Dominique Thorne Returns as Riri Williams in Ironheart Limited Series

Ryan Coogler is having a banner year. Right on the heels of the domestic box office success of his newest film, Sinners, the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker already has another highly anticipated project in the works: Marvel Studios’ upcoming limited series Ironheart. The studio has now released a new, sleek trailer for the show in the lead-up to its much-anticipated June 2025 premiere.

The six-episode Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, a teenage science and technology wunderkind who is a protégé of Tony Stark in the comics. Ironheart will be the final TV series in the MCU’s Phase Five.

Ironheart was first announced in December 2020, with a 2023 release date. The series was one of a number of MCU titles that Marvel pushed back as it later retooled its multi-year development plan in order to release fewer shows and movies in a calendar year. The announcement was followed by market saturation concerns, and the series was delayed again so that it would instead premiere this summer. Footage of the series, first teased at the 2024 D23 convention, was described as “a crime show with an Iron Man twist at the center of it,” and it appears to have a darker and more grounded feel than most other MCU series have to date.

The character of Riri Williams was introduced on-screen for the first time in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the film, Riri, then a teen MIT student, creates a vibranium detector against the advice of her science teacher and her superhero protégé, Tony Stark. The Wakandan girl then gets caught in a struggle with Namor and his blue-skinned army of Wakanda refugees. Riri befriends Shuri throughout the film, as they share a love of science, and build an armored suit (modeled on Iron Man’s) to help the Wakandans fight back. However, by the time Namor is defeated and the Wakandans can leave for their island home, Riri is forced to leave her suit with the Wakandans when she returns to MIT.

A Tale of Tech and Sorcery

Ironheart begins a few weeks after the events of Wakanda Forever. In the official synopsis, Marvel states, “Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri—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’ (Anthony Ramos).”

The series stars Lyric Ross as Riri’s best friend, Natalie Washington; Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy; Manny Montana as Cousin John; Matthew Elam as Xavier Washington; and Anji White as Riri’s mother, Ronnie. Shea Couleé is also on board as a character named Slug. Jim Rash, who played the dean of MIT in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, will reprise his role for the series as well. Sacha Baron Cohen will also appear, though no further details on his role have been released.

In the new trailer, Riri shows up at a defunct pizza restaurant where she was supposed to meet with someone, only to find herself stuck in the building after her elevator has become filled with poison gas. A timer on the elevator floor quickly ticks away, giving her just two minutes to escape the deathtrap. But as it turns out, this is a test (or, as the “employer” states, an “interview”) set up by The Hood, who speaks to Riri over the restaurant’s intercom system. The Hood, aka Parker Robbins, tells her that she will suffocate in two minutes if she does not break into a box sitting on the floor in front of her and extract a gas mask. Riri, rather than comply, quickly forms a new solution to her problem on her own.

The Hood is suitably impressed and invites her to join him in some unspecified (and likely illegal) future undertaking, one which Riri knows she will be able to contribute to. “I want to make something iconic,” she tells him, though she also expresses her concerns that she is taking a big risk in partnering with someone she doesn’t even know. The Hood, however, has only good intentions and words of wisdom for Riri. “Anyone who has ever accomplished anything iconic in life has had to do some questionable things to get it done,” he tells her before asking for her email address.

Ironheart will surely delve into the shades of gray that accompany great success for an ambitious person of Riri’s particular set of skills. The question is just how far the street-smart teenager will go to accomplish her own goals, and how that will affect the people she cares about.

Marvel has said the first three episodes of Ironheart will premiere on Disney+ on June 24, 2025, with the remaining three episodes being released each subsequent week. No plans for a second season have been announced, though that is not to say that it is out of the question if the series proves successful. For now, fans can read more about the project via the official press release and check out the new trailer and featurette above.