This article is about the Marvel Cinematic Universe character. For other articles, see Ironheart (disambiguation).
Ironheart (real name Riri Williams) is a superheroine from Marvel Comics, who dons a high-tech suit of armor modeled after Iron Man. She made her live-action debut in the 2022 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, headline Ironheart, and set to return in Armor Wars.
Ironheart was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato.
Background[]
Riri's knowledge of mechanics leads back to her early childhood years, when at the age of three, her father had allowed her to work on a car. Over time, she began practicing her skills and eventually attended the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also set up a business where she would do other students' homework in exchange for money. For one of her classes, she created a Vibranium detector, which was eventually obtained by the U.S. government to find the material in the ocean. This alerted Namor and the Talokanil people, who believed Williams and the detector posed a threat to their existence.
Physical appearance[]
Riri is a young African American woman who is nineteen years old. While not in her Ironheart suit, she wears typical clothes, such as a gray shirt.
Equipment[]
- Ironheart Armor: Riri is able to build a fully functioning high-tech suit of armor modeled after Iron Man, using limited resources and funding.
- Mark I: Riri used blueprints from Stark technology to craft her own design of Iron Man armor. The Mark I can shoot repulsors and fly powered through an arc reactor shaped like a heart.
- Mark II: With the aid of Wakandan technology, Riri designed a second Ironheart suit made completely of Vibranium, and armed with better weaponry more advanced than the Mark I. Following Wakanda and Talokan's truce, the Wakandan maintained possession of the armor.
- Mark III: Due to the Wakandans keeping her Mark II armor, Riri built another suit of armor to replace it, using MIT resources and money earned from plagiarizing student work. She used this armor to fly back to Chicago after getting expelled. The suit also featured an AI known as TRVOR. However, the armor was deauthorized and sent crashing.
- Mark IV: Created by Riri using money earned from Hood's Gang. It is a makeshift of recovered parts from the Mark III armor, and features an AI known as N.A.T.A.L.I.E., based on Riri's late best friend. The AI can project a life-size hologram of N.A.T.A.L.I.E. from the armor's chest.
- Mark V: Unlike her previous suits of armor and the ones built by Tony Stark, Riri's Mark V armor combines both magic and technology.
Appearances[]
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever[]
While on campus, she confronted one of her clients, who had not yet paid her for doing his homework. She then grabbed his phone and transferred the money herself. After this, she went to her dorm before her next class, when she was approached by Shuri, whom Riri recognized. Shuri told her that she was the target of multiple people. Riri then went to use the bathroom but instead was greeted by Okoye. Alarmed, she retreated to the back of her dorm and picked up a heater, threatening to throw it at them. She then threw at Okoye, who split the heater in half easily using a spear. Seeing the spear, she became even more alarmed and picked up a bigger heater. Okoye then said Riri would come to Wakanda conscious or unconscious. She then agreed to go.
Williams then brought the two to her garage to collect a few things before they left. As she was doing so, the FBI began to order her to open the garage door. She began to put on a flying suit similar to Iron Man's she had been working on and told Shuri and Okoye to use Riri's car to escape. While escaping from the FBI, Shuri's personal AI, Griot, told her there was a drone ahead. She then began to fly higher in the air, even though she was warned the air would get thinner and her oxygen would deplete. She was eventually able to reach and shoot down the drone, though immediately after her oxygen level reached zero and she began to plummet back to earth. However, she was able to regain consciousness mid-air and stopped herself from crashing into the water. She then caused an explosion, allowing Shuri and Okoye to escape. However, a Talokanil spear cable sent her crashing into a bridge, and she again lost consciousness. The Talokanil then brought Riri, along with Shuri, to Talokan.
Riri then woke up in a cave, and began to panic, though Shuri was able to calm her down. One of Namor's soldiers then told Shuri that Namor requested to speak to her, which left Riri alone in the cave.
Shuri returned sometime after, though suddenly Nakia entered the cave, holding a gun. Shuri was then held at knifepoint by a Talokanil soldier, though the soldier was shot and the three were able to escape back to the surface.
Riri was then brought to Wakanda and met Ramonda. The two eventually wound up in the Citadel when Namor launched an attack. Riri and Ramonda stood from a window, watching. Namor eventually made his way to the windows of the Citadel and tried to break them by flying into them. He was unsuccessful, and he took another approach by throwing multiple Hydrobombs at the window. The explosion knocked out Riri and created a pool, in which she started drowning. Ramonda, also in the pool, swam down to save her and hauled her to the surface, though Ramonda drowned as a result.
Namor had warned Wakanda that he would be back in a week, and feeling guilty for what had happened, Riri offered to help Shuri prepare for the attack. Williams also assisted Shuri in figuring out that heat weakened Namor and conceived a plan to trap him. She also made a higher quality suit that more closely resembled Iron Man's than her first did. She also helped Shuri create a synthetic Heart-Shaped Herb, which allowed Shuri to channel the powers of the Black Panther.
After this, Williams made a new Vibranium detector as part of a plan to ambush the Talokanil. Wakanda set it in the ocean, which lured the Talokanil near the surface. The Wakandans then ambushed the Talokanil, and a massive battle between the two sides started. Riri used her new Ironheart armor to defeat enemies from the sky. Namor soon noticed her and jumped up to her. She then called upon the assistance of Griot, who sent an aircraft to Namor. After that, a Talokanil soldier named Namora jumped on her back, and the two fought in mid-air. Riri was eventually able to swing Namora off. Riri continued fighting until Shuri and Namor announced a truce between the two armies.
After the battle, Riri packed up to head back to Massachusetts. Shuri came to talk to her and told her the Ironheart armor would have to stay in Wakanda.
What If...?[]
Riri Williams appears in the episode "What If... The Emergence Destroyed the Earth?", where she is trying to survive the reign of Mysterio after The Emergence devastated the Earth, she allies herself with Valkyrie, Wong, Okoye, and Ying Nan as the resistance that seeks to defeat Mysterio.
When White Vision arrives at the resistance base, Riri destroys him with one of her boosters that she upgraded at the workshop, after defeating him, she uses White Vision's nanotechnology to fuse with his body and create a white armor, upon arriving at Mysterio's base, Riri is trapped in an illusion of Mysterio, who mocks her, claiming that he is the most powerful being in the world as master of illusion, Riri attempts to fight him, but when the illusion ends, she discovers her teammates dead, implying that Mysterio tricked her at the worst time to kill her teammates.
However, the Watcher intervenes to encourage Riri to confront Mysterio, and thanks to him, Riri snatches all of Mysterio's nanites, leaving him on the brink of death and saving his world and ending his reign of horror.
Ironheart[]
Ironheart flies back home.
Riri Williams appears in this series as the protagonist, with Dominique Thorne reprising her role. In 2025, one year after working with Shuri and the Wakandans, Riri is expelled from M.I.T so returns to Chicago, where she is mourning the recent loss of her best friend Natalie, and her step-father, who both died in a drive-by shooting. One night while working on her computer, Riri falls asleep and accidentally creates N.A.T.A.L.I.E., an A.I version of her deceased friend. Seeing the A.I as a mistake, Riri tries to shut it down but is unable to do so and hide it from her mother, who later meets the A.I. Riri goes to a meeting with Parker Robbins after John introduces them. When she is tricked by Parker, Riri is trapped in an elevator filled with gas, but she is able to escape.
Riri and N.A.T.A.L.I.E. hanging out
After meeting the A.I Natalie, Riri leaves and meets with a man named Joe and blackmails him into giving her the parts she needs for her new suit. Riri is taken to a bunker by Joe and Riri speaks with Parker. Riri spends time with Clown and they try and analyze the energy signature, but John shows up and slams Clown's head onto the table. Parker vaguely gives information on himself to Riri, without giving too much away, but enough to get Riri to ask about his hood, to which he tells her it's magic and not made out of vibrainum or Pym tech. One night, Riri is asked by Joe for help with his bio-enhanced tech and she declines, before hanging out with N.A.T.A.L.I.E., Riri and N.A.T.A.L.I.E. go to Adler Planet before they go to a garage, where Riri starts to have a panic attack as she is getting flashbacks of the real Natalie, which causes the A.I. to glitch out too, until she able to get through it before helping Riri with her anxiety.
Riri later returns home to her mom's where two police officers are waiting for her, to ask her about the death of Stuart, Riri assumes that Parker is behind Stuart's death and she comes up with a plan with N.A.T.A.L.I.E. which includes Riri sneaking into Dume during their heist, to cut off a piece of the hood, while N.A.T.A.L.I.E. pilots the Ironheart suit. Riri sets off the alarm after stealing a bit of the hood.
A few days later, Riri is analyzing Parker's hood and has cross-referenced it to the Wakandans and even Hank Pym and Tony Stark, but doesn't get anything from doing this. N.A.T.A.L.I.E. suggests contacting Shuri for help, but Riri shoots down the idea because she doesn't think it is a good idea. Riri is on her way to see Joe when she meets Heather, his neighbour, who reveals his real name is Ezekiel Stane, the son of Obadiah Stane, and the whole world now knows it, as well as it being Riri's fault his identity has been revealed. Back home, Riri is setting up cameras and gives her team some watches and items to help them with their task. Riri suits up but is dropped off at a junkyard by N.A.T.A.L.I.E. after suffering from a panic attack. Natalie's brother is also at the junkyard and comforts Riri, until he notices her A.I is a form of his deceased sister, causing him to leave while Riri tries to talk to him about this.
Some point after this, Riri is studying Dormammu, with Zelma, who has been at Karma Taj and is able to use magic. Zelma warns Riri that magic always comes with a cost and that Parker was an easy target for this because he was blinded by greed. The Blood Siblings show up, who Riri fights until she is able to suit up. One of the siblings threatens Riri's life, who tells her that her death will make the news. Riri reveals that the clown killed Rampage/Stuart and is able to escape the restaurant. She runs down the street and is saved by N.A.T.A.L.I.E. with the suit, allowing Riri to punch the truck and stop it from hurting her. With Slug gone, Riri and N.A.T.A.L.I.E. begin fighting because she didn't immediately come and help her with the suit, until they are ambushed by Ezekiel Stane, who has been experimented on and given new weaponry. Riri hits Zeke with her suit, but it has very little effect, but he keeps her alive and badly injured.
Riri returns home, where she tells her mother that she makes the suits because she feels to vulnerable as she failed to save Natalie the night she died, believing she needs the suit to protect those she cares about. Riri is advised by her mother to fight the Hood and Zeke as some demons can't be run from. Riri makes a new suit and shows it to the team and Zelma warns Riri that magic is a mutual exchange and there is always a cost. However, a spell is activated, which causes N.A.T.A.L.I.E. to glitch out, to the point that she dies, so Riri tries to download her onto the laptop although it does not work.
With the A.I. now destroyed, Riri is back to mourning her friend. At her garage, Riri tries to get N.A.T.A.L.I.E. back by rescaning her brain, but it is not working this time. In her new suit, Riri goes into a pizza place where she meets a man, who offers her food. Riri is informed by this unknown man that they have some mutual acquaintances. The man reveals he has been watching Riri and reveals his name to be Mephisto. Riri makes a deal with Mephisto, unaware what he really can do with the deals people make with him. Some months pass and Riri is back in Chicago, where she is working with candles and figuring out what the magical symbols mean. Natalie suddenly appears in the clothes she died in and Riri emotionally embraces her friend, who has no memories of her death and is confused as to Riri's emotional state. As they hug, Riri's arms are scared as a side effect from making a deal with Mephisto.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Ironheart's actress Dominique Thorne originally auditioned for the role of Shuri in Black Panther, whilst she was in her sophomore year of high school and while she didn't get it, Kevin Feige immediately thought of her to later play Riri Williams in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.[1]
See also[]
- Ironheart (Marvel Animated Universe 2015-20)
- Ironheart (Marvel Rising)
- Ironheart (Iron Man and his Awesome Friends)
References[]
External links[]
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