Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is all set to change Phase 4 of the MCU. It’s heavily predicted to bring the MCU out of its slump by introducing new characters like Namor and Ironheart. We have heard a lot about Namor till now, like his age and what his name means. But things have been comparatively quiet on the Ironheart side. Thankfully, director Ryan Coogler has offered some words on her and her connection with hero she is supposed to be the legacy of.

Black Panther 2 Director Talks About Ironheart

We have seen Riri Williams/ Ironheart and her suit in various trailers and clips of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But we don’t know much about her or her connection to Iron Man from various interviews given by the cast. But director Ryan Coogler has changed that during an interview with DesiNerd.

When asked about Riri’s connection to Tony, he said:

“There is a connection there between her and Tony, but it isn’t… it’s a complicated connection. And Riri is a supporting character in this film, so she’s there kind of in concert with a lot of other characters. But she does play a major role and we will get to know a little bit about how how she became who she is when we meet her in this in this film.”

Even though Tony isn’t here, but Wakanda has its own resident genius Riri can vibe with. Regarding her relationship with Shuru, Coogler says:

“She brings a different type of energy, but she also has some similarities to characters that we’ve seen in this universe before. The film deals with a lot of things, but one of them is foils — people who exist in contrast, but there’s a thread of similarity. In this film, we get to see Shuri meet someone who has some things in common with her but is also very, very different.”

He further explained that Riri is “a bit of an audience surrogate” in the movie as she isn’t involved with Talokan or Wakanda. Coogler also said the character is “not the traditional superhero.” He said:

“I love the fact that she is just fully herself. She’s definitely not the typical or traditional superhero. She’s very much Riri Williams, the 19-year-old student first, and then there’s this whole Ironheart business that she has to figure out.”

So it looks like she won’t have any idea about what’s going on. As such, she will be fresh off the boat and it will be interesting to see her develop before she goes on to star in her own series.

What Will Riri Williams’ Connection To Tony Stark Be? 

In the comics, Ironheart is pretty much a legacy of Tony Stark. The AI in her suit is a replica of Stark himself. Now, the question is- will the same happen in the MCU? There’s no way to tell right now. But from the trailers of Black Panther 2 it’s clear that Riri is naming her suits after the ‘Mark’ name that Tony used too.

So she’s at least inspired by him a bit. It remains to be seen how that connection gets fleshed out in her Ironheart show. It’s also possible that James Rhodes will step in to help her and she might remind him of Tony.

As for whether Ironheart is Iron Man’s legacy or not, that remains to be seen. After all, Tony’s daughter, Morgan Stark will also presumably be competing for that title in the future.

What do you think? How will Ironheart be connected to Iron Man? Let us know.