IRONHEART Will Push Boundaries in the MCU, Says Producer: “Almost in the Vein of Walter White or Tony Soprano”
Marvel Studios is gearing up to release Ironheart on Disney+ later this month, and according to executive producer Sev Ohanian, this won’t be your standard origin story.
Riri Williams made her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but this solo series promises something deeper, riskier, and more psychologically layered. Ohanian tells SFX Magazine:
“Riri is brilliant yet flawed and finds herself going down a path that I'm not sure we've quite seen in the MCU. She kind of breaks bad in the show, and we go to some uncomfortable places for audiences that I think will be really fun to explore, almost in the vein of Walter White from Breaking Bad or Tony Soprano.”
This signals a very different tonal shift for Marvel’s young genius, one that could blur moral lines and challenge the usual expectations of what a hero looks like in this universe. It’s an interesting direction to take things and I hope they can effectively pull it off.
Ironheart picks up after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, with Riri heading back to her hometown of Chicago. But it’s not a warm homecoming. She finds herself crossing paths with Parker Robbins, aka The Hood (Anthony Ramos), a street-level villain dabbling in magic, something that puts him at odds with Riri’s tech-driven worldview.
The friction between their two approaches, science vs. sorcery, seems to be at the core of the story. Riri’s journey will reportedly spiral into dangerous territory, forcing her to confront not just villains, but parts of herself she may not like.
Marvel never really draws comparisons to characters like Tony Soprano or Walter White, who were flawed icons who kept audiences hooked precisely because they were so morally complicated.
Whether Ironheart fully leans into that antihero lane or simply brushes up against it remains to be seen. But if Ohanian’s comments are anything to go by, Marvel may be tapping into something darker and more introspective this time around.
Ironheart premieres June 24 on Disney+.