Ironheart Trailer Promises Crime, Mystery, and Heroics

Ryan Coogler is on a roll this year. Hot on the heels of the strong box office performance of his most recent film, Sinners, the acclaimed filmmaker has another project on the docket: Marvel’s limited series Ironheart. In preparation for the show’s June 2025 release, the studio has just shared a sleek new trailer.

Premiering in the summer of 2025, the six-episode series is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and stars Dominique Thorne as the titular character Riri Williams, a teenage tech prodigy and protégé of Tony Stark in the original comics. This series is slated to be the final TV installment of the MCU’s Phase Five.

Ironheart was first announced in December 2020. It was originally slated for release in 2023, but Marvel later altered the long-term strategy for the MCU. Reducing the sheer number of projects that came out each year was part of that decision; the studio was looking to change the pace at which it was releasing material due to the lackluster performance of some of its recent shows. Market saturation was another concern the move was said to address. The change in strategy ultimately meant that Ironheart’s premiere date was pushed to this summer.

Footage from the upcoming series was first shown at the 2024 D23 convention. Described as “a crime show with an Iron Man twist at the center,” it’s said to be much darker and more grounded than many other entries in the MCU.

The character of Riri Williams was first introduced in the MCU with the 2022 film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the film, she gets caught up in a war with Namor and his army of blue-skinned warriors when she invents a vibranium detector as part of her college coursework at MIT. As the movie progresses, Riri forges a kinship with Shuri based on their love of science and builds an armored suit inspired by Iron Man to help Wakanda fight off Namor’s forces. When it’s over, Riri has to leave the suit with the Wakandans and return to MIT.

Tying Tech and Magic

Ironheart picks up in the immediate aftermath of Wakanda Forever. According to the official synopsis, “Set after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ironheart pits technology against magic when Riri—determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins, aka ‘The Hood’ (Anthony Ramos).”

Dominique Thorne plays the title role of Riri Williams; Lyric Ross is set to play Riri’s best friend, Natalie Washington; Alden Ehrenreich plays Joe McGillicuddy; Manny Montana is Cousin John; Matthew Elam is Xavier Washington; and Anji White will be Riri’s mother, Ronnie. Shea Couleé will be playing Slug. Also returning to the MCU is Jim Rash as the dean of MIT, reprising a role he previously portrayed in the 2016 Captain America: Civil War. Sacha Baron Cohen is also set to make an appearance in the series, but Marvel hasn’t revealed details about the character.

The new trailer wastes little time diving into the action. It opens with Riri pulling up to a closed-down pizza restaurant in a car and getting out, only to find she’s been locked into an elevator with two minutes to get out or die when the walls fill with poison gas. The situation is part of a test—or, more specifically, an “interview,” as the ringleader calls it—set up by The Hood. He warns her over the intercom that she will suffocate if she doesn’t force her way into a floor-mounted safe containing a gas mask. Riri, however, refuses to give up and instead takes the initiative to find her own, less-obvious way out.

Impressed, The Hood offers Riri a spot with him in some unspecified venture, clearly on the wrong side of the law. Riri, wanting to prove her own identity and find a way to make something truly “iconic,” hesitates but ultimately accepts. This, as expected, causes some concern among her friends, especially Natalie, who warns Riri that The Hood may not have her best interests in mind. The warning could be warranted, especially after The Hood tells Riri, “Anyone who has ever accomplished anything iconic in life has had to do some questionable things to get it done.”

The trailer promises an exploration of the tradeoffs that one makes for greatness—or at least in pursuit of it. After all, Riri Williams is a child prodigy, but she’s also determined to the point of single-mindedness. It remains to be seen how far she’ll be willing to go, and the MCU viewers will be on the edge of their seats trying to find out.

Marvel has confirmed that the first three episodes of Ironheart will be available on Disney+ on June 24, 2025, with the remaining episodes debuting weekly. A second season of the series has yet to be announced, but it is said to be a possibility if the first season performs well enough. In the meantime, fans can get an early taste of what to expect with both the trailer and a newly released behind-the-scenes featurette.

Marvel will have high expectations for the series, though, with Ironheart set to follow Sinners, Coogler’s latest film that saw a strong box office showing this spring. The feature saw a relatively soft opening but recovered with continued success throughout its theatrical run, a performance that put it on par with other similar releases. For Coogler, whose previous features are A high school track coach, Creed: A Rocky spinoff, and the first two Captain America films, Sinners marked a return to the massive-budget, summer-blockbuster style of filmmaking.

Audiences can hope the new show will live up to expectations. Coogler, who wrote the series in addition to directing, has proven in the past that he can bring both scale and humanity to his work. His direction and screenwriting could set Ironheart up to be the next great MCU property, a hybrid that connects the high-tech legacy of Iron Man to a street-level crime drama.