The Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon welcome a new hero.
A lot of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will focus on familiar faces including Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and M’Baku (Winston Duke). The film also introduces a formidable new antagonist: the powerful mutant Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who leads the underwater kingdom of Talocan and takes on the Wakandans.
But the Black Panther sequel will also establish a new hero who is not from Wakanda or Talokan. Her name is Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, and after a short but influential run in Marvel comics, she’s ready to make her big screen debut.
Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk) plays teenage Riri, a genius inventor and engineering student born and raised in Chicago. She uses her intellect and mechanical skills to follow in Tony Stark’s footsteps, build her own armored suit and find her own path to heroism.
“I like the fact that she’s just completely herself,” says Thorne. “She’s definitely not your typical or traditional superhero. She’s very much Riri Williams, the 19-year-old college student first, and then there’s this whole Ironheart thing she needs to figure out.”
Marvel Studios Dominique Thorne in the Ironheart suit in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
Created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato, teenage Riri made her comic book debut in 2016 and took over the Iron Man mantle after Tony Stark left. Now she will join the MCU in Wakanda forever before starring in her own Disney+ series iron heart in 2023.
“I remember when Riri was invented in publishing, and there was a level of excitement around her,” says Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, who also iron heart show. “It was similar to when Miles Morales was invented. Because I’ve lived with these archetypal characters for so long, it’s always exciting to see someone come up and take on the nickname from a different background.”
Tony Stark built his Iron Man legacy as a genius/billionaire/playboy/philanthropist, but young Riri is definitely more down to earth. In Wakanda forever, she’s teamed up with Shuri, and Wright says she’s particularly excited that Shuri will meet another girl with an equally brilliant mind — and that a young audience will see another smart, science-focused black woman onscreen as a role model. “It’s like doing that again in a fresh, beautiful way,” Wright says. “I just love to see more space being made for those characters to shine.”
Despite their shared intellect, Shuri and Riri clearly have different backgrounds and personalities. After all, Shuri was raised as the princess of a powerful and advanced African nation, while American Riri grew up in Chicago.
“She brings a different kind of energy, but she also has some similarities to characters we’ve seen before in this universe,” Coogler explains. “The film is about many things, but one of them is foils – people who exist in contrast, but there is a common thread. In this film, we see Shuri meeting someone who has some things in common with her, but is also very, very otherwise.”
Amy Sussman/Getty Images Dominique Thorne
Thorne originally auditioned for the first Black Panther as a college student, and although she didn’t get the part, she later worked with Coogler when he produced Judas and the Black Messiah. A few years after her initial Black Panther auditioning, she got a call from Marvel producer Nate Moore, who asked her if she was familiar with the role of Riri Williams — and if she’d like to play her in both. Wakanda forever and a planned iron heart series.
Among Beale Street and Judas and the black messiah, Thorne has already built a short but strong career, but playing Riri is her biggest project to date. Prepare for Wakanda forevershe threw herself into superhero training: not only did she improve her welding and soldering skills, but she also learned to hold her breath for some of the film’s lengthy underwater scenes.
Despite all that preparation, she couldn’t help but get a little starstruck on set. Thorne recalls sharing a scene with Oscar-nominated Bassett on her very first day of filming. “I don’t think I could have asked for a better way to get out of the gate,” Thorne says with a laugh. “What a fantastic scene partner to start my birth in the MCU with.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters on November 11. To learn more about the movie, read EWs Wakanda forever cover story.
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