Ironheart
Marvel just aired the first-ever trailer for Ironheart on the same day the DCU’s Superman trailer drops, and the series will have a three episode premiere in June for a six episode series in total.
Yikes.
It is almost impossible to think that Ironheart is anything but an afterthought for Disney, which has announced that it is scaling back on TV series, presumably for reasons like this. The new spot shows of Riri Williams, architect of a new, Stark-like suit in the wake of his death, though with seemingly no connection to the man, nor did their stories overlap when the character first introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, as a disjointed part of that film.
Ryan Coogler seemed to want to show her off in the sequel film he directed, and while he remains an executive producer on the series, Ironheart does not look good from this trailer, and it definitely does not seem likely Disney believes in it all that much with this kind of promotion and that airing schedule.
Given that Ironheart is staring a black woman, there is unfortunately already a mass amount of “DEI” and “woke” culture war commentary attached to this already, but the seeming quality issues seem to have nothing to do with that. Riri Williams has an established comic presence but this trailer (and her previous appearance) do not seem to channel anything that made her charismatic and popular. And the seeming villain of the story, Anthony Ramos’ The Hood, already feels off from his performance to his cheap-looking costume.
This is, no doubt, another hugely expensive production given that this time, there needs to be loads of CGI for her custom-made suit. Or to lower the budget, perhaps they don’t use the suit as much as they should.
This feels like one of the last shows in an era of Disney greenlighting large amounts of Marvel series left and right no matter their concept or budget or quality. Now, they seem to be focused more on cheaper, more impressive shows like Daredevil, Punisher, and probably a slate of other more “street-focused” heroes that do not zip around in large suits of armor.
Could Ironheart actually be good? It’s not impossible, and maybe the concept is better than it sounds like and the show is better than it looks, but this is a poor first impression for a series that it almost seems like Disney may now regret making.
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