Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Ironheart season 1, episodes 1-3.Iron Man’s replacement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes center stage in Disney+’s Ironheart, and I was not prepared for Riri Williams to kill someone so brutally in her first solo project. Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark was the MCU’s first hero. Due to that, he has become the most popular character in the franchise, with an impressive legacy.
Downey starred in an Iron Man trilogy, Captain America: Civil War, four Avengers movies, and more. His list of MCU appearances is extensive, with Stark playing a key role in the franchise for over a decade. As Iron Man’s MCU timeline ended with his death in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, a few characters emerged as possible successors to Tony Stark’s legacy.
Those are Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, Don Cheadle’s War Machine, and Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart. After being mentored by Tony Stark, Spider-Man: Brand New Day should forge a new path for Peter Parker in the MCU. War Machine’s Armor Wars movie would have tackled Iron Man’s legacy, but it has seemingly been scrapped. That only leaves Ironheart as Iron Man’s MCU replacement.
Riri Williams Leaves Cousin John To Die In Ironheart Episode 3
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The first three episodes of Ironheart are available on Disney+, with the second batch of three episodes set to conclude the short Marvel series on Tuesday, July 1st at 9 PM ET. The first half of the series touches heavily on how Riri Williams is the character in charge of continuing Tony Stark’s legacy, and results are mixed so far.
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While she has successfully crafted iron suits like Stark, Riri ends up entering a path of crime to get money to build her new suit. Since Tony Stark’s first MCU movie saw him go from a weapons manufacturer to a full-on hero, that is not the trajectory I expected for Ironheart. Adding to the issues is the fact Riri killed someone.
Instead of defeating a villain to save people, Riri’s motivations were selfish.
Well, Ironheart did not see its lead character directly kill another person. However, Riri chooses to leave John, the Hood’s cousin, to die at Heirlum. She did so in Ironheart episode 3 to guarantee that he would not tell the show’s villain that Riri had turned on them. Instead of defeating a villain to save people, Riri’s motivations were selfish.
MCU Heroes Have Killed In The Past, But Hardly Ever In Such A Brutal Way
Ironheart Episode 3 Features A Controversial Ending
Having a young hero kill someone in their first MCU solo project is already something of a confusing move. However, that is made worse due to the brutality of the event. While Riri does not directly kill John, which she could very well have, her choice to leave him behind ends up leading to a dark death for the character.
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As the doors at Heirlum closed after Riri failed to stay undetected, cousin John suffocated to death. That was definitely not the most heroic way Riri could have gone in that situation. While I understand that she feared for her life if the Hood found out that she turned on him, I don’t think a hero should go down that path.
That is not to say that MCU heroes have not killed before. In fact, quite a few of them have. However, the number of brutal kills, like Riri letting John suffocate to death, is not that high. Some cases that come to mind are Thor cutting Thanos’ head off in Avengers: Endgame and Bucky Barnes killing Tony Stark’s parents.
Even in those cases, Riri’s killing of John was more brutal to me. After all, Thor swiftly cut Thanos’ head, so his death was not drawn out like John’s. As for Howard and Maria Stark, while they did suffer more, Bucky had been brainwashed by HYDRA to kill them. Riri was in full control and still chose to act like that.
Ironheart’s Brutal Death Is Made Worse By The Fact That Riri’s Decision Backfires Almost Instantly
Iron Man’s MCU Replacement Is Now In Danger Again
What infuriated me the most about Riri’s decision was how pointless it all was. The idea of leaving John to die to cover her tracks backfired by the end of Ironheart episode 3. Given the fact that the Hood’s boss showed him Ironheart’s shadow, he now knows she killed John despite her best efforts to hide it.
| Actor | Role In Ironheart |
|---|---|
| Dominique Thorne | Riri Williams |
| Anthony Ramos | Parker Robbins/The Hood |
| Lyric Ross | Natalie Washington |
| Manny Montana | Cousin John |
| Alden Ehrenreich | Zeke Stane |
That is bound to make Riri’s life incredibly dangerous in Ironheart‘s remaining three episodes. Had Riri saved John, she could have had some leverage to keep him from revealing what she had done. But after her brutal killing of him and how she covered it up, the Hood will undoubtedly want her head for it. Hopefully, she survives in Ironheart.
6/10
- Release Date
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2025 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Angela Barnes, Sam Bailey
- Writers
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Chinaka Hodge
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Dominique Thorne
Riri Williams / Ironheart
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Lyric Ross
Natalie Washington
