Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was a deeply instrumental movie for various reasons. Not only was it a heartfelt tribute to Chadwick Boseman, but it also introduced new characters and potential storylines, making the Marvel Cinematic Universe even bigger. One major character that it introduced was Riri Williams aka Ironheart.
The divisive Black Panther spinoff was originally scheduled to release in the fall of this year. But was soon removed from the upcoming project schedule by Marvel. This delay was a shocker for many, for the series has already finished shooting. But now it has recently been reported that the show has definitely been put on hold as Marvel wants to chronologically sync it with their other upcoming movie, Armor Wars.
Why Marvel Has Delayed Black Panther Spin-off Ironheart
Marvel’s Ironheart is a mini-series about Riri Willaims portrayed by Dominique Thorne, who made her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. An apparent successor to Robert Downey Jr.‘s Iron Man, the project is expected to be focused on the differences between technology and magic, with Williams representing the former and The Hood aka Parker Robbins representing the latter.
The miniseries was originally scheduled to be released by fall 2023 but was soon entirely removed from the upcoming schedule list. Now it has been reported that the series was delayed to sync it chronologically with Armor Wars, an upcoming Marvel movie that hasn’t yet begun filming, unlike Ironheart which has already finished filming pre-strikes.
Furthermore, Armor Wars was not even a fully-formed project to begin with when it was first announced. According to MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios to Disney had reportedly forced the studio to do so during an Investor Day 2020 event to ease their investors after extreme pandemic delays and heavy losses.
Ironheart And Armor Wars Are Reportedly Linked
Marvel’s two upcoming projects, Ironheart and Armor Wars will reportedly be an extension to the Iron Man storyline. While the former is about a supersmart MIT graduate who created her own Iron Man-like suit, the latter would be focused on James Rhodes aka War Machine.
Originally slated to be released as a series, the movie Armor Wars will reportedly be based on the comic book story and would be a sequel to Secret Invasion as well as Ironheart. Centered on Rhodey, it will cover his Skrull impersonation story as well as how he managed to keep Tony Stark’s technology from falling into the wrong hands.
Thus, both projects will be interlinked and the events will be held directly after the events of Secret Invasion. While the release dates of the projects haven’t been released yet, it is expected that both will be released by 2025, for the Armor Wars project has been delayed by the strikes.
Ironheart’s MCU debut can be seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Disney+.
Source: X (Previously Twitter)
