Age Rating: M
Cast:
Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart
Lyric Ross as Natalie Washington and N.A.T.A.L.I.E.
Manny Montana as John
Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington
Anji White as Ronnie Williams
Jim Rash as Professor Wilkes
Eric André as Stuart Clarke / Rampage
Cree Summer as Madeline Stanton
Sonia Denis as Clown
Shea Couleé as Slug
Zoe Terakes as Jeri Blood
Shakira Barrera as Roz Blood
Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins / The Hood
Alden Ehrenreich as Ezekiel “Zeke” Stane
Regan Aliyah as Zelma Stanton
Paul Calderón as Arthur Robbins
Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto
Creator: Chinaka Hodge

Ironheart continues Riri Williams’s story after her introduction in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I was sceptical of this show since going in, since most of the MCU shows have generally been just okay at best. However, it also didn’t feel like there was a lot of confidence in Ironheart from Marvel/Disney itself, with the lack of marketing and the fact that all 6 episodes were released over two weeks as opposed to one episode per week. The show certainly has its issues, but was enjoyable enough for what it is.

The first three episodes are a mixed bag, with pacing issues (it can be pretty slow) and I wasn’t that gripped by the setup, even if I followed along with the story. That said, I do think that it works much better in the second half. I like the unexpected direction it goes in, with magical aspects added into the otherwise street level focus, which makes itself distinct from some of the other MCU movies and shows. It is also character focussed, the protagonist clearly makes a lot of impulsive and rash choices that might not make her that ‘likable’, but she’s more interesting as a character because of it. Ironheart is yet another MCU show which suffers from being split into 6 episodes; it could’ve worked perfectly well as a movie and instead feels stretched out. That being said, while I maintain it could’ve been a movie and things were stretched out, it also felt like there’s so much shoved into these 6 episodes, to the point that there’s not enough time to unpack everything, and things still felt a little rushed.

Dominique Throne is great in the lead role, doing well at conveying her protagonist Riri Williams, along with conveying her character’s anxieties, grief and loneliness and really selling it. Lyric Ross is also good and she and Thorne have a really enjoyable dynamic. Alden Ehrenreich was a highlight of the show, and made quite an impression  in his screentime. One weakness is the villain, he is set up fine enough and Anthony Ramos played him pretty well, but it didn’t feel like he worked in the way he should’ve, especially towards the end of the series.

The action on the whole is pretty good and entertaining enough. The CGI isn’t great but definitely not on the worse side when it comes to the MCU, and the suits that Riri wears look good.

Ironheart is another messy, but decent enough MCU show, and it picks up towards its second half. It definitely occupies the middle range of MCU shows, nothing special but fine enough to watch if you’re already watching just about everything in the franchise.