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Ironheart Lays the Path for a Bright Future

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<i>Ironheart</i> Lays the Path for a Bright Future

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Ironheart Lays the Path for a Bright Future

We get the reveal of a major villain fans have been pulling for, and a whole lot of magic.

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Published on July 2, 2025

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Dominique Thorne in Ironheart

Despite having a six episode season, Ironheart has come to an end just a week after its premiere. The final three episodes of the series wrap up this installment of Riri Williams’ story with a bow that looks pretty nice from a distance, but is plainly fraying at the edges when you take a closer look. 

After leaving John (Manny Montana) behind to die after the Hood’s attack on Heirlum, Riri (Dominique Thorne) is a nervous wreck, and Parker (Anthony Ramos) is growing more unstable and suspicious of her. Due to Riri leaving Zeke’s (Alden Ehrenreich) technology behind at the crime scene, he is arrested, outed as Obediah Stane’s son, and imprisoned for his illegal possession of unauthorized technology. He no longer trusts Riri, and when Parker offers him a way out of prison in exchange for helping to hunt down and kill Riri, he accepts. Zeke is then enhanced in a process that includes having his skull drilled into, gaining electric abilities while also being subject to Parker’s control. 

Meanwhile, Riri and N.A.T.A.L.I.E (Lyric Ross) investigate the piece of Parker’s cloak they managed to swipe. Riri’s mother (Anji White)—who has let her get away with so much—takes her to visit her friend Madeline (Cree Summer) and her daughter Zelma (Regan Aliyah). Riri has spent her whole life thinking that Madeline is just a witchy kind of person, but she and Zelma are both well versed in the very same magic that Doctor Strange and the many sorcerers of the MCU use. They quickly determine that the cloak is from a different dimension and tell Riri to do everything she possibly can to destroy it, which she attempts to no avail.

After the sting of her failure begins to mix with her ever present PTSD, Riri finally reaches her limit. She has her worst panic attack yet while  flying her suit, and N.A.T.A.L.I.E is unable to calm her down like she was before. N.A.T.A.L.I.E goes against Riri’s wishes and reveals herself to Xavier (Matthew Elam) after bringing him to help. He, understandably, has a bad reaction to seeing his dead sister in the form of a sentient AI assistant and cuts Riri off. In a world where she wasn’t mid-panic in the middle of a junkyard, she may have been able to effectively explain how N.A.T.A.L.I.E came to exist in the first place, but instead her inability to do so leads to N.A.T.A.L.I.E growing angry with her as well, and she storms off with Riri’s suit. 

Left with no other avenues, Riri meets up with Zelma, who believes that the entity behind Parker’s cloak is none other than Dormammu, the final boss of 2016’s Doctor Strange. Unfortunately, Parker has directed the remaining members of his team (plus Zeke) to bring him Riri’s head, and the Blood Siblings (Zoe Terakes and Shakira Barrera) interrupt her meeting with Zelma and attempt to take her out. After the clunkiest fight scene in the entire show, Riri is able to trap the pair inside of a protective shield, but is unable to escape before Clown (Sonia Denis) appears and makes multiple attempts to shrapnel bomb Riri to death. She manages to evade Clown as well, but not before slipping to her that Stuart (Eric Andre) is dead, clearly at the hands of Parker and John. 

Where was N.A.T.A.L.I.E this whole time, you may wonder? Inside the suit, trapped by Slug (Shea Couleé) with the help of a giant magnet and a box truck. N.A.T.A.L.I.E escapes just in time to save Riri from being turned into roadkill, but they are still unable to make an easy exit when Zeke shows up and completely destroys the suit. He almost kills her too, but is unable to do so, and instead tells Riri to get out of Chicago before Parker finds out she’s still alive and comes after her himself. She runs home to lick her wounds, and Zeke and the gang head back to Parker, gifting him the head of Riri’s suit and maintaining the lie that she died at Zeke’s hand.

In all of this, Riri’s mother is a true saint. She allows for Riri’s antics to flourish under her roof, is almost entirely unphased when N.A.T.A.L.I.E appears to her for the first time, and though she does progressively become more concerned about what’s going on in her daughter’s life, she never attempts to pull rank on her to completely yank her out of the situation, no matter how bad things are. She remains there for Riri whether Riri likes it or not, and when Riri hits rock bottom, she’s the first person there to get her back on track. With the help of basically everyone who didn’t spend the night trying to take Riri out—including Xavier, who has now forgiven her—she takes apart her stepdad’s car and builds it into the final version of her suit. Still in need of a power source and with no ARC reactor in reach, she again turns to Zelma. They figure out how to power the suit with magic, but it isn’t able to hold the energy and N.A.T.A.L.I.E’s programming all at once. N.A.T.A.L.I.E is destroyed before she can be transferred to a different data bank, and Riri is left without her for the remainder of the show.

In the midst of this, Parker is abandoned by Clown, Slug, and the Blood Siblings after they dig up Stuart’s autopsy. With no one else to manipulate, he breaks his promise to leave Zeke alone and activates his control mechanism, forcing him to help Parker break into a mansion he failed to rob back when he first started running cons with John. In a reveal that feels very trivial, we learn that the mansion is the home of Parker’s father (Paul Calderón). Not only is he a CEO like all of the other targets, he also abandoned Parker when he was 12-years-old following the death of Parker’s mother, citing the fact that he “didn’t want him.” It’s pretty weaksauce as tragic backstories go, but Parker was hurt enough by it to turn to a life of crime that eventually led him into the hands of the man that fans of Marvel Television have been begging to see for half a decade: Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen).

Mephisto is the one who gave Parker the cloak the night of his failed break-in, using his powers to manipulate Parker into asking for wealth beyond imagination in exchange for something “he wouldn’t miss.” The cloak’s influence is tied to Mephisto, and by the time Riri shows up to finally take Parker down, he’s a rageful shell of himself who is dead-set on murdering her. In their final conflict, Riri gets him out of the cloak and leaves him on the floor of his lair. She then comes face to face with Mephsito on her way out, and while she does a better job of resisting his will than Parker did, he still manages to make a deal with her before she leaves. We are faced with two things as the season comes to a close. First, Riri is reunited with N.A.T.A.L.I.E, except she seems to be having some memory issues because she isn’t AI at all, she’s the Natalie who died 5 years ago back in the flesh. Second, we see a post credit scene featuring a very alive—and seemingly well—Parker seeking out magic from none other than Zelma.

As predicted, Ironheart was not able to break the MCU curse that comes along with a six-episode season, but there is a clear desire for a second season that cannot be ignored. As well as the ensemble cast does with the little that they are given, they get an even shorter end of the stick in the back half of this season, which is unfortunately pretty typical of MCU TV. When Parker’s allies abandon him in episode five, that’s the last time we ever see them. It would have been cool to see everyone come back together with Riri to stand against Parker and take him down, but there clearly wasn’t enough room for that to happen. The small scene we get of the remaining four bonding was really nice as it was one of the few times we saw them interact outside of the main character and their cult-like leader, and I wish that there had been more casual interaction similar to that across the entire cast.

With even more characters appearing in the back half of the season, the motivations of characters like Zeke and Parker felt flimsier than I’m sure were intended, but again this all comes down to the fact Ironheart would have been even better with a ten or 12-episode runcount. Zeke’s arc flies by in a blink, and the build-up to Parker’s father is non-existent before it doesn’t even matter anymore. Thankfully, Riri is not sidelined in her own show—something that commonly happens to Black female characters in leading roles—but we don’t get to see her make strong bonds with a lot of the people she interacts with regardless of whether or not she knew them before the starting-point of the series. Zelma was an instant favorite of mine, and while it seems like she’ll get some more screentime in a hypothetical season two, it would have been cool to see a full episode of her and Riri working together instead of the sporadic bits that we get in-between Riri working with half a dozen other people.

Luckily, every good thing that came out of the first half of the season is still intact here. The performances are incredible from everyone, and Ironheart has so much potential as a longer series that it’s impossible not to want more. As clunky as things started to get, there is a ton of potential for the show now that the door has (finally) been opened on Mephisto and the realm of magic. The only thing holding it back (aside from the episode count) is the way Disney+ chose to release the series. There was no need to squeeze the season into a two-part release when there are more than two episodes—Ironheart should have been released weekly like every other series (except for Echo, one of the other two series featuring a female lead of color). Riri Williams deserves to be more than a flash in the over-full pan that the MCU occupies.

As a final note, I have to bring up how wonderful the title cards were. Starting an episode trying to guess how Ironheart was going to show up on screen was super fun, and my personal favorite remains the broken pavement with Riri in the suit as the “A” from episode one. It’s the little things that count for the most, and in the event that a second season happens, I hope they carry that tradition through. icon-paragraph-end

About the Author

Kathryn Porter

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Kathryn Porter is a freelance writer who will talk your ear off about pop culture if you let her. She is named after Kathryn Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager fame, and if her nose isn’t in a book, it’ll be about 5 inches away from a TV screen. You can find her work in Paste Magazine and her takes (hot or otherwise) on Twitter @kaechops.
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ChristopherLBennett
13 days ago

A lot to like, particularly the luminous and engaging Dominique Thorne, but I had some issues. Bringing magic and Mephisto into a series about a tech-based hero is an odd swerve, and Parker never impressed me as an antagonist. I have not been waiting half a decade for Mephisto, and I don’t understand why anyone would be; the only thing I know the character for was a deal he made with another character named Parker in one of the most deservedly reviled storylines in Marvel history.

It also seems out of character for Riri to have taken Mephisto’s deal to restore N.A.T.A.L.I.E. (or, as it turned out, Natalie). I think it would’ve been more consistent with her personality if she’d said no, getting Nat back is something I’m gonna do for myself, using my own skills. Not to mention that she’d seen how badly it messed up Parker to accept a favor from this guy, plus it’s just generally obvious that he’s effectively the Devil, so it’s hard to believe she’d think this could possibly turn out well.

I know Riri’s a Trekkie and not a Star Wars buff, but when Mephisto introduced himself, I kind of wanted Riri to say, “What? Kit Fisto?”

I also have trouble with the idea of making an armor suit out of the doors and panels of a car. Would they be strong enough? I thought the protective part of a car was the rigid frame, and that things like doors and body panels are more lightweight and crumple relatively easily to absorb impacts. Although this was apparently a classic car, so maybe the body is made of sturdier metal? I don’t know. Anyway, it’s kind of disappointing that her “final form” armor didn’t get more use.

Incidentally, they have robot arms at White Castle now? What do the robot arms do?

C.T. Phipps
13 days ago

A lot to like, particularly the luminous and engaging Dominique Thorne, but I had some issues. Bringing magic and Mephisto into a series about a tech-based hero is an odd swerve, and Parker never impressed me as an antagonist. I have not been waiting half a decade for Mephisto, and I don’t understand why anyone would be; the only thing I know the character for was a deal he made with another character named Parker in one of the most deservedly reviled storylines in Marvel history.

To be fair, that’s the way they’re attempting to differentiate Riri from Tony Stark by giving her a clear science vs. magic arc. Riri is also someone who wants to be a DIY heroine versus Tony Stark the billionaire.

Unfortunately, I think the show REALLY leaned heavily into Riri being an antihero and I’m not sure how I felt about that.

Mostly what I came here was if he wasn’t empowered by the Devil and a few changes, I’d gladly watch Parker and his crew rob tech billionaires.

Last edited 13 days ago by C.T. Phipps
bencanknowbe
13 days ago

So, I have not watched the show or anything MCU for a few years now, but am I right in saying that this show ended with our main character making a deal with the devil? That is not a very heroic thing to do. Is she supposed to be a hero, anti-hero or just a villain?

Laura Q
Laura Q
8 days ago
Reply to  bencanknowbe

Riri made quite a number of ill advised choices during the course of the show…some due to cockiness and the feeling (probably not wrong) that she was on her own in her endeavors…but mostly due to deep, crushing grief and PTSD. Digging into that aspect of her character was arguably the best part of the show…and boy, she sure did make some bad choices which she certainly be paying for steeply if and when there is a second season.

C.T. Phipps
12 days ago
Reply to  bencanknowbe

The show pretty much triples down on her being an antihero. In addition to a deal with the Devil, she also leaves a man to die, steals from multiple people, blackmails a guy into selling her illegal tech, and breaks every promise she makes. There is a really great moment when she also tries to say that it was super hard at her at MIT as a black woman with the establishment trying to keep her down…to her black woman dean. So the show was absolutely doing it deliberately.

ChristopherLBennett
13 days ago
Reply to  bencanknowbe

Thorne talked about that in an interview, how Riri isn’t as committed to the hero thing as a lot of her predecessors. The question a potential season 2 would explore is whether she commits to that choice or finds her way back. https://ew.com/ironheart-finale-spoilers-mephisto-sacha-baron-cohen-11765071

It does bother me that the character they decided to take in this morally gray direction is African-American, particularly considering that Luke Cage season 2 ended with a similar cliffhanger choice on its title character’s part.

Eduardo S H Jencarelli

To be fair, they did imply Luke Cage was still morally himself when he showed up in the Jessica Jones finale giving sage advice to her over how to deal with Trish’s out of control situation.

ChristopherLBennett
10 days ago

Corruption is a very gradual process. Season 2 ended with Luke making a moral compromise for what he believed was the right reason; naturally he wouldn’t immediately do a complete turnaround in personality. It was the first step down a slippery slope, and presumably season 3 would’ve explored whether he committed further or realized where he was heading and turned away from that path. I imagine a season 2 of Ironheart will be similar if it ever gets made.

bencanknowbe
13 days ago

Is a second season lightly? With them releasing it all in 1 week it seems to me like Disney just want to get this show out of the way and move on. Has it been a success in the ratings?

ChristopherLBennett
13 days ago
Reply to  bencanknowbe

A TV show’s renewal is rarely guaranteed, but many shows gamble with cliffhanger endings on the principle that it will increase the chances of renewal, since it will increase the audience’s desire to see more. Sometimes it works, often it doesn’t.

Naturally, when they wrote and filmed the season back in 2022, they had no way of predicting what the ratings would be when the show finally aired months or, as it turned out, years later. They took a chance, as shows often do. Nothing is certain in this business.

bencanknowbe
12 days ago

It was made in 2022? Why did it not release before now?

ChristopherLBennett
12 days ago
Reply to  bencanknowbe

Reports differ. One version is that Marvel decided it had too much content coming out too quickly, so they decided to spread out the releases more and give the makers more time to perfect them. (The show had some reshoots done in early 2024.) Another version is that the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes threw off their schedule and they had to rearrange things. Either way, though, Ironheart was delayed until after shows that were produced later, which seems questionable.

C.T. Phipps
12 days ago

Personally, I think it was a wise decision and I think them releasing it in the big chunks they did here was a mistake.

ChristopherLBennett
12 days ago
Reply to  C.T. Phipps

Slowing the release schedule in general was probably wise, but I see no particular benefit to delaying this particular series so long, when it would’ve made more sense to release it sooner after Wakanda Forever.

Eduardo S H Jencarelli

It’s not a perfect show by any means, but it’s still an engaging one, with enough memorable moments that it’s worth it. Certainly a lot more cohesive and better written than something like Secret Invasion. Not as cohesive as Echo, but again, it had its moments and having more of an emotional impact. My 1996 self had a blast seeing Riri and “Joe” sing their hearts out to Alanis Morrissette during their car trip.

I think a lot of the ill will towards the show stems from the fact that it had a pretty toothless uninspired opening episode. The whole scenario of Riri getting expelled from M.I.T. never quite landed as it should, and it took Dominique Thorne a while to get comfortable playing the character. It wasn’t until the season’s back half that her dramatic moments packed the necessary punch. For the first half, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. was the one carrying the moments. Which certainly made her “deletion” in the end tragic enough (though I wish the show had leaned harder into Riri’s pain over that loss).

I’m not versed in the comic books, but from what I understand, Mephisto is essentially Marvel’s version of the Devil. I find it kind of ironic that the MCU began with a grounded hero like Iron Man, and then the show about a girl with an iron suit ends up being the one to debut what’s essentially a magical biblical character. I would have expected a character like that in something like Moon Knight or a Doctor Strange movie (or better yet, Agatha) – not this. However it’s revealed, I hope Marvel keeps the character around. I certainly wasn’t expecting Sacha Baron Cohen to be so capable of doing both seductive and menacing this well. That pizza scene was electric. And ending the show with her seemingly accepting the deal opens up a ton of possibilities for the future. Even if they don’t do a second season, they have to honor this cliffhanger in the future in some form.

Last edited 11 days ago by Eduardo S H Jencarelli
Dvandom
5 days ago

“Riri makes bad choices and pays for them” was definitely the theme of the entire series, but the cliffhanger is a little too cute about “is this a vision of a future that may be, or a revelation that she did make the deal?” It feels like they made it just vague enough that if there is no season 2, they can drop a line into some other series or movie to indicate that she turned the deal down.

Still, given how the similarly vague ending of Wandavision got picked up in Multiverse of Madness, I do not particularly trust the MCU here.