Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Director Reveals Ironheart and Iron Man Connection

By Adam Barnhardt

From the earliest days of production on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri William's Ironheart (Dominique Thorne) has been a part of the film. In the source material, Ironheart and Iron Man are closely connected given Williams builds her suit using technology from old Iron Man suits. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) sacrificed himself during the events of Avengers: Endgame, Wakanda Forever helmer Ryan Coogler has confirmed there will still be a connection between the characters in live-action.

"I don't want to put any spoilers out there… I know you all haven't seen the film yet. I know the same for your audience. But yeah, there is a connection there between her and Tony," Coogler told DesiNerd (via The Direct.) "It's a complicated connection. And Riri is a supporting character in this film, so she's there kind of in concert with a lot of other characters. But she does play a major role and we will get to know a little bit about how how she became who she is when we meet her in this in this film."

What that connection is, naturally, has yet to be seen. In the comics, however, Williams is a student a MIT and within the MCU, Stark launched a scholarship at the school during the events of Captain America: Civil War. Either way, Coogler added he feels audiences will quickly connect with the young Avenger.

"In many ways, I expect audiences to connect with her, because she is a bit of an audience surrogate in this film. She's one of the few main characters in the film who doesn't really have any direct experience with Wakanda or with Talokan," the filmmaker added. "So she's kind of the every person. She's kind of reacting to things and seeing them for the first time, whereas the other characters are stoked in in the cultures of of Wakanda or Talokan, if that makes sense."

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M'Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.  It has yet to be seen where the Midnight Angels tie into the story.

Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livanalli. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters on November 11.

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