As well as serving as a moving tribute to Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also had introduce a new superhero, who will soon be getting her own Disney Plus series – Ironheart. Dominique Thorne plays Riri Williams, who is a young, gifted, and Black version of Iron Man.
Williams is a 19-year-old MIT student who can give Shuri (Letitia Wright) a run for her money when it comes to engineering. She is the catalyst for the tensions between Wakanda and Namor (Tenoch Huerta), when her invention is used to find vibranium under the sea.
In a new interview with Screen Rant, Thorne; “I’d say that the cast really did such a great job of just really walking in their excellence and understanding that their first responsibility was to their character. I think that was a great lesson that I learned day one, probably most explicitly from Danai [Gurira, who plays Okoye]. She has such clarity about [her], as does the Queen of Wakanda [Angela Bassett] and the royal family, in defining her character.”
Thorne continues; “Which was also amplified by the rest of the cast, just with the way that they approached scenes; not being afraid to ask questions or to question certain things that didn’t sit right with them because they know the characters best. I think that was a beautiful lesson.”
Williams makes herself a very Tony Stark-inspired suit, which can be seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but will obviously be further explored in the Disney Plus series. The series also stars Anthony Ramos, Alden Ehrenreich, and Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto.
While we wait to hear more about Ironheart, check out our guide to Marvel’s Phase 5.