Black Panther: Wakanda Forever comfortably stands as the most well-received Marvel movie of 2022, with the vast majority of fans and critics alike preferring it to either Doctor Strange 2 and Thor: Love and Thunder. Nevertheless, not everything about the spectacular superhero sequel is universally acclaimed. While there’s still a lot of positive buzz surrounding her upcoming Ironheart TV series, the inclusion of Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams in the movie was criticized by some as feeling inorganic to the story and an example of execs putting franchise-building ahead of the film.
And yet with Wakanda Forever finally making its way to Disney Plus, many aspects of the movie are being reappraised, either for good or for bad, and this includes Ironheart’s part in proceedings. One thread on the r/MarvelStudios subreddit has folks rising to Riri’s defense to argue that her role in the sequel actually makes a lot of sense and ties into the ongoing themes established in the first Black Panther.
Those in the comments agreed too, with one admitting that the MCU has always inserted characters in one project in order to set up another, arguing that the example of Riri getting involved in Wakanda Forever is actually one of the best of the trope as Ironheart is so “central” to the story that you couldn’t remove her from it without having to “completely alter” it.
Tying Riri’s character so closely into the Wakandan corner of the franchise was certainly a surprising and innovative move from Marvel, as she is primarily linked to Tony Stark’s legacy, not Black Panther’s, in the comics. Presumably her connections to Iron Man will be further explored in this year’s Ironheart, but so too will certain Wakanda Forever cast-members, by the sounds of it.