Dominique Thorne brought Riri Williams to life in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe came after it was announced that she would have her own series, Ironheart, not long after. But then came delays, push backs, and a lot of time when fans weren’t sure we’d ever see Ironheart come to life. Now, the show has debuted on Disney+ with the first three episodes and the Rotten Tomatoes score from critics are in, revealing an interesting look into the series as a whole.
Ironheart debuted with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 71% from 21 reviews, which means it officially has aFreshrating — for now. Given the state of Marvel as a whole with fans, it’s not necessarily a bad score, but the score has continued to drop since reviews began to hit. Ironheart‘s ranking puts it among shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Moon Knight, and Loki, which all debuted with fresh scores in the 70%-80% range. Before audiences even had the chance to watch the first three episodes of Ironheart, the series faced review bombing — a growing trend across the television landscape. While the audience score may ultimately be skewed toward the negative, critics have voiced legitimate criticism of the series. In his review for Collider, Mike Thomashighlighted another setback for the latest installment in the MCU:
“Ironheart has the unusual task of not only being a spin-off to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but also a legacy successor to the Iron Man trilogy, and the magic elements tie it to the likes of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. All of this Marvel baggage weighs down the plot, leading to everything feeling unsatisfying.”
Ironheart Has Been a Long Time Coming
Ironheart was originally announced during a large Disney presentation in December 2020, where Thorne’s casting was also announced. Since then, the show has held a myriad of release dates that it simply never arrived by. The show was in limbo for so long that it did feel like it was being hidden away. But the buzz from social reactions — which were largely mixed — and now with the reviews coming out, it does seem like there is a lot to love in Ironheart, even if some critics didn’t love the whole series.
Riri Williams is one of the newest characters to the Marvel canon and one of the few characters to have her live-action debut less than 10 years after her comic debut. The series also stars Anthony Ramosas Parker Robbins and Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy, a friend of Riri’s. The show itself was a long time coming for Riri Williams after its announcement back in 2020 and now that the series is here, fans can see for themselves what one of the smartest characters in the Marvel canon is up to!
You can see Riri Williams take on her own series in Ironheart, with the first three episodes streaming now on Disney+.
