Ironheart’s New MCU Armor Is A Major Upgrade, And It Keeps Her Unique

When Riri Williams returns in Marvel’s Ironheart series, she’ll be sporting some new armor. Fans got to meet Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart for the first time in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The young genius helped Shuri and the nation of Wakanda in their battle against Namor and Talokan, aka Atlantis. We’ve known Ironheart would star in her own Disney+ series for awhile, and we finally know when Ironheart will debut. Thanks to a new Marvel trailer highlighting all of the Disney+ content coming in 2025, we got a sneak peek at Ironheart, along with the armor Riri will be donning. And from the early look of it, it’s a major improvement from the armors Ironheart has worn in the comics.

Ironheart’s comics origin involves reverse-engineering her own Iron Man armor. Keep in mind she did all this in her tiny dorm room on the campus of M.I.T. After several iterations and tinkering with her suit, Ironheart eventually settles on a slimmed-down version of armor similar to Iron Man. She even moves from the trademark red-and-gold color scheme to something of her own choosing. Something we’ve noticed from Ironheart’s armors in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the Marvel sizzle reel of her upcoming series is how they’ve kept their bulkier frame. And in our opinion, that’s a good thing.

Ironheart’s MCU armor distinguishes her from Iron Man

Let’s take a look back at the different armors we’ve seen from Ironheart during her short tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Similar to her comic origin, Riri Williams has built an Iron Man-esque armor while at school. However, she uses the advanced technology of Wakanda to create the armor we see Ironheart use in the climax of Wakanda Forever. It’s much bulkier and larger than the armor used by Iron Man and War Machine, but in a way that should be expected. Riri should want to have as much protection as possible if she’s going into battle, and she’s less concerned with flexibility and agility.

An example of how quickly Iron Man can soar through the air is the Battle of New York from 2012’s The Avengers. Iron Man zips through the New York City skyline while being chased by Chitauri, and is able to navigate through the wormhole open in the sky. That’s something Ironheart probably isn’t able to do in her current state, but we’re pretty confident in saying Ironheart’s armor could withstand a blast from a Chitauri soldier.

The Marvel trailer reveals Ironheart sticks with the bulkier design, even smashing a car with it in the middle of the street. The choice to go with this armor doesn’t pigeonhole Ironheart as a copy of Iron Man or War Machine. Ironheart isn’t here to replace Tony Stark, but rather be a hero in her own right. Plus, it doesn’t mean that Ironheart is going to stop tinkering and modifying the armor she uses. There could come a point where Ironheart adopts a comics-accurate suit of armor, but for now we like what she’s wearing.

What do you think about Riri Williams’ armor in Ironheart? Let us know your thoughts on social media @ComicBook!