“I wanna build something undeniable,” engineer Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) tells the Hood (Anthony Ramos) in Marvel’s Ironheart. “Something iconic.” The first reactions to the Disney+ series have arrived ahead of Tuesday’s three-episode premiere, which follows Riri back in her native Chicago after the MIT student armored up on the big screen in the 2022 Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever.
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So, is Ironheart undeniably iconic? First reactions have been mixed, judging by the social media response. Some reviewers and influencers have hailed the Ryan Coogler-produced series as “sincere” and “intimate,” while others criticized the storytelling as “uninteresting” and “plodding.”
However, the consensus seems to be that the finale — titled “The Past is the Past,” airing July 1 — is the standout episode and one of Marvel’s best. And Thorne, the breakout of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is earning praise for her leading performance alongside MCU newcomers Ramos and Alden Ehrenreich.
ComicBook’s Chris Killian shares, “Even though I’m not personally the biggest fan of blending tech and mysticism, Ironheart turned out better than I expected — especially in the last couple episodes. What really landed for me was how it ties back to the original Iron Man, adding an unexpected layer of legacy to Riri’s journey. And without spoiling anything, there’s a character introduced late in the season that really makes the show stand out.”
ComicBook’s Simon Gallagher was less positive: “Now that I can publish them, my thoughts on Ironheart are that it tries. A great cast (unevenly used), interesting ideas (frustratingly imbalanced), and very good vfx. It just gets a bit lost in what it wants to be at times, and character motivations are wild. Good twists though.”
Erik Swann of CinemaBlend is “a bit mixed on Ironheart,” also noting the inspiration from 2008’s Iron Man. “There are solid elements, like Dominique Thorne’s performance, the fun supporting cast, awesome visuals and earnest themes. But the writing could be stronger, and some storytelling decisions didn’t hit for me. Not a bad show, but it could be better.”
“What I have to give Ironheart credit for is that it takes some of the best ideals from the Iron Man movies and effectively applies them to Riri Williams,” Swann continues. “In that respect, her characterization really benefits.”
POC Culture called Ironheart “a sincere look at what the life of a teen genius superhero would be like,” describing the series as “fun & exciting but also hard & heavy” and that it has “massive implications for the future of the MCU.”
Joshua Ryan of The Cosmic Circus also leaned positive, writing, “This is a pretty good show. This is a much smaller, more intimate story … that’s driven by characters, and those characters are genuinely interesting.” Screenrant‘s Kevin Erdmann also had praise for the performances despite the series getting off to “a bit of a slower start.”
“Ironheart is pretty solid with good performances from Dominique Thorne and Alden Ehrenreich, but doesn’t quite soar since it really takes a while to get going and the villain isn’t great,” writes CBM‘s Rohan Patel of Ramos’ villain. “Although the finale is well worth the watch.”
CBM‘s Mark Cassidy counters, “I’ve seen all six episodes of Ironheart, and it’s not good. It becomes obvious very quickly why Marvel decided to dump this on D+ 3 eps at a time. Can’t fault the cast, but none of them are given much to work with. Some of the action scenes are passable and the finale is by far the strongest ep, but it’s mostly just tedious to sit through, I’m afraid. I didn’t hate it… because there’s not enough passion behind any of it to make me feel that strongly one way or the other. The very definition of ‘content.’”
Culture Base praises the visual effects but notes, “Ironheart is a decent MCU series saved by a surprisingly strong final episode that is among the best finales of Marvel Television,” adding, “Riri’s character development is a little thin.” Cosmic Wonder‘s Warren Thompson, meanwhile, writes, “Ironheart didn’t work for me. There’s some good moments and cool vfx parts but I was pretty bored through most of it. HOWEVER The ending is pretty epic. Wish the whole show was, but sadly I didn’t like it that much.”
Critics’ reviews won’t publish until the embargo lifts at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, so it remains to be seen where Ironheart ranks on Rotten Tomatoes. Marvel Studios’ television division has been on a “fresh” streak since season 2 of Loki in 2023, with every series since — What If…?, Echo, X-Men ’97, Agatha All Along, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and Daredevil: Born Again — all receiving high marks from critics.
The outlier is 2023’s Secret Invasion at 53% “rotten,” the lowest for any Marvel Studios-produced TV series. February feature Captain America: Brave New World also received a mixed response, currently sitting at 47% “rotten” on the review aggregator, while May’s Thunderbolts* was better received by critics at 88% “fresh.”
Here’s the official logline: “Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel Television’s Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Thorne), a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world, returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka ‘The Hood’ (Ramos).”
The series also stars Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam and Anji White. Ironheart premieres with its first three (of six) episodes tonight, June 24, on Disney+.
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