Ironheart (real name Riri Williams), also known as Lady Ironheart, is a fictional character and superheroine from Marvel comics, appearing as a major character in the Iron Man comics, and as the main protagonist in the titular comics.

She is a super-genius who created her own armor from one of Tony Stark's designs, and later become an armored superheroine to continue Tony's legacy after the events of the second civil war. Riri would become her own hero by designing her own armors, fighting against threats, and later joining the Champions.

She was created by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato, Eve Ewing, and Kevin Libranda, and first appeared in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 2 #7 in May of 2016.

Dominique Thorne is set to portray the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in her titular Disney+ series.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Riri Williams is the daughter of Demetrius and Ronnie Williams, the sister to Sharon Williams, and she was named after her father's nickname, "Riri". After her father's apparent death, Riri grew up in the South Shore in Chicago alongside her family, which included her stepfather Gary. When she was five years old, Riri was taken to a child psychologist due to having behavior problems, and it was revealed that she was actually a super genius. Becoming a child prodigy at a young age, Riri became an introvert and worked on inventions to help the superhero community. She would befriend Natalie Washington, but she and her stepfather were tragically killed during a drive by at a picnic.

Due to her genius-level intellect, Riri was offered a ride to M.I.T. when she was young, and did so but remained at home to continue working on her inventions. She decided to challenge herself by creating her own suit of armor similar to Iron Man, and also created her own versions from stolen material off of campus. After developing her first suit of armor, she tested the flight controls and stopped criminals from escaping the New Mexico State Penitentiary. Returning home, she was greeted by Tony Stark, who admired her ability to create her own suit of armor, and decided to help her inspirations of becoming a superhero. Once she repaired her suit of armor, Riri decided to help Stark fight against Captain Marvel and her forces during the second civil war.

Becoming Ironheart[]

After the end of the second civil war, Riri decided to continue Stark's legacy after he was put into a coma, and gave herself the nickname "Ironheart". She would receive training from Stark's A.I., and started to gain the attention of heroes and villains from Iron Man's rogues gallery. Riri also gained the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., who started to monitor her after she defeated the Techno Golem with Pepper Potts' help. The agency would later have her stop Lucia von Bardas, and have her become the monarch of Latveria to start free elections in the country. After leaving her title as monarch, Riri became famous around the world to the point that she was offered membership into the Champions.

Ironheart later joined the Underground when Hydra took over by their leader Hydra Supreme, who was an alternate universe version of Captain America. She would go on to join the Red Room under the command of Black Widow, who decided to plan a strike to defeat Hydra Supreme. The plan failed as Black Widow as killed by the alternate Captain America, an Riri and the Champions were imprisoned until they were freed by the Underground. When the real Captain America defeated Hydra Supreme, Riri was awarded by the cosmic cube to see a future Tony Stark, who told her to become her own hero. Afterward, Riri remained with the Champions, and assisted them in fighting against Thanos and the Chitauri. Seeing her suit be destroyed by the Mad Titan, Williams took Amadeus Cho's suggestion to heart on improving her armor.

Portrayals[]

Films[]

• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she is portrayed by Dominique Thorne in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before getting her titular Disney+ series.

Television[]

• In Marvel Rising: Heart of Iron, she was voiced by Sofia Wylie.
  • Wylie reprised her voice for the character in the Marvel's Spider-Man animated series.

Video Games[]

• In Marvel Avengers Academy, she was voiced by Dani Chambers.

Trivia[]

• Ironheart's appearance was based on the actress Skai Jackson.