With the exit of Robert Downey Jr. after the death of Tony Stark in “Avengers: Endgame,” Marvel Studios has two Disney+ projects that will see two characters take up that “Iron Man” mantle. Don Cheadle‘s “Armor Wars” will tackle an iconic comic book storyline with War Machine in the driver’s seat, and Dominque Thorne‘s “Ironheart” will give us Riri Williams, a brilliant young black woman that is able to build her own armor suit and is one of the many young superheroes the studio is adding to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Variety has revealed that directors Sam Bailey (“Dear White People”) and Angela Barnes (“Blindspotting,” “Atlanta“) have been selected by Marvel to helm “Ironheart.” Bailey and Barnes will divide directing duties on the 6-episode series that has Chinaka Hodge (“Snowpiercer“) set as the head writer.
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Co-star Anthony Ramos (“In The Heights“) had previously leaked that director Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther“) would be part of the show’s creative team and the announcement includes Coogler’s production company Proximity is indeed involved with the show.
This would make perfect sense given that Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will be introducing audiences to Williams in November and is also behind a Wakanda spinoff series on Disney+ starring Danai Gurira.
Could we see “Black Panther” characters appear in the show? There is a good chance with Coogler’s involvement.
Fans have long assumed that the reason behind Marvel adding young heroes like Williams, is likely to put together an incarnation of The Young Avengers team from the comic books. We’ll likely learn more about upcoming projects later this year as Marvel is expected to have a presence at D23 Expo 2022 and could share “Ironheart” plot/characters details.