How Tony Stark’s Iron Man Influenced MCU Ironheart in Black Panther 2

Ironheart is making her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in this weekend’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before going on to appear in a self-titled series on Disney+. The character first appeared in comics in 2016, Riri Williams a teenage genius who is heavily influenced by a love of Tony Stark’s work as Iron Man. In the live-action adaptation, Riri is portrayed by Dominique Thorne. The character will build a metal suit of their own, paying inevitable homage to Tony Stark’s Iron Man but ultimately not being as influenced by the character as she was in the comics. 

Riri’s first and second suits as Ironheart appear in Wakanda Forever, both offering their own flavor to the famous Iron Man concept. “It’s not as sleek and clean as Tony’s suit,” Black Panther: Wakanda Forever producer Nate Moore told ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview. “Tthe trails of the suit are a little bit more gas powered. You get the feeling that it’s like a muscle car as a suit which we thought was interesting. And, also, contrasts really well with Dominique’s size because she’s such a small person, but such a powerful personality that the suit is kind of big and clunkier than Tony’s suit ’cause that’s how she would’ve built it.”

Back in the first Iron Man suit, Tony made his Mk I suit and it was radically larger and less sleek than the Mk LXXXV suit which Tony died wearing in Avengers: Endgame. Riri’s suits might be on a similar trajectory but she will be more independent in her designs than fans of the character from comics miight expect. “Riri Williams, I think, probably steps less directly in Tony’s footsteps as she does in publishing, but there’s certainly an admiration for all the stuff he built,” Moore explained. “And, even as we were crafting shots and sequences, thinking about what you’d seen in other Iron Man movies, and sort of doing our riff on it was really fun.” There are several nods to Tony Stark’s journey and iconic images of him in the Iron Man suit packed into Wakanda Forever. 

“The notion was, and Ryan [Coogler] is such a grounded filmmaker, if someone was actually trying to build an Iron Man suit, but didn’t have Ironman resources, where would she go?” Moore said of Ironheart’s suit design. “So, it is a little bit more ad hoc and he also loved the idea that, you know, Riri used to build cars with her dad, so there’s sort of a, kind of a Detroit, Motor City feel to it.”

Are you excited to meet Riri Williams in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Twitter. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now playing in theaters. For more Marvel interviews and exclusive content, subscribe to the Phase Zero channel on YouTube.