While Marvel Studios remains tight-lipped on their upcoming Ironheart, a new whisper has purportedly revealed a handful of details pertaining to the upcoming Disney Plus series.
Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) struggles against the Atlantean army in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Marvel Entertainment
These alleged insights were brought to light by Twitter user @marvel_updat3s, a scooper whose track record has seen them correctly break the news of Lady Deathstrike’s appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine, Vanessa Kirby’s casting as Sue Storm in Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Marvel Studios’ delaying of both Thunderbolts and the aforementioned reboot of their First Family to their current dates.
Riri Williams shows off her latest suit on Jen Bartel’s variant cover to Ironheart Vol. 1 #1 (2019), Marvel Comics
Taking to their account on September 25th, @marvel_updat3s claimed that the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever spin-off:
“Will have the same tones to those of Ms. Marvel“
“[Reveal] that Riri Williams is bisexual”
Received a “positive” reception to its “first test screenings”
And would have its first episode run for “around 50 minutes”
Interestingly, lending credence to this @marvel_updat3s’ information is the fact that they are not the first individual to make mention of the series’ supposed ‘bisexual Riri’ reveal, as that honor belongs to Daniel ‘DanielRPK Richtman, who scooped this exact information all the way back in February 2021.
Further, should she be revealed as bisexual, it would represent a significant deviation between her MCU and original comic book incarnations, as the source material has never once depicted Riri as having any non-heterosexual romantic feelings.
And while Champions Vol. 3 writer Jim Zub has teased that he originally intended for his run on the teen team-up title to fully develop a romantic relationship between Ironheart and her synthezoid teammate Vivian, these plans were ultimately nixed by others in the Marvel offices – “Sometimes you have romantic plans for a story and they get vetoed partway through,” wrote Zub to his personal Tumblr page in February 2021. “If you read a comic by me and wondered why a clear romantic thread just seemed to end for no apparent reason…yeah…maybe that wasn’t my choice?” – thus rendering any such intention fully non-canon.
Vivian confesses her feelings to Ironheart in order to break her free from Blackheart’s control in Champions Vol. 3 #10 “The Road Ahead” (2019), Marvel Comics. Words by Jim Zub, art by Steven Cummings, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles.
At current, no official word has been given regarding Riri’s storyline – or really anything else – in the upcoming series.
However, given both the Disney’s current focus on ‘representation’ over storytelling and Ironheart‘s confirmed cast consisting of two notable LGBT entertainment personalities in drag queen Shea Couleé, best known for making it to the final round of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9, and transgender Talk to Me star Zoe Terakes, odds are good that the above scoop is more true than false.
Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) sets her sights on Namor (Tenoch Huerta) in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Marvel Entertainment
Ultimately, the exact nature of the armored heroine’s sexuality will be confirmed when Ironheart hits Disney Plus – or more realistically, its cast hits the press tour – when the series hits the House of Mouse’s signature streaming service sometime in 2025.