Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Concept Art Reveals a Sleeker Design for Ironheart

Newly revealed concept art from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever shows off a different armor design for Ironheart. Riri Williams, played by Dominique Thorne, made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the Black Panther sequel, and will next be seen headlining her own Disney+ series. The Ironheart from the comics is inspired by Tony Stark and uses discarded Iron Man armor to create her own suit, and Wakanda Forever‘s Ironheart shows off that same genius intellect. While fans can expect some shiny new suits in the upcoming Ironheart streaming series, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever concept art gives a look at what could have been for the new Marvel hero.

Feature film concept designer Phil Saunders shared concept art of Ironheart armor designed for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. When Shuri and Okoye meet Riri Williams in the movie, she’s already created her first suit of armor. Riri later modifies the Ironheart armor to fight alongside Wakanda in its war against Namor and Talokan. The armor Saunders revealed is her MK2 suit that’s intended to be worn under the armor she wears in the film’s climactic battle.

“Okay here’s the bombshell: THIS is, in fact, the #ironheart mk2 suit in #blackpanther #wakandaforever. At least, this is what Riri is wearing under the add-on armor you see in the movie that should properly be called the Mk 2.5. SWIPE to see how she fits in it. You can actually see this design in the suit-building montage, as the schematic that Riri is working on in Wakanda,” Saunders said.

He added, “Unfortunately we never got to see it in all its glory. There was originally a scene where Namora disables the combat upgrades and Riri has to eject the armor add-ons underwater, leaving her to escape in just the base suit with repulsors, but sadly it got cut. Expect a keyframe of that scene shortly! Turntables coming in the next post.”

How Iron Man Influenced Ironheart in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“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. “The 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.”

“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.”