With actress Dominique Thorne making her high-flying MCU debut as Riri Williams aka Ironheart in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, IGN spoke with the new Marvel superhero about the character’s past, the legacy of Iron Man, and got some behind-the-scenes trivia on what it was like bringing this comic book character to the big screen for the first time.
How they teach the children to treat Their guests I like it hey hey hey hey who's your dog What's up everybody if you saw black Panther wakanda forever and found Yourself wanting to know more about the High flying new superhero Riri Williams AKA ironheart then you're in luck Because I'm talking to Iron Art herself Dominique Thorne what's up Dominique how Are you hello I'm good I'm good how are You I'm so excited to talk to you Because I am a big fan of Riri Williams From the comics and it's really cool That you just introduced the character On the big screen for the first time and What I really love is you took what was In the comic and you really made it your Own like she's so smart she's so funny And you really gave her this great this Great Edge so I'm curious uh to hear What did you do to prepare for the role Like did you read the comics did you get To talk to the creators of the character Honestly the comics were really my Starting point that was like the Foundation for me for sure like I wanted To know understand who this person is That so many folks had already fallen in Love of I of course was familiar with Riri Williams well in advance of being Offered the role but to actually seek Out like her appearances in the Invincible well Iron Man comics and her
Her own comic by E viewing wanting to Make sure that I just had the foundation Of information that exists there and Also just leave like a healthy Um healthy amount of space for Ryan's Input and for what would later be Chinaka Hajj and Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes's input on who this uh young Woman is and so the comics was was Definitely the foundation and step two Of that was hearing from Ryan himself Who of course is the one to really sort Of lay the foundation for how we know Riri on screen when we meet her she's in The midst of living her life doing her Day-to-day at MIT which is also sort of At this point as we can sort of tell From that opening sequence it's become a Bit of a playground for her I mean she's Hustling these kids for for their money Using her genius to her advantage and so She's definitely got a bit of a Comfortable system going on there the Moment that she realizes this person who Um maybe unlike her day-to-day at MIT Who she actually is excited by and who Actually inspires her and who she Actually admires to be standing in front Of her of course it's like pure shock And awe it's wondering if she herself Has been recognized for a similar Brilliance maybe and then to hear that She's in grave danger because of nothing Other than her own ambition is again
Just sort of and for that to be tied to Mythical man with winged feet it's just It's definitely uh is definitely taking Riri out of her day to day and dropping Her into the larger Worlds at play in The MCU that prior to this moment prior To this film Um Riri as we will come to know her own Screen really had no reason to consider Obviously ironheart is a successor to Iron Man and in the movie there is an Iron Man joke and we see here in a lab You see in her lab that she's working on Stark Tech and of course she flies Around in her own version of the Iron Man armor but there's so much you know Action and chaos and War in the movie That we don't get to explore any of that So so my question is you know what does Iron Man mean to Riri like what does RiRi think of Iron Man I think that is a Question better left answered by the Series So I hope that that is reason enough for Y'all to sort of take the trip over with Us next year to get to really dive into The answer to that question but I think That Um it's evident just by her existence as Iron Heart that there isn't an Admiration there is an appreciation for What Tony Stark was able to do when he Created the suit I think what Um what that means to Riri Williams as
She moves through the world as a young Black female from Chicago is definitely Going to be quite different because that Is an existence that's quite different Than The son of a billionaire who is himself A billionaire playboy uh used to sell Arms it's just a very different way of Seeing the world and so her way of Interacting with the tech is inherently Different but it is fully practical and So I was fully suspended in the air and When I was suspended in the air I was Also carrying 52 and a half pounds of Weight on top of my body which meant That it became a bit of a different World a different challenge in and of Itself to you know really articulate That those moves I mean even the move That the comic book imagery is doing Behind you you think you might be doing That but then when you have 52 pounds on You you may have to do a little bit more To actually really hit that Mark let's Say so it definitely was a great way Though to to start to think about how Riri's mind works to think that she Conceptualized this thing and was able To build something that was big and Bulky and clunky but also aerodynamic And that you know gave her a full range Of motion and that could fly so it was Definitely a challenge definitely a task But also a great a great entry point
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