Ironheart's Alden Ehrenreich Cast as Surprising Character

Alden Ehrenreich will soon join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Ironheart, playing what appears to be a character new to the brand. According to a new copyright filing, Ehrenreich is set to play Joe McGillicuddy, a character that's both original to the series and the wider Marvel lore.

That said, it's possible the name is nothing more than a placeholder so as not to spoil any potential plot details Ehrenreich's real character name could reveal. After all, Sacha Baron Cohen is also listed in the copyright filing as "Mystery Man," despite Hollywood trades suggesting the Borat star would be appearing in the series as Mephisto.

Who is Alden Ehrenreich playing in Ironheart?

Much speculation surrounding Ehrenreich's casting has pointed toward the actor potentially playing one of the suns of Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), especially considering the show is expected to lead directly into Don Cheadle's Armor Wars movie. Another thing pointing towards McGillicuddy being a placeholder is the fact Ehrenreich himself has teased a familiar character with a tie to the MCU.

"It's a great character and there's a fun element to it that I can't talk about," Ehrenreich told UPROXX earlier this year. "It was a really, really fun role. I can't quite say that, but kind of."

"I am, too. Yeah, the show is really cool. It's really an interesting corner of the MCU," he added. "It's funny, it's very touching, and emotional in a lot of ways. And it's basically about this black girl growing up in Chicago and her experience and it's really, really interesting."

Marvel's synopsis for the series reads, "Marvel Studios presents Ironheart in which charming teenage super genius Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) returns from MIT to her hometown of Chicago in her iron suit and begins to unravel threads that bring danger and adventure right to her doorstep. The adventure begins in episode 101 as Riri is introduced to the audience."

Ironheart has yet to set a release window, though it's expected to hit Disney+ later next year or early 2025. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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