Previously on Ironheart: Riri Williams is expelled from MIT after it’s discovered that she is selling engineering projects and algorithms to other students to fund the upgrades needed for her suit of armor. She uses her armor to fly back home to Chicago, where she lives with her mother, Ronnie (Anji White). She reconnects with Xavier (Matthew Elam), the brother of her best friend, Natalie (Lyric Ross), who was killed in a drive-by shooting alongside Riri’s stepfather, Gary (LaRoyce Hawkins). Riri is soon approached by Parker Robbins, also known as The Hood (Anthony Ramos), who leads a crew of thieves targeting greedy and ruthless billionaires in the city. Her technological skills are all that’s missing for them to continue their heists. Riri agrees to Parker’s offer, which not only leads to her newest armor upgrades (accompanied by the armor’s system mapping her brain for hours while she’s asleep) creating an A.I. that looks, sounds, and acts just like Natalie, but connects her to a black market tech ethicist named Joe McGillicuddy (Alden Ehrenreich), who both help Riri as she slowly realizes that Parker is not to be trusted, and that his warpath against Chicago’s wealthy is not going to end well for anyone who crosses his path, including Riri herself, who ends up leaving John to suffocate and die after a violent encounter between the two during a recent robbery orchestrated by Parker.
THE STORY SO FAR: Thanks to the mysterious entity who gifted him his hood, Parker is aware that Riri is responsible for John’s death, and Riri discovers that Zeke has been arrested and sent to jail due to the bio-mesh being left behind at Heirlum, which was traced back to him. Thanks to Madeline Stanton and her daughter Zelma, both Riri and Ronnie learn that extremely dark and powerful magic is connected to the hood and whoever created it. Parker decides that Zeke will be Riri’s replacement on his team, so he breaks him out of prison, takes back all of Zeke’s black market technology that was seized by the cops, and uses them for bionic implants on Zeke that grant him superhuman abilities, which he uses to try and kill Riri on Parker’s orders. Riri realizes that magic is the only way to provide unlimited power and energy to her newly designed suit, which results in N.A.T.A.L.I.E.’s sudden disappearance, and Riri having a final confrontation against Parker. Which is immediately followed by Riri crossing paths with the powerful entity that has been supporting and whispering in Parker’s ear from the very beginning: Mephisto (played by Sacha Baron Cohen).
HOLD UP, MEPHISTO SHOWS UP ON THIS SHOW?! AFTER ALL THIS TIME, MEPHISTO IS FINALLY HERE?!?!: Yes, he is, and I’ll get to that later, I pinky promise.
WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT THESE EPISODES?: Not only do we get more of Cree Summer, but we find out that her character is a powerful sorcerer who has passed on her skills and knowledge to her daughter. Like most Black mothers, she is very protective about keeping herself and her child away from any dark and evil sh-t that would put either of them in harm’s way. The scene between Riri and Zeke, where he calls her out for her selfish and manipulative behavior that harms everyone around her. The pointed commentary from the television news reporters about Zeke’s arrest: “Samantha, looks like the bad apple fell very far from the tree, rolled down the hill, and landed straight in the gutter.” “Good one, Judy,” Riri asks Xavier if she is a good person, and Xavier explains that there’s so much more to her than just reductive labels. The fight scene with Riri vs. Roz, Jeri, and Clown at White Castle.
YEAH, ABOUT THAT! WHAT WAS WITH ALL OF THE PRODUCT PLACEMENT FOR WHITE CASTLE IN EPISODE 5?: According to Ironheart executive producer Chinaka Hodge…
“It was my idea! I take credit for it,” she was quick to note during a Zoom with TVLine, while fellow Ironheart EP Ryan Coogler chuckled heartily next to her.
“My mom is from Illinois…,” Hodge went on to explain, “and growing up, she would talk about — ooh, how do this in a deft way for our partners at White Castle? — how rare it was to have the delight of a slider. But being a California kid, I never had one.”
That situation changed at a family reunion in the Midwest, where “my cousin got me a big ol’ box of sliders and I ate as much as Riri ate,” Hodge recalled.
Indeed, Riri was in the midst of veritably inhaling sliders, crinkle cut fries, and loads of information about the demonic Dormammu when her binge got crashed by the Bloods.
“My partner has a ‘sad food,’ and it’s Popeye’s [chicken],” Hodge shared. “I don’t think White Castle is a ‘sad food’ because you can’t stay sad when you eat it, apparently. But Riri, she eats some of her emotions, and I think emotionally eating White Castle is one of the truest Midwest things you could do.”
N.A.T.A.L.I.E’s last-minute save when Slug is chasing Riri behind the wheel of a truck, and Riri using the Hellboy Stoplight (or at least that’s what I call it) to put Slug and that truck out of commission, while also flipping a much-deserved bird. The way the White Castle sign spells out “OUCH!” when Riri crash-lands on top of it, thanks to Zeke. Riri finally coming clean to Ronnie after her defeat at Zeke’s bionically modified hands, followed by Ronnie chewing her out over her obsession with her armor: “Your obsession with this suit is the reason you just got kicked out of MIT. It got you involved with a crime boss and a lunatic who turned himself into a robot, and it’s the reason you ain’t got a man.” N.A.T.A.L.I.E. uses her technology to recreate the memory of eight-year-old Riri spending time at the garage with Gary, and showing how she acquired the nickname “Ironhead.” Everyone comes together (including Landon, the little neighborhood hustler/entrepreneur) to help Riri disassemble the 1971 Plymouth Cuda 440 Six-Pack and use it to design her new armor, which looks pretty damn good. Parker is confronted by his crew over whether he was involved in the death of Stuart/Rampage (a suspicion brought up by Riri to Clown during the War at White Castle), and his response is to fire them all and order them to leave. Zeke discovers that he has no choice but to act as Parker’s personal slave and muscle, as he now controls all of the technology implanted in his body. The battle between Riri and Parker, which sees him adopt a more demonic persona and appearance, and the hologram used by Riri to deceive him into thinking he has the upper hand before stripping him of his hood and, with it, his power.
WHAT’S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT THESE EPISODES?: Anthony Ramos does give a solid performance as Parker (though I still stand ten toes down on the hill that Jasmine Cephas Jones should’ve been cast instead). Still, it doesn’t change the fact that his character is not the most interesting or compelling villain to watch for six episodes, and the revelation that his villain origin story is because his billionaire father (played by legendary character actor Paul Calderón) kicked him out of the house when he was a little boy, was both tired and predictable. The fact that the cops and Feds were able to connect the bio-mesh to Zeke, and do it so quickly, was hard to believe, if only because Zeke has been doing such a good job keeping a low profile and hiding his true identity for so long. Slug walking out of a truck that has just flown through the air and crashed to the ground thanks to Riri, and they just walk away without any injuries whatsoever, or even smudges to their makeup. The writing and plotting aren’t as strong or well-done as they could and should be, and the final scene had me going “Are you f-cking kidding me?!” and not in a good way.
DO ANY OF THE AVENGERS MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN THESE EPISODES?: No.
DOES SHURI MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN THESE EPISODES?: No, she doesn’t. Even N.A.T.A.L.I.E. tells Riri that she should contact Shuri for help. Still, Riri refuses to do so, as she believes that Shuri would be ashamed of her and very unimpressed by all of Riri’s recent criminal activity. That, and because Marvel Television has spent enough money with the budget on this series, and didn’t feel like spending more to have Letitia Wright do a cameo appearance as Shuri that could easily resolve all of Riri’s problems.
ANY EASTER EGGS WE SHOULD WATCH OUT FOR?: Specks of red energy can be seen under the microscope when Riri is analyzing the piece of fabric from Parker’s hood, and that red energy looks very similar to the Chaos Energy wielded by the late(?) Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch. The news reports about Zeke both confirm and remind us that Obadiah Stane’s crimes and his warpath against Tony Stark, as Iron Monger, never became public knowledge, thanks to the cover story by S.H.I.E.L.D., which stated that Obadiah died in a plane crash. The conversation between Riri, Ronnie, Madeline, and Zelma takes place in a parallel realm called the Western Cortex of the Neverish, which, in the comics, is the location of Doctor Strange’s school, known as the Strange Academy, where its young students with magical skills learn to use sorcery. Not only is Doctor Strange’s name mentioned by Zelma during the conversation, but she and Madeline also mention Kamar-Taj, which is where Strange learned sorcery, and where Madeline was also a student until she became pregnant and left to raise Zelma.
Zelma also mentions Strange’s archenemy Kaecilius (you remember him, right?), and that the hood looks as if Dormammu created it. She also gives Riri some not-so-subtle foreshadowing about the dangers of magic, and those who don’t use it for the good of humankind: “Beings like Dormammu don’t care who Parker is, or what he wants. They need a puppet to carry out whatever sinister plan they’ve come up with, and honestly, Parker, blinded by ambition? Easy to manipulate.” and also “Magic always comes with a cost, and sometimes, it’s a heavy one.” As was pointed out during the first three episodes, Slug comes from Madripoor, which made its first live-action appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (though not without some very accurate complaints from fans), and is known in the comics as a familiar and dangerous stomping ground for Wolverine, where he’s known as Patch. Unless I missed seeing them run for their lives due to Roz and Jeri’s loud and violent warning, there appear to be no human employees in White Castle, and all of the work seems to be done by robotic equipment that looks very much like Dum-E and U, the robot assistants seen in Tony Stark’s lab at home. The hologram technology used by N.A.T.A.L.I.E. to recreate Riri’s memories with Gary looks very similar to the B.A.R.F. technology (yes, that’s what it’s called) that was invented by Quentin Beck (a.k.a. Mysterio) and stolen by Tony Stark, as mentioned in Spider-Man: Far from Home. Not only is Mephisto’s actual crimson-skinned visage reflected in the spoon that he’s using to stir his coffee, but the fact that he is stirring a cup of coffee with a spoon while attempting to manipulate Riri is very reminiscent of Catherine Keener’s character in Get Out, and how she was able to send Chris to the Sunken Place.
ANY FAN THEORIES SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE ACROSS THE INTERNET BECAUSE OF THESE EPISODES?: The introduction of Zelma, along with the Western Cortex of the Neverish, is a hint that Marvel Television may soon develop a Strange Academy series for Disney Plus, and that Parker may be one of the students at that school. Obadiah Stane isn’t dead (there was no body found, as Parker’s team said), and though Zeke is shown in possession of his ashes, they could also be someone else’s ashes. Obadiah could show up again in the MCU somehow to possibly reunite with his son. The reason why Riri knows anything about the existence of the Kree (even though they’ve never really made their existence known tot he general public) is because of Black Widow breaking into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and leaking all of their files and secrets to everyone due to HYDRA’S takeover. Mephisto never really wanted Parker, but actually wanted Riri, using Parker as a stepping stone to reach her and utilize her technological genius for his own goals. Mephisto telling Parker that he’s not his only client is a clue that we might have Ghost Rider introduced to the MCU. (Yes, I’m fully aware that we did see Ghost Rider on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but apparently, that series isn’t considered to be MCU canon, so that doesn’t count.) Riri will end up going the same villainous route as Parker. That villainy will be seen on display in either one of the next two Avengers films, or on Young Avengers Champions, and her defeat will result in Riri being the newest member of the team to join Kamala, Kate Bishop, and whoever else has been recruited.
SO YEAH, ABOUT MEPHISTO SHOWING UP, AND BEING PLAYED BY SACHA BARON COHEN…? Yeah, about that.
So after months and months of rumors and grumblings about how Mephisto was eventually going to appear in the MCU, and that Sacha Baron Cohen’s role was kept secret, which means that he’s the one playing Mephisto. Those rumors and theories turned out to be correct, as he made his debut appearance in the season finale, as he helped Parker escape from the cops and from his father’s security after his failed attempt to rob the mansion, and offered him a deal to achieve power and wealth beyond his imagination. Naturally, some fans were excited and enthused about Mephisto finally appearing onscreen and being portrayed so impressively by Cohen. Others, however, were not at all pleased with this development. They were not happy about who was chosen to play Mephisto in Ironheart, and for a couple of reasons. There is his alleged sexual harassment of Rebel Wilson. There’s his comedic material from when he played Borat, Bruno, and Ali G, which was seen then and now as racist, sexist, and highly problematic. And the fact that he’s a proud supporter of the state of Israel, which has been committing numerous acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Besides that, some fans were really unhappy about how the series ended between Riri and Mephisto, which showed him offering the same kind of deal to her that he provided to Parker, and Riri (who is still traumatized from losing Gary, and especially losing Natalie) seemingly taking him up on his deal, which results in Natalie being brought back to life, as long as Mephisto stays away from the rest of her family and friends. Some viewers were unsure as to whether the deal actually occurred, if it was just a vision of what would happen if Riri said yes, and if Natalie’s resurrection was a result of Riri successfully hacking the magic used to power her suit (which if you look closely, actually has Parker’s hood resting on it). But upon closer inspection, it looks as if Riri actually did shake hands with Mephisto and take his deal, as evidenced by the black markings (the same black markings that appeared all over Parker’s body after he devoted himself to Mephisto) appearing on her arm while she’s hugging Natalie.
For comic book fans, this ending to Ironheart reminded them way too much of Spider-Man: One More Day, considered by many comics fans to be one of the worst and most infuriating storylines in all of comics history.
In One More Day, Aunt May is slowly dying after being shot. Despite Spidey begging for help from Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, and Mister Fantastic, none of them can help Aunt May recover from this regular-degular gunshot wound. Spidey is then approached by a redheaded little girl who tells him that she knows how to save Aunt May, and is then approached by Mephisto (disguised as a woman wearing red) offering him a deal: he will instantly cure Aunt May in exchange for the end of Spidey’s marriage to Mary Jane. After a night of discussion and consideration, the two agree to Mephisto’s deal, only to realize at the very last minute that the redheaded little girl whom Spidey first met was Spidey and MJ’s future daughter, who will no longer be born or exist because of Mephisto’s deal. Aunt May is cured, Spidey and MJ’s marriage is wiped out of existence, and we start back to Spidey in high school once again, with him and MJ being completely strangers to one another.
So … yeah. I was also shocked and taken aback that Riri would even consider saying yes to Mephisto after everything she had gone through, everything she had seen Parker go through, and that the season finale wouldn’t mark the start of her becoming the hero she truly wanted to be. But then again, I also thought the season/series finale of WandaVision would be the start of Wanda becoming the hero she truly wants to be after realizing the horrible things she had done to the people of Westview … which was then followed by her learning nothing and becoming a whole-ass supervillain in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
BUT WANDA WAS BEING CONTROLLED BY THE DARKHOLD!: Yes, I’m aware of that. But it doesn’t stop me from rolling my eyes at Wanda’s character development being ignored and Spartan-kicked into a bottomless pit just to see her butt heads with Doctor Strange, and Multiverse versions of Captain America, Reed Richards, Maria Rambeau, Black Bolt, and Professor X. (I can’t lie though, the “What mouth?” moment when Wanda took out Black Bolt? As my fellow kids would say, Wanda ate and left no crumbs.)
ARE THERE ANY SCENES DURING THE CLOSING CREDITS FOR ANY OF THESE EPISODES?: Parker, who is still depowered and is now wearing a hoodie to make up for the hood’s absence, shows up at the Not-Magic Box and approaches Zelma for some help and guidance regarding real magic. Zelma seems to be pondering Parker and his request before the scene suddenly ends and cuts to black.
…….THAT’S IT?: That is it.
DO KAMALA KHAN AND/OR KATE BISHOP SHOW UP SO THEY CAN RECRUIT RIRI TO JOIN THE YOUNG AVENGERS CHAMPIONS?: Unfortunately, no. If you were hoping that either one of them would show up at the very end to ask if Riri would like to join their team, you’ll have to keep waiting just a little while longer.
ARE PEOPLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOUTUBE STILL TALKING SH-T ABOUT IRONHEART AS IF THE SHOW ITSELF PERSONALLY SLAPPED THEIR PARENTS IN THE FACE?: Judging from the recent YouTube videos available to watch (which I haven’t, and never will) that are titled “Ironheart Is A Mess” and “Ironheart is Hilariously Dumb…The M-She-U Needs To End”, the answer is unfortunately and predictably, yes. I’d type out more words to express my thoughts on the proud and insufferable members of the YouTube Outrage Industrial Complex, but I’ll stick to what I’ve said about them before, which is that they all need to go brush their teeth with chainsaws, and f-ck off all the way into the sun.
TO SUM IT ALL UP: As much as I enjoyed the first three episodes, and the performances by Dominique Thorne, Lyric Ross, and Alden Ehrenreich, Ironheart succumbed to the same issues that have plagued too many other Marvel series on Disney Plus, in that the writing and plotting become weaker and less consistent as they get closer to the finish line. The series has its moments that are entertaining and enjoyable, but those moments are seemingly outnumbered by others that require characters to grab the Idiot Ball with both hands to keep the story moving, and the story trips over his own feet when it should be taking flight, and bringing the audience along for the ride. The series ends on a cliffhanger, leaving viewers wondering what will happen with Riri and Natalie, especially now that Mephisto is in the picture, but will that be resolved? And if so, when will it be resolved?
Zeus sending Hercules to go after Thor; Doctor Strange teaming up with Clea, Blade showing up (offscreen) out of nowhere to approach the Black Knight about his next move; Maya “Echo” Lopez embracing her new powers; Nick Fury being married to a Skrull; the entire existence of Skrulls; everything about the Eternals; Sharon Carter turning out to be the Power Broker; and everything that happened in Shang-Chi’s Fine-Ass Daddy And Those Ten Bracelets Looking Good On His Forearms Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. All of those films and television shows left audiences with plot points in dire need of further development, with seemingly no answer in sight as to if or when Marvel Studios will get around to resolving them. (Don’t even ask Mahershala Ali when Blade is finally gonna come out, as his answer will be “What are you asking me for? Ask Kevin Feige!”) How long will fans have to wait until we find out what’s in store for Riri Williams and everyone she cares about? Will she end up following Parker and Wanda’s footsteps and becoming the next Big Bad to get and keep what she wants?
Only Kevin Feige, and probably Miss Minutes, can tell us, and much like Black Bolt after ending up on Wanda’s bad side, their lips are sealed.
The final three episodes of Ironheart are brought to you by “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC:
“Gangsta Lean” by DRS:
“For Sale? (interlude)” by Kendrick Lamar:
And “II Most Wanted” by Beyonce and Miley Cyrus:
