Ironhearthas concluded its six-episode run on Disney+, and many fans are buzzing. Despite being on the receiving end of a review bomb campaign, the series has quickly broken through the harmful noise and emerged as one of the better entries in Marvel’s Disney+ series. Its Rotten Tomatoes score has risen over the past few weeks, and the season finale debut ofSacha Baron Cohen as Mephistoin the MCU has been a game-changer.Ironheartfollows Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a young woman who creates an armored suit modeled after Iron Man.
Yet,Ironheartis not a direct spin-off of theIron Manfranchise. Riri Williams never met Tony Stark in theMarvel Cinematic Universe. With that being said, a few plot points inIronheartdo tie into the wider Iron Man franchise. At the same time, the series also makes a strong effort to argue that Riri Williams is not a copycat of Iron Man, but rather a subversion of the archetype.
Ezekiel Stane, the Son of Tony Stark’s First Enemy
The biggest connection between the world ofIronheartandIron Man, apart from a high-tech suit, is the character ofEzekiel Stane (Alden Ehrenreich).Ezekiel Stane is the son of Obadiah Stane(Jeff Bridges), the former mentor of Tony Stark, who became the villainous Iron Monger. With Obadiah Stane being the first villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this connection linksIronheartback to the franchise’s inception.
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Ironhearthas a lot of fun finding parallels between the conflicts between Ezekiel and Riri Williams and Obadiah and Tony Stark.Ezekiel even at one point says how much he is like his father, attempting to kill someone in an armored suit. Ezekiel initially tried to avoid being anything like his father, only to find himself drawn to a villainous life (though the general public was not aware of Obadiah’s villainous actions, as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s cover story was never debunked). Despite the events ofIron ManandIronheartbeing nearly two decades apart, the ripple of Tony Stark and Obadiah Stane’s conflict is now being carried over into their successors, Riri Williams and Ezekiel Stane. One that hopefully will be carried overinto future MCU projects.
Tony Stark’s MIT History Might Have Funded Riri Williams' Suit
Riri Williams was introduced inBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverasa student enrolled at MIT, the very same school from which Tony Stark graduated at 17.Captain America: Civil Warshows Tony Stark giving a guest lecture to MIT students and unveiling the September Foundation. Every MIT student is made an equal recipient of the grant, giving them all the proper funding to move forward with their inventions and projects.
Jim Rash, who previously appeared inCaptain America: Civil Waras an MIT staff member, reprises his role inIronheart, now identified as Professor Wilkes. The series does not make it clear whether he is the same professor who sold Riri Williams' vibranium detection machine to the United States government, which kicks off the events ofBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Riri Williams was not in attendance during Tony Stark’s guest lecture, asCaptain America: Civil Wartook place in 2016 when Riri Williams was 11 years old. She did not attend MIT until 2020 (during the Blip) at the age of 15. However,Riri Williams was likely a recipient of the grant, as Tony Stark was still alive when she started school.
Since Riri Williams' Ironheart suits were funded with her own grant money, they were not the property of the school, which is why she was permitted to take them with her.Tony Stark’s contributions to the September Foundation ensured that Riri Williams could build her initial suit, but also keep it after she was kicked out of MIT.
‘Ironheart’ Tells the Iron Man Story the MCU Never Did
Ironheart’s most significant connection to Iron Man is less tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe version, but rather the comics. Specifically,Ironheartutilizes Riri Williams to tell a classic Iron Man-type story thatthe MCU never got around to telling: technology versus magic. Even though Iron Man’s rogues gallery is filled with other armored characters like Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, and Ghost, his archenemy is typically regarded as The Mandarin.Part of what made Iron Man and the Mandarin such an interesting dynamic was the idea of pitting Iron Man’s technological suits against the Mandarin’s magical rings(actually, alien technology meant to look like magic).
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Ironheart and The Hood feel like the MCU’s stand-ins for Iron Man and The Mandarin.Ironheartfeatures a battle between an armored hero and a magic-wielding villain that would have fit right at home in any Iron Man comic. This decision connects Ironheart to the broader legacy of Iron Man, extending beyond the movies, solidifying her as a proper successor to the Armored Avenger.
A Tale of Two Cities
Even though Riri Williams and Tony Stark are both genius MIT graduates who fly mech suits with AI assistants,Ironheartmakes significant efforts to highlight what makes the two characters different. Tony Stark was born to a life of wealth and privilege, while Riri Williams was born to a working-class family. Being a cisgender white man and heir to a rich family legacy granted Tony Stark special privileges and access that Riri Williams never could as a young Black woman. A great example is that Tony Stark hacked the Pentagon’s firewall in high school on a dare, and likely faced no repercussions. Riri Williams was expelled from MIT for selling answers to other students.
Tony Stark had all the resources of a successful weapons company to rebuild and tinker his suit, making up to 47 models inIron Man 3. Riri Williams, on the other hand, is scraping by, needing to buy junk to even fix her suit. There is a clear distinction between the haves (Tony Stark) and the have-nots (Riri Williams). Even their environments are different. Ironheart’s Chicago city settings have more in common withthe street-level adventures of Daredevilthan the Los Angeles, New York, and globe-trotting adventures of Iron Man and The Avengers.
Riri Williams represents the current moment in a way Tony Stark never could in 2025. With rising inflation and rent prices, but stagnant wages, a significant amount of economic anxiety is sweeping the American people, likely to be exacerbated by potential cuts to critical social services, such as healthcare and food assistance. Riri Williams is a more relatable hero than an aspirational one like Tony Stark.
Ironheart,along with heroes like the Thunderbolts, is tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, keeping the Marvel ethos of “the world outside your window” alive. Riri Williams is the true heir to Tony Stark’s Iron Man legacy, not because she is a direct copy, but because she brings a new spin to the armored superhero genre.
