The young super-genius Riri Williams, is inspired by Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, and wants to follow his heroic ways. She creates her own superior armor and lives an adventurous, heroic, and philanthropic life as a superhero known as Ironheart.
We’ll see his debut in Black Panther Wakanda Forever, and then his own solo Disney Plus series later. Iron Man and Riri Williams have a close relationship in the comics. However, given that Tony Stark is already dead in the MCU following the events of Avengers: Endgame, any kind of relationship between the two can be rocky. It turns out, however, that the relationship may have already been developed in a previous film. Riri Williams may have already made an indirect appearance in Captain America: Civil War.
Ironheart in Captain America Civil War
In Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark is first seen giving a speech to a large audience at MIT. Afterwards, Tony told the whole class that they were all recipients of the Foundation’s first September grant “after demonstrating the technology behind his BARF project. Essentially, he added, all of the proposals submitted by the students in the room had been accepted and funded in the hope that they would “redefine the future!” Following the huge funding, there was a loud applause as Stark Industries was now helping dozens of MIT students.
In Marvel Comics, Riri Williams, a 15-year-old tech whiz at MIT, finally creates armor from scratch. So what if the MCU’s Riri Williams has the same situation? She could have been present when Tony gave his speech if she attends MIT. Her funds may have helped her get some academic projects she was working on.
As a result, Riri might have the skills and materials to create his own suit thanks to Iron Man. Despite the fact that the two characters have never actually met in the MCU, it would establish a connection between them. As Riri strives to become the next Iron Man, it could even lead to an official passing of the baton.
This would mean that Riri Williams has already made an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She could have been in the room receiving the funding that would one day allow her to become Ironheart, although we didn’t get to see her.