Ironheart has reportedly cast Regan Aliyah in an undisclosed role. As per Deadline, the XO, Kitty star will appear alongside lead Dominique Thorne in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe show. The six-episode series will be directed by Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes (Atlanta), each taking up three episodes. Chinaka Hodge — best known for Netflix’s Snowpiercer — serves as a creator and head writer for Ironheart. The Disney+ series is part of Marvel’s Phase 5 lineup, and is slated to release in autumn 2023.
Making her first appearance in 2016’s Invincible Iron Man comics, Ironheart follows Riri Williams, a 15-year-old engineering student. Following her father’s demise, the certified super-genius builds a suit of armour, akin to Tony Stark’s, and continues making improvements to it. That is until Stark endorses her decision to become a superhero.
Williams will be played by the aforementioned Thorne, who was previously seen in the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, released at San Diego Comic-Con this year. With Iron Man out of the picture in the MCU, it seems Riri’s story has been woven into the world of Wakanda.
The Black Panther 2 trailer showed her carving the chest plate of her Ironheart suit. Early last month, set photos offered a first look at the Ironheart suit, which looked quite advanced with lots of upgrades, but did not feature the red-and-gold colour scheme fans are familiar with.
Earlier this week, Marvel released some new merch for Black Panther 2, which offered a first look at the final version of Ironheart’s armour. The action figures were spotted at Target in the US, and feature the iconic red suit with golden seams, but has a black visor covering the face.
As for whether this MCU show functions as a prequel to Black Panther 2, it’s impossible to say right now.
Much like Aliyah, most of the cast members also have their characters kept under wraps. The only known role besides Thorne’s would be Lyric Ross’ (This Is Us), who plays William’s best friend Natalie Washington. Anthony Ramos (In the Heights) is said to play the villain, and there are undisclosed roles in store for Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Manny Montana, Harper Anthony, Zoe Terakes, and Shea Coulée.
Aliyah is currently set to star in Netflix’s XO, Kitty, a spin-off of the To All the Boys film series.
Ironheart is slated to release on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar in autumn 2023.
