Warning: This article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever brought the tears, the fights and the parallels! The film is wreaking havoc at the box office with its emotional storyline between Shuri and Namor. But there is also a new character who plays an important role in the film: Riri Williams/Ironheart.
Before the film was released, one of the main questions everyone was asking was: will we see a connection between Riri and Tony? In an interview with DesiNerd, director Ryan Coogler said Riri had a “complicated connection” to Iron Man. While her actual connection to him is fleshed out in his solo Disney+ series, it was interesting to witness all of the visual parallels between the two characters in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
1) The act of creating their first costumes
Tony Stark
In the first Iron Man movie, when Tony is captured by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan, he creates his first suit out of scrap metal. There’s a photo of him in the cave, pounding metal with a hammer in a grey/white tank top to shape it to his liking. In black panther 2there’s a direct parallel to this scene with Riri in a white tank top pounding her Ironheart suit from a metal plate.
2) Their Iron Man and Ironheart Mark I suits are similar
Iron Man Mark I Armor
We see Riri’s Mark I suit in his garage and it looks quite similar to the one Tony made in Afghanistan. Both are unpainted metal exoskeletons that are incomplete. Additionally, both suits have blasters located in their arms and Tony and Riri both use them to fight the Ten Rings/The Feds.
However, some developments are inevitable thanks to Tony Stark’s continued invention in the MCU universe. So where Tony had flamethrowers in his Mark I suit, Riri has sleek laser-like blasters installed in his.
3) Ice buildup – Oxygen level scene
Iron Man Costume
One of the major scenes in the first Iron Man movie is when Tony tests out his first fully painted and working costume. He takes it out for a ride and decides to fly as high as he can. But as he climbs higher and higher, his AI warns him of ice buildup on his suit which is preventing the armor from working at full capacity.
In Black Panther 2, this scene is directly parallel. But instead of ice building up on the Ironheart Suit, Riri’s oxygen levels drop as she continues to fly higher. But eventually, she’s able to take out the high-flying drone, just like how Tony stopped Stane. We’re guessing the ice buildup wasn’t used as a problem for Riri’s suit, as Tony would have fixed the problem a long time ago.
4) Bring out the jets in the Ironheart and Iron Man suits
Jets on the Ironheart Mark II Suit
During the final battle between the Wakandans and the Talokans, Riri offers aerial support to the former in his Mark II Ironheart suit. In a scene where she fails to reach the required altitude at higher speeds to stop a Talokan fighter, she activates jets on her feet and it gives her that boost. This scene parallels the countless times Tony saved others and himself by activating jets or blasters in his suit.
5) The same intelligence and the same impertinence
Riri Williams in Black Panther 2
Even though this is the first time we’ve met Riri, it’s clear that she has the same intelligence as Tony. In her intro scene, we learn that she’s practically created the impossible by making a vibranium-detecting device that works anywhere in her garage in just a few months.
Tony too could develop machines and technologies extremely quickly because he was also a skilled engineer. When it comes to sassy and clever comments, Riri doesn’t do it the way Tony sarcastically did, but it’s clear that she knows her strength and doesn’t let anyone put her down.
Ironheart/Riri Williams actor Dominique Thorne said in an interview with Variety that we only see one side of Riri in the Black Panther 2 movie. So hopefully we get to his full personality soon in his own Ironheart To display.
Have we forgotten any parallels? Let us know.
