Dominique Thorne plays Riri Williams, the young
engineering genius last seen helping out in 2022’s “Wakanda Forever.” Victoria Luxford said in her review, “Her leftfield ideas saw her thrown out of the
prestigious MIT, forcing her to return home to Chicago with an
Iron-Man-inspired suit she designed in her luggage.”
Desperate to copy Tony Stark but missing his
billionaire background, Riri falls in with a criminal gang led by The Hood,
played by Anthony Ramos, a mysterious figure with a cloak powered by magic. At
first thinking she was taking part in harmless crimes, Riri slowly realizes what
she’s gotten into, and must use her intelligence to prevent more people dying.
The problem with anything new released by Marvel is
thinking whether you need to have prior knowledge in order to understand what’s
happening. Thankfully, “Ironheart” is a largely independent show that doesn’t
require any research in superheroes to understand. Luxford described, “The
story is Marvel’s take on Breaking Bad – a highly driven person with good
intentions turns to crime, and soon finds themselves in too deep.”
Luxford continued, “This means Riri avoids the
po-faced morality of many heroes and becomes something more complex, with
echoes of Tony Stark in Iron Man 3.” Rather than heroism, she wants to build a
suit due to the grief of losing her stepfather (LaRoyce Hawkins) and best
friend Natalie (Lyric Ross). She suffers from panic attacks, paranoia and
flashbacks. Everything is seen through a powerful performance by Thorne.
This is where the series overcomes some of the more
predictable aspects of the story. Luxford said, “Yes, you can probably guess
things will blow up in Riri’s face, but there’s a beating heart underneath the
steel armour that makes those consequences much more compelling.” Series creator
Chinaka Hodge gives every character a story, normally through a terrific
soundtrack. We must have seen tech-building montages in previous films (“Tony
Stark built stuff in a cave with a box of scraps”) but having Nina Simone’s Sinnerman
playing in the background gives it a different feeling.
Luxford noted, “We still get the expected dose of
Marvel-style action though, as the audience is treated to a couple of thrilling
heists early on.” The Hood’s gang is an enjoyable band of loners, mainly former
“Ru Paul’s Drag Race” winner Shea Couleé as hacker Slug and Sonia Denis’
explosives expert Clown.
In another area, Alden Ehrenreich is fun as a weapons
supplier with a connection to the start of the MCU. Then we have Ramos as The Hood.
Luxford said, “Yes, his cloak is more than a little dramatic but beneath it,
he’s a man possessed by the allure of power with the source of his magic
explained in a jaw-dropping final episode reveal.”
In the end, “Ironheart” is a welcoming new antihero,
with enough passion and arrogance to overcome the more predictable elements of
the story. Some excellent cliffhangers mean there’s got to be more to come from
this hurt genius, and that’s not a bad thing.
Williams did a great job in this role. She was
believable as someone who is still going through grief and is mourning her
loss, so Riri is a relatable character. I don’t like that before this show was
released it was review-bombed because of the prejudice comments about having
females, people of color, or LGBTQIA+ people in the lead roles. That’s just
wrong because these people don’t believe in Equal Opportunities, which is not given
equal rights to everyone, regardless of who they are. Still, I think this is a
good show to watch, especially since this is the finale of MCU’s Phase Five.
Check it out and enjoy.
Stay tuned later for my yearly Christmas review.
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