Ironheart (Riri Williams) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato, the character first appeared in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 3 #7 (May 2016).[1][2][3]
Dominique Thorne portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), first appearing in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and scheduled to star in the Disney+ series Ironheart (2024).
Riri Williams debuted in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 3 #7 (May 2016), created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato.[4][5] She was inspired by American actress Skai Jackson.[6][7] She later appeared under the codename Ironheart in the 2017 Invincible Iron Man series, by Brian Michael Bendis and Stefano Caselli.[8][9] She appeared in the 2018 Infinity Countdown: Champions series, by Jim Zub and Emilio Laiso.[10] She appeared in the 2018 Ironheart series, her first solo comic book series, by Eve Ewing and Kevin Libranda.[11][12][13] She appeared in the 2019 Champions series, by Jim Zub and Steven Cummings.[14][15] She appeared in the 2020 Ironheart series, her second solo comic book series, by Vita Ayala, Danny Lore, and David Messina.[16][17]
Appearing in her Rescue armor following the 2016 "Civil War II" storyline, Pepper Potts confronts Riri Williams and Tony Stark, who has transferred his consciousness into a device becoming an A.I., in an attempt to explain the problems of being a superhero. They are then attacked by Techno Golem and her Biohack Ninjas.[26] As Riri flees and Pepper fights them, Techno Golem tries to find out how Pepper knows Riri.[27] When Techno Golem's armor breaks and Tomoe tries to instead attack Riri, Pepper uses her Rescue armored gauntlets and knocks Tomoe out. When Sharon Carter formally meets Riri after the arrest of Tomoe and the Biohack Ninjas, Pepper tells Riri that they will talk again.[28] Pepper Potts, Mary Jane Watson, Friday, the Tony Stark A.I., and Stark's biological mother Amanda Armstrong are in the Hall of Armor with Riri when she demonstrates her knowledge of each of the Iron Man armors. When Amanda Armstrong offers to allow Riri to use Tony Stark's labs as her base of operations, Riri is hesitant but Pepper encourages her. The next day at her home, Riri's family is visited by the head of M.I.T. She wants Riri to continue working there, as it has gotten sloppy since she left. Riri would also be allowed to use the laboratories at the school. After working in one of the labs, Riri asks the Tony Stark A.I. to find her something to blow off some steam. The Tony Stark A.I. locates Armadillo during a crime spree and Riri uses the Ironheart armor to defeat Armadillo. She is then approached by the Champions, who offer her membership into their group.[29]
During the 2017 "Secret Empire" storyline, Ironheart is seen fighting the Army of Evil during Hydra's takeover of the United States. Baron Helmut Zemo has Blackout surround Manhattan with Darkforce after enhancing him with the powers of the Darkhold. Riri sends a distress signal to all available heroes to meet her in Washington, D.C. Ironheart and Falcon II join up with the Champions to assist in the underground's fight against Hydra's takeover of the country. They later follow Black Widow when she makes her own plans for Captain America. During training, the young heroes disagree about Black Widow's brutality and mercilessness. The heroes later infiltrate a Hydra base to find someone crucial to Black Widow's plan. Black Widow later tells them that they are going to have to kill Steve Rogers, after Hydra destroys the Underground hideout. In Washington, D.C., as their assault begins, Spider-Man fights Captain America, but Black Widow intervenes and is killed. Just as Spider-Man is about to kill Steve Rogers, the others convince him to not do it and they all get arrested.[30] She also helped the Champions search for survivors in Las Vegas, Nevada, after its destruction by Hydra.[31]
During the 2020 "Outlawed" storyline, Ironheart is among the teenage superheroes affected by the Underage Superhuman Warfare Act that was drafted by Senator Geoffrey Patrick ever since Ms. Marvel was put in a coma during a fight with an Asgardian dragon. The established group C.R.A.D.L.E. raided her lab.[35]
Back at her lab, Riri states to N.A.T.A.L.I.E. that she has sent her complaints to Stark Unlimited and nobody has responded yet. While debating on the next plan of action with N.A.T.A.L.I.E., Riri notices that she might be glitching out. Later that night, Riri informs Xavier that N.A.T.A.L.I.E might be suffering a glitch ever since the Intellicar incident. She then gets an alert that the Ironheart armor has been hijacked. It is shown that N.A.T.A.L.I.E. has hijacked the Ironheart armor and starts glitching when she confronts André.[37] Using the tracker in the Ironheart armor, Riri and Xavier enter Stark Unlimited where they avoid the Stark drones. They catch up to N.A.T.A.L.I.E. as Riri works to talk N.A.T.A.L.I.E. out of harming André as N.A.T.A.L.I.E. states that they can't be able to help people from being harmed by people like André. Riri states that she can't have N.A.T.A.L.I.E. doing away with André or else Riri would get arrested as she doesn't want to put her mom through that and lose N.A.T.A.L.I.E. Riri has no choice but to armor up as André recovers and blasts Xavier out the window. Ironheart manages to rescue Xavier and expose André's experiments. After watching the news revolving around the incident, Riri, N.A.T.A.L.I.E., and Xavier noticed that the Ironheart armor was listed as one of Stark Unlimited's prototypes as they suspect that Stark Unlimited covered up the fact that it was the real Ironheart. N.A.T.A.L.I.E's glitch was also taken care of.[38]
Samantha Coley of Collider referred to Riri Williams as a "beloved comic book character."[46] George Marston of Newsarama included Riri Williams in their "Top Marvel Comics Character Debuts" list, writing, "As Tony's replacement, Ironheart, Riri cut her own path through his legacy, taking on some of his biggest villains even as she was forging her own legacy alongside the teen heroes of the Champions. Riri has kept up her superheroic career even though Tony has since returned, embodying her own identity of Ironheart."[47] Rachel Leishman of The Mary Sue called Riri Williams a "fan favorite," while Michele Kirichanskaya ranked her 8th in their "8 Young, New Heroes the Marvel Cinematic Universe Should Focus on Next" list, saying, "Ironheart shows major significance as a potential onscreen hero. As a young woman of color in STEM, Riri Williams shows the potential to inspire thousands of people, especially young girls of color, who look like her that not only can they become heroes, but to enter the STEM field, which have been lacking in diversity."[48]
Screen Rant included Riri Williams in their "10 Most Powerful Members Of The Champions" list,[49] and in their "MCU: 10 Most Desired Fan Favorite Debuts Expected In The Multiverse Saga" list.[50] Comic Book Resources ranked Ironheart 4th in their "Marvel: 10 Smartest Female Characters" list,[51] 6th in their "10 Most Powerful Teen Heroes In Marvel Comics" list,[52] and 10th in their "10 Smartest Heroes In The Marvel Universe" list.[53]
Riri Williams / Ironheart appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), portrayed by Dominique Thorne.[81][82][83] In December 2020, a Disney+ television series titled Ironheart was announced.[84] Dominique Thorne is expected to reprise her role as Riri Williams / Ironheart from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.[85]
For too long the cruel, beautiful Automae have lorded over the kingdom of Rabu, oppressing the humans who live there. But the human revolution is on the rise, and at its heart is Ayla. Once handmaiden, now fugitive, Ayla escaped the palace of Lady Crier, the girl Ayla had planned to kill . . . but instead fell in love with. Now Ayla has pledged her allegiance to Queen Junn, whom she believes can accomplish the ultimate goal of the human rebellion: destroy the Iron Heart. Without it, the Automae will be weakened to the point of extinction.
I just realized they can combine the iron heart show with the iron lad kang story and riri can be a variant of kang, which is possible because they are variants and not younger/older versions of themselves , so a different gender is possible.
My story begins one month after graduating from high school. I was coming home from swim practice, and I was involved in a near fatal car accident. The impact of the crash shifted my heart across my chest and collapsed my lungs. Just like my dreams for the future, my ribs, pelvis, and left clavicle were shattered. I sustained damage to practically every major organ in my body, including laceration of the liver and kidneys, and I experienced 60 percent blood loss.
Watching the blinking heart icon made me reflect on how special this event was and just how amazing it is to be alive. Thirteen years earlier, I was in ICU in critical condition, in a coma for two months, resuscitated eight times, and was given 36 blood transfusions and 13 plasma treatments throughout my 14 lifesaving operations. I had been in a near fatal-car accident coming home after swim practice.
The world is full of unknowns. We were a normal family living a happy life, and then one day, a near fatal car accident changed everything. On July 6, 2004, I was on my way home from swim practice and was involved in a near fatal car accident with a speeding dump truck. The injuries were catastrophic. I lost 60% of my blood, my heart was ripped across my chest, lungs collapsed, and my major organs and pelvis were pulverized. I had to be brought back to life eight times on the operating table. The life that my parents and I knew was shattered. For the next few months, we were constantly faced with unfathomable uncertainty and total despair.
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