Marvel’s Ironheart and Secret Invasion Writer “Very Proud” of Marvel Studios Shows at Disney+

12/14/2020 06:25 pm EST

Brian Michael Bendis, the co-creator of Ironheart and the writer of Marvel Comics crossover event Secret Invasion, is "very proud" both works are among the Marvel Studios original series in development at Disney+. On December 10, Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige announced an updated slate of new film and television projects out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Ironheart and Secret Invasion. Feige also confirmed the two series — part of an expanding roster that includes the previously announced WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye — will tie directly into future Marvel Studios films.

"Riri Williams and Secret Invasion are two things I am VERY proud to have helped bring to the @marvelstudios universe with @mikedeodato and @leinilyu," Bendis wrote on Instagram in the wake of Thursday's announcements.

Bendis created Williams, the armored hero Ironheart, in the pages of Invincible Iron Man with artist Mike Deodato. Leinil Yu is the artist on Secret Invasion, which Feige called "the biggest crossover comic event of the last 20 years" next to superhero schism Civil War.

In Ironheart, we meet young genius inventor Riri (Dominique Thorne), who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. Secret Invasion reunites Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), who appeared together in Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home, as we learn a sect of shape-shifting Skrulls have infiltrated every level of life on Earth.

Bendis, who also co-created the fan-favorite Miles Morales Spider-Man in the Ultimate Marvel universe, previously opened up about Riri joining a crop of new characters that includes Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, and the Jane Foster Thor — both characters who are also starring in their own MCU-set projects.

"Once Miles hit, and Kamala Khan hit and female Thor hit — there was a part of an audience crawling through the desert looking for an oasis when it came to representation, and now that it's here, you'll go online and be greeted with this wave of love," Bendis told TIME in 2016. "I think what's most important is that the character is created in an organic setting. We never had a meeting saying, 'We need to create this character.' It's inspired by the world around me and not seeing that represented enough in popular culture."

Both Ironheart and Secret Invasion are expected to release on Disney+ in 2022 as part of a lineup that includes original series Armor Wars, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.

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