Robert Downey Jr. thinks Ironheart should be in the MCU

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The ending of AVENGERS: ENDGAME left a big hole in the MCU (and one that may never be filled) when Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man laid down his life to save everyone and stop Thanos. There have been rumors and discussions about who could take up the Iron mantle and soar around in their own armor, but while it’s far too early to start thinking about anything like that happening in the MCU just yet, Downey apparently expressed that Riri Williams a.k.a Ironheart would make a worthy addition to the cinematic universe.

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Downey was at the Gene Siskel Film Center the other night, where he was presented by writer Eve L. Ewing, who writes the “Ironheart” series. Ewing took to Twitter with a photo of her leaving the stage, exclaiming about how Downey said Ironheart should be made part of the MCU.

“The real story here is that @RobertDowneyJr said publicly in a room full of people that #Ironheart should be in the MCU,” she wrote. “I went straight back to the press area afterward and was like YOU ALL HEARD IT, WRITE THAT DOWN.”

Created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato, the 15-year-old Williams was introduced in 2015 in an issue of “The Invincible Iron Man,” where she’s a student at MIT. It’s there she starts building her own version of the Iron Man suit, but soon after she’s discovered by Stark who endorses her goals of being a superhero. While his physical form recovers after the events of “Civil War II” the Tony Stark A.I. assists Williams in building her own armor, and under the name Ironheart she takes over for Iron Man as a suit-wearing hero.

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While there’s no hint whatsoever of Ironheart appearing in the MCU, there was an IRONHEART script making the rounds on The Black List a few years ago (via ComicBook). The script from Jada Rodriguez was a favorite on the service, where screenwriters can submit their work and hopefully be noticed by agents and producers. The script centers on Williams being mentored by Stark, which given the events of ENDGAME, probably isn’t in the cards anymore.

The trailers for the new SPIDER-MAN movie hint that Spider-Man may be taking over as a “new Iron Man” of sorts, what with New York as his home base and Stark being his mentor. But, Marvel is entering a new era and audiences are craving more big screen treatments featuring heroes like Miles Morales (Spider-Man) and Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), so them investing in someone like Williams is not such a far-fetched idea.