In its earlier phases, Marvel Studios operated like clockwork, stacking one confirmed project on top of another with a clear roadmap stretching years into the future and build-up easily mapped. But post-Endgame, the policy seems to have shifted: we’ve seen more delays, strategic recalibrations, and a growing pile of teases that have led nowhere. For the most part, MCU projects are now announced closer to release, and long-term commitments are hinted at more than promised. But there’s always still an eye on the future in the story-telling.
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Individual MCU shows and films have always partly felt like backdoor pilots for what comes next. Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Eternals, and The Marvels – and, frankly, many more – all teased storylines that haven’t yet found a definitive continuation, but were way too specific to have been accidental. Ironheart, the latest Disney+ entry, joins that same club. On the surface, it’s a self-contained coming-of-age story for Riri Williams, but the confidence of Ironheart’s cliffhanger ending made it clear there’s more to come.
For a show that seemed like it was going to be a one-and-done detour, Ironheart leaves behind a surprising number of open doors and a major change to the MCU’s power hierarchy. Some of these threads could connect directly to announced projects, while others feel like they could be table-setting for stories we haven’t seen unveiled yet. Here are the five most likely MCU projects Ironheart quietly sets up – and one very specific long shot that can’t be ignored.
Honorable Mention: Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Status: Confirmed
How Ironheart Sets It Up: Mephisto’s fingerprints in Ironheart naturally raise one specific question: could Marvel include him in their version of the infamous Brand New Day storyline? In the comics, Mephisto strikes a Faustian bargain with Peter Parker, erasing his marriage to save Aunt May’s life and Brand New Day deals with the aftermath. The MCU’s Peter hasn’t gone that far yet – but No Way Home already reset his life in an eerily similar fashion, erasing him from everyone’s memory.
Now that Mephisto is on the board, and if Peter is still grieving the loss of connection, there’s room for a new version of Brand New Day to emerge that still centers Mephisto. At this stage, it’s a reach, and Mephisto might have his hands full, but he did pointedly say he has more than one client, so maybe it’s not such an unreasonable one.
1. Strange Academy
Status: In development limbo
How Ironheart Sets It Up: Ironheart introduces Zelma Stanton, a deep-cut comics character closely linked to Doctor Strange and the wider magical side of Marvel. Her inclusion may have seemed throw-away at first, but she’s the kind of character you don’t cast and forget – and her importance in Ironheart’s mid-credits scene confirms as much. With Strange off exploring incursions and Clea somewhere in the wings, Zelma could serve as the earthly anchor for a new generation of magic-users.
That’s the heart of Strange Academy, a comic series about young magic-wielders learning to balance their powers with moral responsibility. Riri’s accidental brush with mysticism might not place her on the class roster, but her interactions with Zelma suggest a future where tech and magic begin to cross-pollinate more regularly. If Marvel follows through on Strange Academy, which was thought to be in production until it was paused, Zelma’s presence here could be the earliest breadcrumb.
2. Young Avengers
Status: Long-rumored, still unconfirmed
How Ironheart Sets It Up: Riri Williams has always been a natural fit for the Young Avengers, or perhaps more precisely, a Champions-inspired team. The show doesn’t name-check any potential teammates, but it positions Riri as both independent and still searching for belonging – a textbook setup for eventual recruitment. More intriguingly, Ironheart’s Mephisto teases could dovetail with the important comics storyline in which Blackheart (Mephisto’s son) manipulates young heroes, leading to internal conflict and splintered loyalties.
A Young Avengers adaptation could easily swap in Mephisto himself as the manipulator, using magic and temptation to corrupt newer heroes. Riri’s brush with dark forces makes her an intriguing, unwitting pawn, and it feels too much to expect that to happen in the main Avengers movies. Given the MCU’s penchant for emotional stakes, watching a team of bright, idealistic heroes fracture under Mephisto’s influence would echo Civil War’s ideological split, but from a much younger, less cynical perspective.
3. Avengers: Doomsday
Status: Announced & Filming
How Ironheart Sets It Up: Ironheart may be small-scale, but Riri’s intellect puts her in league with the likes of Shuri, Bruce Banner, and Tony Stark. Rumors already suggest she’ll appear in Avengers: Doomsday, and her first season lays the groundwork for how she might fit into a larger ensemble. She’s battle-tested now, not just in engineering labs but in real-world conflicts, she has Wakandan allies, and the end of the season leaves her with a huge potential power upgrade. She’s fought a magical villain, outwitted an amoral tech bro, and come out the other side with a deeper understanding of what kind of hero she wants to be. She could easily step up.
Thematically, Ironheart establishes her as someone caught between worlds – technology and magic, legacy and innovation. That’s fertile ground for an Avengers storyline, and particularly one focused on Doctor Doom – who also straddles both worlds. She’s no longer the scrappy student from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: she’s a legitimate contender for Earth’s Mightiest.
4. Armor Wars
Status: Confirmed (But it’s gone very quiet)
How Ironheart Sets It Up:One of Ironheart’s most quietly impactful contributions is its depiction of Zeke Stane’s black-market tech ecosystem. His operation isn’t flashy, but it echoes a long-standing MCU concern: what happens when Stark tech ends up in the wrong hands? That’s Armor Wars‘ pitch in a nutshell, and the show’s emphasis on ill-gotten designs, underground buyers, and weaponized innovation feels like a thematic warm-up for what War Machine will face next.
It’s easy to imagine Rhodey catching wind of Zeke’s dealings and either pursuing him directly or pulling Riri into the fold to help clean up the mess. Her perspective on tech responsibility (still evolving) could clash compellingly with Rhodey’s more hardened, military-adjacent worldview. That generational tension could give Armor Wars a sharper edge than expected, and ground its conflict in character rather than just explosions. Plus, at the very least, Zeke needs something else to do now.
5. Ironheart Season 2
Status: Unannounced (so far)
How Ironheart Sets It Up: The most immediate continuation is, of course, more Ironheart. While Marvel hasn’t confirmed a second season, the finale doesn’t wrap things up as cleanly as it could have. Parker Robbins, aka The Hood, is defeated – but not gone. His last scenes drip with unfinished business, and his connection to dark magic (via Mephisto) feels unresolved by design. Likewise, Zeke Stane is still out there, nursing both a vendetta and a business model based on selling black-market Stark-inspired tech. Neither of these antagonists was given the kind of definitive sendoff you’d expect from a one-season villain.
And then there’s Riri’s own arc with Mephisto, and the show leaves Riri at a crossroads – her tech has brushed against forces it wasn’t designed to handle, and her final scenes pit her as an even more complex and compromised figure, at the mercy of a foe she’s welcomed in. That’s not an ending: it’s a beginning that happens to wear the costume of a finale. More should surely come.
All 6 episodes of Ironheart are available to stream on Disney+ now.
