Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.Between the rise of Talokan and Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía), the U.S.' search for vibranium, and Shuri (Letitia Wright) becoming the new Black Panther, there’s a lot to unpack in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. However, the movie also finds time to introduce a new heroine, Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who’s destined to become Ironheart, Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) successor. While Riri still didn’t get her superhero name in Wakanda Forever, the movie does reveal how the genius teenager puts together her Iron Man suit, teasing what we can expect from the upcoming Ironheart solo series.
Riri’s Proto-Iron Man Suit in 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'
In Wakanda Forever, we learn that Riri is a 19-year-old genius currently studying at M.I.T., the most famous engineering school in the world. While the movie is not about Riri’s origin story, her M.I.T. presence already creates a connection with Tony Stark. Stark was a frequent collaborator of engineering schools, which might be explored in Ironheart to explain how Ririr will become his successor. For instance, the billionaire gifts every M.I.T. student enough funding to complete their projects in Captain America: Civil War.
How Does Riri Williams End Up Involved With Wakanda?
Riri Williams gets involved with Wakanda after creating a radar capable of detecting vibranium through liquids, rocks, and even heavy metals. As Riri tells Shuri, she built the radar as a school project after a professor challenged her design, deeming it impossible. Unfortunately for Riri, the CIA used her school project to find vibranium in the ocean, awakening the wrath of Namor and Talokan. Nevertheless, Riri creating a technology many people thought was impossible in just a few months is a testament to the girl’s intelligence. Still, the vibranium radar is not the most impressive engineering project in Riri’s garage.
When trying to protect Riri from Namor and the CIA, Shuri and Okoye (Danai Gurira) visit the warehouse the girl uses as a makeshift lab. Riri has been trying to reproduce Stark tech by making her own Iron Man suit there. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever shows us that the armor is perfectly functional for flying and shooting energy blasts. It’s not as fancy as Tony Stark’s, nor does it offer the same level of protection, but it’s good enough to help while the three women flee. While it’s impressive to know Riri built her Iron Man suit from scrap parts, it’s worth remembering Tony Stark created his first armor in a cave. And to come up with her makeshift suit, Riri took years of trial and error. That proves how complex the Iron Man technology is and how revolutionary Stark was for the MCU, a subtle way to honor the deceased hero.
Ironheart’s Wakandan Upgrade in 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'
Riri’s proto-suit gets destroyed during the confrontation with Talokan’s warriors. However, the girl gets the opportunity to build an improved model to help during the war against Talokan. Using Shuri’s lab and all the resources Wakanda and vibranium can provide, Riri finally finishes an Iron Man suit that she uses in the movie’s final battle. Despite having an original design, the armor works like Tony’s, giving Riri the first taste of Avenger-level power.
Unfortunately, Riri doesn’t get to keep the suit. Her armor is so impressive that Shuri keeps it in Wakanda. After all the pain and suffering caused by the vibranium weapons race, Shuri cannot allow a suit made with the metal to fall into the wrong hands. Besides that, the Ironheart suit would most definitely be confiscated by the CIA once Riri returned home, giving Wakanda’s potential international adversary another weapon they could use in an eventual war. Riri gives her armor away willingly, but no one can take the knowledge she acquired by working with Shuri and Wakandan technology. Now, we just need to wait for Ironheart to tell us how Riri will embrace her superhero persona once and for all.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is available right now in theaters. Ironheart will come to Disney+ in the Fall of 2023.