'Ironheart' Series Review: Marvel is as Marvel Does
Marvel Studios hasn’t had much success at all on the small screen, sending out new series after new series that always seem, regardless of context, to fail in both their artistic integrity and connection to the overarching cinematic universe of superheroes that has, by the day, become more and more convoluted. ‘Ironheart’, while it exhibits a rather reverent and unique sense of community and humor at times, suffers the same ultimate fate.
RiRi Williams, played sharply by Dominique Thorne, heads the show’s story after her debut in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever. It’s all about her journey after that movie, battling interpersonal conflicts as she attempts to carry on a legacy (that of Tony Stark) despite her own dispositions.
The series is at its best when it focuses on Williams, her family, and her emotions. Scenes in her family’s apartment are set apart by slightly shaky, handheld camera work that calmly frames convincing relationships. She and her family bicker and bond like real people; the dialogue is funny and incredibly natural (for the most part) lending itself greatly to an array of unfamiliar faces. As is the case with most Marvel shows, things fall apart as the stakes rise. Even given a few strong villainous performances, all of the writing feels so painfully familiar that it can’t help but fall in line alongside the rest of the franchise’s mediocre streaming offerings.
To boot, Thorne’s character is done a disservice by being thrust into her own feature so quickly. She had one brief appearance, in one movie, and now she has an entire series centred solely around her. While she’s interesting, definitely, and relatively well written, there simply isn’t enough inherent interest here to drive six entire episodes. It feels like the audience is being forced to meet her and learn to care for her simultaneously — in spite of Thorne’s strong turn in the role, it’s hard to care this far down the Marvel line. Even so, for more die-hard fans of the universe, there may be enough here to warrant at least a first watch.
The narrative echoes of Iron Man’s impact across the world are certainly welcome, with much of the inner-city activity being centered around a sheer obsession with Williams’ ability to create a suit similar to Stark’s. Not to mention, every scene with the suit in action looks pretty remarkable.
Really, the whole show looks great. It’s lit with unusual intention for a project like this one and, again, the camera work reflects the series’ more intimate intentions, too. Even the battle sequences maintain a sense of this humanity; oranges bleed across frames and over faces. Concrete sticks out like a systematic, manufactured interruption among a sea of souls trying to break free from that system. Ironheart seems to say more with silence, expressions and color than it does with any of its dialogue. And, despite the franchise-fatigue that plagues it, some of the lighter references to Marvel canon should elicit a smile from fans. A name here, a nod there — it’ll certainly do for fans tuning in to be reminded about why they care in the first place.
Although for casual watchers and non-fans, there isn’t much in Ironheart to grab onto. It’s a fun, well-made series that, in the end, feels empty where it really matters. It’ll slide in naturally next to the rest of Marvel’s T.V. catalogue. After they whiffed on Daredevil, this felt like a lost cause… unfortunately, despite the scattered positives, that turned out to be the case.