Ironheart review: Grief and AI collide in Ryan Cooglers Marvel series

In a surprising turn of events, Marvel's Ironheart series has just as much in common with Black Mirror's devastating "Be Right Back" episode as it does with any Iron Man film.

On the Iron Man front, we've got an explosive story of an inventor crafting a high-tech armored suit. In Ironheart's case, that inventor is none other than genius Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), first introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. (Wakanda Forever and Sinners director Ryan Coogler also executive produces Ironheart.) Now back in her hometown of Chicago following expulsion from MIT, Riri turns to a life of crime in order to get the money and resources she needs to keep working on her suit.

It's as Riri's building her new suit that Ironheart takes a turn for the Black Mirror. In her attempts to create a new AI assistant for her armor, Riri accidentally ends up creating one who looks and acts exactly like her late best friend, Natalie Washington (Lyric Ross). The conceit recalls that of Black Mirror's "Be Right Back," in which a grieving widow (Hayley Atwell) communicates with an AI simulacrum of her late husband (Domhnall Gleeson).

But where "Be Right Back" is an absolutely shattering hour of TV, Ironheart is a bit more hopeful in its portrayal of processing grief with the help of technology. And while it lacks much of "Be Right Back"s tight focus and emotional heft — two things that tend to get lost in a six-episode scramble to establish new major MCU players — Ironheart still finds ways to craft a heartfelt, complicated relationship between Riri and the best friend she thought she'd lost.

Dominique Thorne in "Ironheart." Credit: Jalen Marlowe

Ironheart's first sequence isn't one of Riri building her suit, or fighting off bad guys. It's of her and Natalie hanging out together, talking about what they want from life. For Riri, that's becoming "bigger than Jobs. Bigger than Gates. Bigger than Pym. Bigger than Stark." For Natalie, all she wants is to be happy. (And maybe to meet Thor.)

The scene is a sweet snippet of Riri and Natalie's dynamic, and in positioning it at the start of the premiere, Ironheart showrunner Chinaka Hodge emphasizes that this friendship will be at the heart of the series. Later in the episode, though, we learn that Natalie, along with Riri's stepdad, Gary (LaRoyce Hawkins), died in a drive-by shooting. Riri witnessed their deaths and was powerless to save them. Their loss spurred her to make her suit, something that could provide fast-acting security to people in danger. So yes, the armor is proof of Riri's brains and the "iconic" legacy she hopes to leave behind, but Ironheart suggests that it's also a coping mechanism, a way to prevent the trauma of Natalie and Gary's loss from ever happening again.

The arrival of AI N.A.T.A.L.I.E.(or Neuro-Autonomous Technical Assistant and Laboratory Intelligence Entity) further complicates the tangled web between Riri's grief and her inventions. The AI has all of Natalie's mannerisms and memories. She's as close to Natalie as possible, but is she really Natalie? That's the question Riri wrestles with throughout the season, especially as she finds herself connecting with N.A.T.A.L.I.E., laughing and bickering with her like no time has passed.

For her part, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. doesn't act like an AI who was just programmed to follow orders. She teases Riri, pushes back on her when she hates her plans, and even gets hurt when Riri questions her existence. Ross is especially heartbreaking in these latter scenes, but her joy and energy in more playful moments with Riri is downright infectious.

With this playfulness, Ironheart seems more prepared to simply accept N.A.T.A.L.I.E. as an extension of her deceased self. Compare that to Black Mirror's "Be Right Back," which is all about the limits of using AI to recreate a lost loved one. But the AI in "Be Right Back" is drawn from a limited number of social media posts, whereas N.A.T.A.L.I.E. was pulled straight from Riri's memories. It's the MCU: Gods are real, half the universe's population disappeared and came back, and AI can be completely perfect.

On top of the Black Mirror comparison, Ironheart also echoes our current reality. Thanks to AI advancements, people are trying to use chatbots to connect with their deceased loved ones, as explored in the 2024 documentary Eternal You. Is this kind of technology a helpful tool to confront grief, or just ghoulish imitation?

Ironheart carries out its examination of the ethics behind N.A.T.A.L.I.E. with a feather-light touch, mostly focusing on the joy, pain, and confusion that comes from reconnecting with someone you'd lost. Thorne and Ross are electric together, taking on the heavy stakes behind this relationship with care. Elsewhere, reactions of people close to Riri, like her mother, Ronnie (Anji White), help flesh out the N.A.T.A.L.I.E. dilemma even further. For Ronnie, it's a chance to heal an open wound and begin to knit together a missing piece of their community. It's not a coincidence that the more people who come in contact with N.A.T.A.L.I.E., the more people Riri can count on to help her out in a dark time.

Anthony Ramos in "Ironheart." Credit: Marvel

However, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. isn't the only person Riri spends much of her time with in Ironheart. Criminal Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) — nicknamed "Hood" for the mysterious red hooded cape he always wears — recruits Riri to bring some extra high-tech flair to his crew.

Played by Manny Montana, RuPaul's Drag Race superstar Shea Coulée, Talk to Me's Zoe Terakes, Shakira Barrera, and Sonia Denis, Parker's crew are wise-crackers and badasses, just as Riri has proven herself to be in both Wakanda Forever and her solo outing. The sass and levity they share brings the sense of a casual, fun hangout to each of their heists, even as they battle security guards or hack through firewalls.

Overseeing it all is Ramos' Hood, a charismatic leader who somehow manages to make a red cape not look totally goofy. (It helps that said cape imbues him with magical powers.) Menacing and charming in equal measures, Hood has all the potential to be a standout new MCU villain. Unfortunately, Ironheart's six episodes don't give his backstory or motivations enough development to truly hit. The same goes for the motivations behind each heist. Hood's crew discusses how the rich people they're going after are harming Chicago communities, but Ironheart doesn't take the time to develop these communities or the problems they face. These are big ideas, and certainly ones worthy of exploration. They just need more time to breathe, and that's not time Ironheart can give with only six episodes.

The same goes for Riri and N.A.T.A.L.I.E.'s relationship, which sometimes falls to the wayside as Ironheart gears up for its big set pieces or villain reveals. However, the amount of work Hodge, Thorne, and Ross have put in to keep that friendship as the bedrock of Ironheart is clear, and the results mostly pay off. The series certainly boasts its fair share of armored suit fights and magical mayhem, but it's these carefully built relationships, and the grief that impacts them, that really stick.

The first three episodes of Ironheart are now streaming on Disney+. The final three premiere July 1 at 9 p.m. ET.