- Ironheart's producers have teased what's next for Riri Williams in the MCU
- The Disney+ show's finale is full of unresolved story threads
- They also discussed whether she'll ever get her comic-accurate super-suit
Two members of Ironheart's producing team have teased what's next for the titular hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
With the Disney+ show having come to a close on July 1 or 2 (depending on where you live), the fates of many of its characters are left up in the air. That, coupled with the Marvel TV series' finale also being littered with unresolved plot threads, indicates that Riri Williams' MCU journey is far from over.
However, the eponymous character's MCU future is uncertain. Despite being positively received by critics – read my Ironheart review if you haven't yet – ahead of its late June launch, fan reception to Ironheart has, as evidenced by its 53% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, been mixed at best.
On other review aggregation websites, the final Marvel Phase 5 project has even been the subject of a vicious review-bombing campaign, and has been labeled "woke" due to its black female lead and diverse supporting cast. It's unclear when – or even whether – we'll see Dominique Thorne's flawed hero again.
Ironheart's creative team can't say where she'll appear next. However, producer Zoie Nagelhout told me that the show's cliff-hanger ending – read more in my Ironheart ending explained article – was devised to allow Marvel Studios to pick up Riri's story whenever it's most convenient to do so.
"When we tell stories in the MCU, it's always the intention that there'll be more stories to tell," Nagelhout said. "Our job was to tell the best version of this series and, in doing so, leave the door open for future storytelling.
"Where that'll go and when is above our pay grade. Really, only {Marvel President] Kevin Feige knows, but it certainly was our task to leave those options open. There are storylines in the comics that would be fun to dip into, but we also think that letting these characters organically reappear where it makes the most sense is the Marvel way."
And what are the chances of Riri Williams finally designing the iconic pink and black armored suit she famously sports in Marvel Comics? Nagelhout's fellow producer Sev Ohanian wouldn't confirm if that would ever happen, but he teased such a possibility arising if Williams sticks around in the MCU for the long haul.
"Some of the best Marvel characters don't necessarily get their most iconic suits right out the gate, right?" he told me ."Many of the Avengers have eventually got theirs [in the MCU].
"But, for us, landing on the core element of who Riri is, she doesn't have the resources that someone like Tony Stark had," he added. "She has to make do with what she can find, scrap, and steal. All of those things land on the piece of material that means the most to her [the red and black muscle car that Riri's late stepdad owned]. That's the closest to her heart and, being what it was, using to make her suit at the end of this season was a good opportunity. As far as whether we'll ever get to see that suit, I certainly hope so."
Do you want to see Riri Williams again in the MCU? Would you like her to get her pink and black suit sometime soon, too? Let me know in the comments.
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