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 4 of “Ironheart” is fifty minutes with director Angela Barnes and writer Amir Sulaiman at bat for the first time. Finally, things are getting interesting. I incorrectly guessed that Riri’s mom, Ronnie (Anji White), and her friends would be the Greek chorus of “Ironheart,” but the crew is. They recap what happened in the first three episodes. Expectedly Zoe Terakes nails the line about grief because she is an alum of the Philppou brothers’ “Talk to Me” (2022). Joe (Alden Ehrenreich) is out of the closet as Ezekiel Skane, the son of Obadiah Skane (Jeff Bridges), the big bad in “Iron Man” (2008). The Hood and grief seem to take hold of Parker (Anthony Ramos).
Ramos wears two hats when his song, “Villano,” plays over the closing credits. While Ramos is undeniably talented and has extensive acting experience, usually in musicals such as “Hamilton” (202) and “In the Heights” (2021), but also in “Dumb Money” (2032) and “Twisters” (2024), he really stretches himself as a man out for revenge. A lot of actors get a bit cartoonish and chew the scenery as they descend into madness, but he is taking the quieter, more calculating route. There is also a poignant flashback depicting him and Cousin John (Manny Montana) in their early days. He is not evil, but he is going down a road with no return, which he has been on for awhile considering that instead of firing employees, he has been killing them. “Ironheart” only revealed that they killed Stu (Eric Andre), but there could be more. It will be interesting to see how his team reacts when they realize that murder, not a severance package, is on the table if they ever want to walk away.
Episode 4 took a few plots in unexpected directions. Parker and Riri are just sizing each other up instead of making any obvious moves, which makes Riri more anxious, an utterly reasonable response considering the circumstances. MCU took the law enforcement snags the wrong person trope in an unexpected direction that teased possible counterintuitive team ups. It may be the first time in history that the Black person does not get snagged. It makes Riri take a moral accounting of her life and act to protect her loved ones, which includes giving special watches to Xavier (Matthew Elam) and her mom so they could be protected.
At home, Natalie (Lyric Ross) is not her living and breathing best friend, but the Neuro Autonomous Technical Assistant and Laboratory Intelligence Entity, i.e. an A.I. generated from Riri scanning her brain to facilitate operating her iron suit since she no longer has access to MIT’s resources. Though not a human being, this AI does have a sense of her mortality because she is modeled from Riri’s memories. On the other hand, she also acts like a teenage girl, which is humorous but getting old. Natalie finally reunites with Xavier, and as expected, Xavier is from the Prince frame of mind regarding technology depicting a dead person, which means that Riri has lost another leg in her shaky three-legged stool of emotional support. Also, the elephant in the room gets addressed regarding why Riri does not have Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) on speed dial.
Ronnie is cool with all of it and finally gets to leave the house with Riri, but the central problem of their relationship is finally articulated. In all prior episodes, Ronnie can talk to everyone except her daughter. White conveys that Ronnie is not just dealing with the loss of her husband, but the only link that she has to her daughter. Honestly, I’m siding with mom because the fact that no one killed Riri for getting expelled should be enough to prove that her mom can handle more than Riri believes, and maybe Riri should listen to her.
“Ironheart” finally drops more lore about the Hood, which includes a tie in to the world of Doctor Strange, which is exciting, and more of that please. It depicts what sorcerers would be like if they do not become a member of the Kamar-Taj. So it is official: magic versus technology, and Riri knows that she cannot rise to this challenge. Sulaiman nails how Black people would react to hearing about dark dimensions and bad magic. We do not mess with that stuff.
Skane has his own moral quandary to deal with it. More importantly, he gets a much-needed makeover, but “Ironheart” does not offer a lot of details on what this makeover entails besides a haircut. It involves biting down on an object to deal with pain so it should be dramatic. It is becoming clearer why Ehrenreich got the job because Skane, formerly known as Joe, is going to play a huge role going forward. Also, it is his turn to go shirtless since Ramos carried half of the emotional weight of this episode.
There are returning characters. I’ve been waiting for Cree Summer to return since the first episode, and she is as delightful as ever in her second “Ironheart” appearance. At least we get a glimpse at how she makes her money. She has a family business, and her daughter, Zelma (Regan Aliyah), gets introduced for the first time. I wish that she was introduced earlier, but Madeline and Zelma’s mom-daughter dynamic is well worth the wait. People will rightfully demand a spin-off, and by people, I mean me.
While “Ironheart” is slower than I usually prefer in MCU television series, I would prefer that the writers take their time using each episode as a building block instead of biting off more than they can chew and be inconsistent. I also enjoy the storylines becoming more unpredictable instead of easier to forecast. When Chicago is not the central focus, the series visually feels indistinguishable from any of the sound stages that other series unfolded on.
While Parker clearly wants revenge against Riri, there was a plan before she joined his crew, and I want to know Parker’s end game. I’m excited to see how Skane proceeds, and I think that his days as a tech ethicist are ending. I love the crew and hope that they do not follow Parker down the path to destruction. Ronnie and Xavier are clearly in danger. I want to see if there are supernatural forces for good who will help Riri save the day. Everyone needs to sell Gary’s garage and invest in therapy plus a plane ticket to Wakanda.
