the world.

In addition to her studies, Riri also freelances on the sly. In Wakanda Forever, one of her inventions — a device that can detect vibranium, Wakanda's ultra-valuable propriety metal — winds up in the possession of the underwater king/suspected surface terrorist Namor (Tenoch Huerta). That's cause for concern for the African nation's royal family, including Shuri (Letitia Wright), who is still mourning the sudden death of her brother and Wakanda's protector, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman, whose own tragic passing inspired the story for the film).  

Along with Okoye (Danai Gurira), Shuri makes her way to Beantown and confronts Riri, only to quickly realize that that she's not a threat, but a potential ally. Following her to a warehouse lab, the duo are the first to see an early prototype of the flying suit that becomes the more streamlined Ironheart ensemble by the end of the film.

That suit gets a workout when the FBI and Namor's underlings show up in Boston, forcing the trio to go on the run. Shuri and Riri end up being captured and transported to the ocean depths to meet Namor face-to-face and learn about his ancient civilization — as well as the very understandable reasons why he's so suspicious of the landlubbers up above. 

After successfully securing an escape route, Riri rides along with Shuri to Wakanda where she helps prepare the country's fighting forces for the climactic battle between the armies of land and water. As a reward for aiding in Wakanda's eventual victory, Shuri presents Riri with a restored version of her late father's vintage car. The hero-in-training takes her leave... but not before inviting her benefactor — and the new Black Panther — to a Bulls game the next time she's in the Windy City.

What do we know about Ironheart's next chapter?

School's out for Riri... forever. Transplanted permanently from Boston to Chicago, the Stark-in-training reconnects with her family and friends, including her endlessly supportive mother Ronnie (Anji White) as well as Xavier Washington (Matthew Elam), brother of her best bud from childhood, Natalie (Lyric Ross).

But Riri makes some new acquaintances as well courtesy of Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos). Known in the Chicago underworld as the Hood — due to the signature hooded cloak he likes to wear — Parker is a Fagin-like figure who has put together a team of super-skilled outsiders to fight for their own version of justice. Naturally, there's more to this particular hood than meets the eye.

Also in the mix is another tech-minded loner, Joe McGillicuddy, played ex-Star Wars hero, Alden Ehrenreich. Joe and Riri find themselves bonding over their shared admiration for what Tony achieved during his time as Iron Man, as well as the possibilities afforded by their own feats of independent engineering.

Riri's idealistic ambitions and the harsh realities that come with achieving them form Ironheart's core narrative arc... with plenty of twists and turns along the way for true believers.

When does Ironheart premiere?

The first three episodes hit Disney+ on June 24 at 9 p.m. ET. The final trio of episodes go live on the streamer on July 1 at 9 p.m ET.

What's next from Marvel Television?

Speaking of Wakanda, the animated Eyes of Wakanda series will follow Ironheart on Aug. 6, with a Marvel Zombies cartoon set for an appropriate October launch. The next live action MCU-adjacent show will be Wonder Man, coming to Disney+ in December. Disney shared a teaser trailer at their upfront presentation in May, which revealed that Ben Kingsley will be reprising his role as everyone's favorite failed actor Trevor Slattery alongside Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the titular superhero and wannabe TV star.