Black Panther 2 Hero’s Costume Revealed in Marvel’s Ironheart Set Photos

For most MCU fans, the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was both a relief and a revelation. Not only did it assure fans that the film would handle the untimely death of star Chadwick Boseman with respect and dignity, but it also gave us glimpses of new characters entering the MCU. Antagonist Namor the Sub-Mariner (Tenoch Huerta) may be the most notable of these new additions, but we also saw Dominique Thorne as super genius Riri Williams. In her two scenes in the trailer, we see Williams greeting Shuri in a Wakandan lab, and later pounding a heart-shaped emblem from a slab of iron.

That iron will certainly be part of the armor she dons as Ironheart, a tech-based hero in the vein of Tony Stark and title character of the upcoming Disney+ series. While the trailer doesn’t show the completed armor, set photos from the show do give us an idea of what to expect. Twitter user @ironheartnews posted two images from the show, each showing the new armor. In the first, we see Thorne wearing an armored helmet and chest gear over her motion-capture suit. In the second, we see the full body armor.

These images might surprise some fans who expected something closer to the sleeker suit she wears in the comics. This bulky armor seems more tank-like than her standard lightweight armor. Furthermore, where Ironheart’s armor tends to either follow Tony Stark’s red and gold color scheme, or her own pink and black version, this one is largely grey, with only hints of red scuffing.

However, this costume does have some comic book precedent. Shortly after her first appearance in 2016’s Invincible Iron Man #7 (written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Mike Deodato), Williams reverse-engineered her own suit based on old Iron Man armor. Using her design, Williams managed to stop some escaped inmates, thus drawing the attention of Stark. This early design bears significant resemblance to the suit scene in the Ironheart set photos.

Others looking at the photos may not see an early design based on Stark armor, but a variation of the War Machine armor worn by Rhodey, Starks best friend. Not only does the size of the armor and its color scheme better match Rhodey’s aesthetic, but a sizable gun on the right hand indicates more offensive capabilities. Could the MCU Ironheart be more of a War Machine protégé than a student of Iron Man?

Thus far, the cast list of Ironheart does not include War Machine actor Don Cheadle (who will be busy fighting off Skrulls in Secret Invasion anyway). However, we do know that the series will feature both In the Heights star Anthony Ramos as the villain Parker Robbins aka the Hood, and Solo star Alden Ehrenreich in an undisclosed role. None of this means that Rhodey couldn’t drop by, as in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but he isn’t one of the main characters.

We’ll know more when Riri Williams makes her big-screen debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on November 11 2022. Ironheart is set to come to Disney+ in Fall 2023.