See Ironheart Recreate An Iconic Iron Man Moment
A deleted Black Panther 2 scene had Ironheart build a suit in a cave, much like Tony Stark in the first Iron Man.
The Tony Stark-inspired superhero Ironheart was introduced in Black Panther 2, but it seems that the two heroes originally had more in common than just building and wearing a superpowered metal suit. In an interview with The Direct, actress Dominique Thorne describes a deleted scene that matches Tony Stark’s origin story shown in the original 2008 Iron Man. Namely, when Riri Williams was locked away in the underwater kingdom of Talokan, she had to build her first suit in a cave with a bunch of scraps. Thorne said:
So, there were moments where, actually, how Shuri goes out into Talokan, and she’s getting to see the city where Riri joins them as well… They discover as they’re taking this view, Riri notices the thing that’s powering them, the Sastun that they mentioned, could be used to help them escape.
The scene goes like this: while being forced to build a superweapon for Namor, Riri Williams instead works with a fellow prisoner (Shuri) to use their source of power (vibranium) to create a suit that will help them escape. If that scene of Ironheart’s origin were included in Black Panther 2, it would almost exactly mirror the circumstances surrounding the creation of Tony Stark’s first suit. Specifically, when being forced to build a superweapon for Raza, Tony Stark instead works with a fellow prisoner (Yinsen) to use their source of power (palladium) to create a suit that would help them escape.
While Shuri has a less-devastating fate than Yinsen, it’s impossible to not see the parallels between the two sequences. In fact, Dominique Thorne confirmed that the deleted Ironheart origin from Black Panther 2 was a parallel to Iron Man’s.
While the original origin story was cut, Ironheart still plays a major role in Black Panther 2. Despite Riri never visiting Talokan in the final version of the film, there’s still a small portion of the original sequence that made its way into the movie. Specifically, there’s a montage scene in the film involving Riri that uses audio from the cut cave scenes.
“We did, though, use the audio from one of those building moments, and that’s the audio that we hear,” Thorne said. “I think it’s the montage with Riri, and the flamethrower, and all that.”
Of course, as is the fate of most Marvel characters Ironheart will continue to be featured in future projects beyond Wakanda Forever. There’s already an Ironheart Disney+ series planned to release in 2023.
The new series will follow Riri Williams’ continued role as Ironheart following the plot of Black Panther 2. She will be joined by Parker Robbins, aka the dark magician known as “The Hood.” Of course, since The Hood is a supervillain in Marvel comics, things might not work out so well between the two of them.
There will also be at least one MCU film that will feature Ironheart, meaning that the character will continue to play a role in the larger plotline beyond the events of Black Panther 2. She’ll be appearing in the 2026 film Avengers: Secret Wars alongside Thor, Bruce Banner, Shang-Ironheart was one of our favorite things about Black Panther 2, but we wish Marvel had left this scene in the movie.Chi, Dr. Strange, Ms. Marvel, and all the other still-surviving avengers. However, she’s currently not confirmed for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will release one year before Secret Wars.
Whether Riri Williams will play a wider role in the MCU before the release of Secret Wars remains to be seen. Ironheart played a key role in helping Wakanda in Black Panther 2, but Marvel has a strange habit of not mixing its Disney+ series and its films. In the end, we’ll just have to wait and see.
