In a surprising turn of events, Marvel’s Ironheart series has just as much in common with Black Mirror‘s devastating “Be Right Back” episode as it does with any Iron Man film.
On the Iron Man front, we’ve got an explosive story of an inventor crafting a high-tech armored suit. In Ironheart‘s case, that inventor is none other than genius Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), first introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. (Wakanda Forever and Sinners director Ryan Coogler also executive produces Ironheart.) Now back in her hometown of Chicago following expulsion from MIT, Riri turns to a life of crime in order to get the money and resources she needs to keep working on her suit.
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It’s as Riri’s building her new suit that Ironheart takes a turn for the Black Mirror. In her attempts to create a new AI assistant for her armor, Riri accidentally ends up creating one who looks and acts exactly like her late best friend, Natalie Washington (Lyric Ross). The conceit recalls that of Black Mirror‘s “Be Right Back,” in which a grieving widow (Hayley Atwell) communicates with an AI simulacrum of her late husband (Domhnall Gleeson).
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