Welcome, everybody! In the next two weeks, I’ll release three reviews corresponding to the available episodes of the six-episode season of “Ironheart” (2025), which will be released on July 24, 2025 and July 1, 2025. A week after the last episode airs, there will be an overall review of the season with spoilers at the end. It is only my second episodic review of a television series, so thank you for coming along for my experiment, which happened in less than twenty-four hours!
Episode 2 of “Ironheart” is forty-eight minutes with director Sam Bailey and writer Chinaka Hodge, the creator of the series, back for another episode. It is another establishing episode. Riri’s mom, Ronnie (Anji White), is given more to do and has a hilarious moment. Apparently, she is a painter and maybe an artist so how does she pay rent. I was sorry that the Greek chorus of her friends did not make an appearance, but there was some emotional insight to Ronnie’s backstory. White killed it, but she needs more to do.
Natalie (Lyric Ross), Riri’s best friend, is getting used to returning to the neighborhood, but her reunion with Riri (Dominique Thorne) is rocky so a lot of the episode is devoted to Natalie figuring out how she fits into Riri’s life, and it is a bit of a snooze fest until it becomes obvious that Natalie has not gotten over a traumatic past incident that separated her from Riri. “Ironheart” has a plan for those two and how their dynamic will unfold, but will it work?
More new characters are introduced. Joe (Alden Ehrenreich), a sad sack tech ethicist, helps Riri with her suit. Riri and Joe are opposites. Riri is teaching Joe how to stand up for himself, and he is supposed to be her Jimmy Cricket, i.e. conscience. Ehrenreich is a solid actor, and it is so weird that his career has not taken off, especially after getting the titular role in “Solo: A Star Wars Story” (2018) and appearing in a pivotal supporting role in “Oppenheimer” (2023). Joe is a useful character because he gives the audience perspective of how brilliant Riri is. Joe’s neighbor, Shannon (Tanya Christiansen), is a hoot, and hopefully she tags along with Joe’s storyline as his nemesis.
Sheila Zanate (Natasha Forouzannia) is the CEO of Tnnl (pronounced tunnel), and the dubious crew’s first mark. It appeared as if she would be impressive, but she barely gets a handful of lines so that was anti-climactic. “Ironheart” shows how Riri’s first day on Parker’s team goes, and if she is a culture fit. It is obvious that she does not know that the stakes are more serious than they let on during orientation. Cousin John (Manny Montana) uses knives! Riri is a nerd, not a gangster, and even though she is desperate for money, I do not buy that she would work with them after the first job. Parker (Anthony Ramos) reveals how he navigates the world as The Hood, and my prior review’s quip that he looks like a magician was on the nose. I adore how people of color characters initially react to strange occurrences, but it does not last long. Apparently Parker has an agenda rooted in a past trauma so hopefully it is worth the risks that he is taking when he uses the hood, which bestows powers to the wearer. I love a sympathetic villain, but I am also a little tired of it.
If “Ironheart” is slightly disappointing, overall, the crew did not feel fleshed out and are still just vibes, which is fine, but I want more for them. Each member does get a brief backstory montage, which I would have preferred in the first episode. Stuart (Eric Andre) did not appear except via a voicemail outgoing message so if you are a fan, sorry. Riri seemed closest with Clown (Sonia Denis), who definitely seems straight because she immediately raves over seeing her boss shirtless. Riri has yet to be determined. Even Ronnie is fishing for details. While it is not important, after seeing “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022), her relationship with Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) could go either way.
As predicted, Riri also goes on a date with Xavier (Matthew Elam) at a club with live music, but it is an afterthought. He seems to want more or is just hanging out with her because of their shared connection through Natalie. It will be interesting to see how he reacts when he discovers that Natalie is around. The music was good though. Speaking of music, the needle drops are good and include Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” and Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody.” I love both songs, but if you start with Chaka Khan, Morissette’s song pales in comparison. Oh well. It is still cute. Perhaps Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” would have been a better fit considering all the car singing.
Landon (Harper Anthony), the neighborhood baby entrepreneur, appears to be a regularly appearing supporting character, which was unexpected. Please do not put that child in danger. I’ll hate it. While having a kid hustler is very big city, I could do without it. There is one hilarious scene that takes place in a train car and involves a Cubs banner, but Chicago was not its own character this time. No walks along Lake Michigan at night. Bailey did the job, but there were no standout visuals.
“Ironheart” is turning into a slow burn show, and I hope that it is building up to something impressive. Right now, my pulse has not raised once. Again I prefer watching the MCU for the fights, which is why Cousin John is my fave, but Riri is not about that life, so I need to adjust my expectations. I would not mind if Zanate gathered herself and became a suitable opponent to Parker. It feels as if Parker has a boss despite all appearances to the contrary. I want to know more about the unidentified tattoo artist who visited Parker in the first episode and more about the Hood, which is clearly bad news.
Riri is a genius, ordinary girl who feels like a supporting character in her show. She does not really standout yet, and I am too darned worried about her to truly enjoy “Ironheart.” She feels like the one main character with a lot to lose, and I wish that she was more like Spider-Man tackling petty crimes, not entering a dynamic that is above her paygrade, aka supernatural shenanigans.
So far, no cameos from other MCU characters, which is fine. I do not want Riri’s tech stolen. I do not want a romantic story line with anyone from the crew. I do not want a plot device of making her a mistaken wanted villain that makes her go on the run from law enforcement, but I think that I am going to get one anyway because the MCU loves it. I also do not want the color purple to be used to symbolize the supernatural.
