Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to change Phase 4 of the MCU. It is strongly expected to bring the The MCU emerges from its crisis introducing new characters like Namor and Ironheart. We’ve heard a lot about Namor so far, like his age and what his the name means. But things have been relatively quiet on Ironheart’s side. Thankfully, director Ryan Coogler offered a few words about her and her connection to the hero whose legacy she is meant to be.
Black Panther 2 Director Talks Ironheart
The costume of Ironheart in Black Panther : Wakanda Forever
We’ve seen Riri Williams/Ironheart and her costume in various trailers and clips from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But we don’t know much about her or her connection to Iron Man from various cast interviews. But director Ryan Coogler changed that during an interview with DesiNerd.
Asked about Riri’s connection to Tony, he replied:
“There’s a connection between her and Tony, but it’s not…it’s a complicated connection. And Riri is a supporting character in this movie, so she’s kind of there in concert with a lot of other characters. But she plays a major role and we’ll learn a little about how she came to be when we meet her in this movie.
Even though Tony isn’t there, but Wakanda has its own resident genius that Riri can vibe with. Regarding his relationship with Shuru, Coogler says:
“She brings a different kind of energy, but she also has similarities to characters we’ve seen in this universe before. The movie is about a lot of things, but one of them is foils – people who exist in contrast, but there is a thread of similarity.In this film, we see Shuri meet someone who has things in common with her but who is also very, very different.
Ironheart in Marvel Comics
He further explained that Riri is “a bit of an audience surrogate” in the film as she is not involved with Talokan or Wakanda. Coogler also said the character was “not the traditional superhero”. He said:
“I love that she’s totally herself. She’s definitely not the typical or traditional superhero. She’s really Riri Williams, the 19-year-old student first, and then there’s this whole Ironheart thing she has to figure out.
So it seems that she will have no idea what is going on. As such, she will be fresh off the boat and it will be interesting to watch her develop before she continues to play in her own series.
What will be the link between Riri Williams and Tony Stark?
Iron Man
In the comics, Ironheart is pretty much a legacy of Tony Stark. The AI in his costume is a replica of Stark himself. Now the question is: will the same thing happen in the MCU? There’s no way to know right now. But from the Black Panther 2 trailers, it’s clear that Riri is name their costumes after the name “Mark” which Tony also used.
So she’s at least a little inspired by him. It remains to be seen how that connection fleshes out on his show Ironheart. It’s also possible that James Rhodes will step in to help her and she might remind him of Tony.
Whether or not Ironheart is Iron Man’s legacy remains to be seen. After all, Tony’s daughter, Morgan Stark, will likely be competing for that title in the future as well.
What do you think? How will Ironheart be connected to Iron Man? Let us know.
