‘Ironheart’ Season 1 Review — Fun, Vibrant, And Super-Cool

The new Marvel series Ironheart, the fourteenth television show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is fun, vibrant, and effortlessly cool. While it may not reach the audacious heights of the rebooted Daredevil: Born Again or the magical sleight of hand found in Loki, it delivers the simple pleasures of great comic book fare—epic team-ups, emotional storytelling, coming-of-age moments, and sharp banter—all in the best possible ways.

And at the center of it all is Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk, Judas and the Black Messiah), delivering a star-making performance that commands the screen and makes Ironheart unmistakably her own.

Following the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the story follows Riri Williams (Thorne), a genius student at MIT. Unfortunately for Riri, the dean (played by Community’s Jim Rash—yes, still a very bad dean) expels her for plagiarism. Waiting for papers and completing projects for classmates and students across Massachusetts is plagiarism, not a legitimate side hustle.

Riri returns home to Chicago, bringing with her the reverse-engineered Tony Stark/Iron Man’s suit she built and financed entirely on her own. Struggling to make ends meet and find her place in the world, Riri is also haunted by the traumatic loss of her stepfather and her best friend, Natalie (Lyric Ross of This Is Us). The loss of Natalie is a death she cannot shake. So, she creates an AI version of herself that helps her with her personal and professional goals.

That grief resurfaces when Natalie’s brother, Xavier (Matthew Elam), begins stopping by, and the two slowly bond over their shared trauma. To survive financially, Riri is recruited by John (Manny Montana of Good Girls fame) to join a crew led by Parker Robbins (Twisters‘ Anthony Ramos), a.k.a. The Hood—a charismatic leader of a band of rule-breaking misfits who rob, steal, and give to themselves, all while seeing themselves as a kind of activist organization.

Ironheart was created by Chinaka Hodge, who layers the story with community, family, and comic book lore themes, returning to a grassroots approach that prioritizes character development over gaudy special effects. Yes, the series still delivers on action, but since when should we dismiss superhero entertainment simply because it aims to save a Chicago neighborhood instead of the entire galaxy?

This back-to-basics approach reminds us what we love about the genre: personal stakes, identity, trauma, relationships, and growth. We get all that with Thorne’s Riri, who balances comic relief, action, and an unexpected emotional range that gives this fun and vibrant series surprising depth. Credit should also go to Ramos, who commands the screen as The Hood and avoids turning the character into a one-note villain with some edgy magnetism that draws the viewer in.

Yes, the series is hardly perfect. For instance, Alden Ehrenreich’s Zeke—portrayed as the son of Tony Stark’s late mentor—has a muddled storyline. His character often feels like he belongs in a different show, shoehorned in to set up future spinoffs or installments. And while some may take issue with the blending of technology and magic, this is a signature Marvel storytelling device. Dismissing it as “jumping the shark” is not only premature—it’s simply inaccurate.

Ironheart is worth watching. The show is made for anyone who is a fan of the genre, while being good enough to welcome new fans, but ease them into a world that is easy to follow and understand. This solid Marvel series offers all the fantastical elements and a unique point of view that audiences should embrace, not ignore, and welcome with open arms.

You can stream Ironheart only on Disney+ starting June 24th!