Ironheart Review
‘Ironheart’ is the latest Marvel Studios’ series to hit Disney+, starring Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, as she tries to navigate life back home in Chicago. Unfortunately that proves to be extremely difficult, as she falls into the crew of Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins, aka Hood, pitting magic against technology. After watching six episodes, it’s an overall serviceable but bland entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (though there’s not a lot cinematic about ‘Ironheart’), not something that’s completely awful, but not something that anyone should be signing up to Disney+ in a rush to watch.
Riri Williams is a likeable protagonist, with Thorne giving her an energetic and peppy style. She’s shown to have real flaws that manifest throughout the story, and ways that she’s trying to overcome them. The writing does lean into the language of the youth a bit too much when she bounces off other characters, but the dialogue itself largely avoids being cringy. Williams does grow on the audience throughout the show, despite a start that might be grating at first, too restrictive to a specific demographic, but that appeal widens by the end. She’s relatable in key areas, like shutting out all help because she believes she can take on the world, and making poor decisions for the right reasons. This element of the show does take some risks.
Ramos too is likeable in the series as Robbins, though later episodes muddle things. Before this, Robbins has a Robin Hood-esque nature to him, as he and his crew steal from tech companies that are “improving” the world with little thought about the consequences. But this is squandered and lost in later episodes. The costume Marvel chose for Hood is criminally poor, as Marvel have skimped on creating something powerful looking and regal, opting instead to buy a raincoat off Amazon. Hood’s power is noticeably limited, as the budget and scale of the show constrain Marvel Studios with what they can do. Even knowing these constraints, there was no effort made to overcome them.
‘Ironheart’ might be the MCU Disney+ series with the least amount of interesting action in it. Again the budget is likely to blame for this, as it’s no doubt very expensive to show off the Ironheart suit or truly animate Hood’s powers, which is likely why its use is restricted, especially in fights. When it is used there’s often a lack of imagination with it, save for a few moments. That’s not to say this series is completely devoid of interesting action or fight sequences, indeed one at the series midpoint is particularly tense, but it’s not what audiences should be seeking out if they want a hit of MCU action. There’s a lot of fists for a supposed battle of magic and technology.
Other themes the show explores, especially with Riri, is that of family and grief, improving on what came before. And this is certainly much better, with a pivotal moment in Riri’s past that informs a lot of what she’s doing in the present, and why. This is one aspect that the smaller scope of the story suits better, and one where the budget doesn’t undermine it. It’s all about what head writer Chinaka Hodge imbues into the script and what the actors bring out. It manifests in other characters in the show too, though to a lesser extent.
Magic and technology have always been key forces in the MCU, and they’re finally pitted together in ‘Ironheart’. It’s something the series has leant into during its limited marketing. Unfortunately, their battle is short lived and unimpressive, with the Disney+ format restricting what can be shown. That and narrative developments really undermine this theme in a disappointing manner, as the resolution for the clash of the two forces feels limp.
‘Ironheart’ isn’t worth getting excited over. While there are moments of tension and sparks of action, it’s mostly rather dull. Riri Williams is a likeable character along with Parker Robbins, but the budget and format of the show really hurt any meaningful exploration or cool fights between two representatives of technology and magic. There is better exploration of things like family and grief, and how the youth of the world often feel overlooked, but unfortunately that doesn’t overcome the problems the show has.
