With so many questions still surrounding Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, there’s been an interesting new wrinkle. Kevin Feige has confirmed to Comicbook.com that Dominique Thorne, who we know will play the brilliant Riri “Ironheart” Williams in her own Disney+ show, will first debut in the anticipated sequel.
“We’re shooting Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, right now, and the character of Riri Williams, you will meet in Black Panther 2 first,” Feige said. “She started shooting, I think, this week before her Ironheart series.”
This could have big implications for the Ironheart series and the MCU. Riri Williams is an African-American teenage girl with a genius-level intellect to rival Tony Stark’s. In fact, she reverse engineers Stark tech and creates her own suit of armor.
So Feige doesn’t say Riri will be in Wakanda, so it’s possible she gets visited by Wakandans in America. Maybe she’s being scouted to be the new Black Panther? Or maybe she bonds with Shuri as two of the biggest brains left on the planet? Or, and this is unlikely but I’m going to put it out there anyway, maybe she’ll be Wakandan in the MCU?
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters on July 8th 2022.