Tony Stark may have died in Avengers: Endgame, but the Iron Man brand carries too much weight for Marvel to leave it alone for long. And sure enough, all the signs are pointing to the studio bringing Riri Williams AKA Ironheart into the MCU in the near future. In fact, We Got This Covered has been reporting on the topic for a long while now, with MCU Cosmic corroborating our scoops last fall by confirming that a TV series for the character is indeed coming to Disney Plus.
You may remember that we also shared in the past that Marvel is “100%” considering getting Robert Downey Jr. back for the Ironheart show. This makes a lot of sense, given that Riri has an A.I. Tony as her JARVIS in the comics, so the actor could return in either the occasional holographic cameo or even in a continuing voiceover role. Likewise, our sources are now saying that Tony’s widow Pepper Potts is also expected to return in the series. And given that these are the same sources who also told us National Treasure 3 and a live-action Bambi were in the works well before they were officially announced, we’ve no reason to doubt it.
We’re being told that it might not be a major role, but Pepper will indeed show up to some degree. Our intel points to her acting as a kind of mentor figure to Riri and could even help her create Tony’s A.I. You might be wondering how this fits with Gwyneth Paltrow’s comments from last year though which indicated she was done with the MCU. What she actually said, though, was that she wasn’t going to return for a whole movie again but admitted she would “absolutely be there” if Marvel wanted her for a cameo.
Of course, Riri Williams was introduced into the Marvel comics universe back in 2016. A teenage prodigy and MIT student, the 15-year-old created her own Iron Man armor, which brought her to Tony’s attention. Impressed with her talent and spirit, he granted her an A.I. of himself to assist her and Ironheart took over from him when he was left temporarily comatose. Obviously, though, the MCU version would have a much bigger job on her hands, replacing the late Armored Avenger full-time.
Downey Jr. himself has also championed the heroine, so you’d better believe Ironheart is on her way. And apparently, with some familiar faces in tow.