In a new Disney+ series, Dominique Thorne (R) and Lyric Ross talk to The Chicago Defender about starring in Ironheart, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s boldest new chapter, set in Chicago and led by a brilliant young Black heroine (Photo Credit: Getty Images).
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, the fabled fictional world of iconic Marvel Comics characters like Black Panther, Ironman, Spiderman, and the Hulk, comes to Chicago and gets an injection of youth, brilliance, Blackness, and edge in Ironheart.
The Disney+ mini-series centers on teenage genius Riri Williams, played by Dominique Thorne (Judas and the Black Messiah, If Beale Street Could Talk), whom you might remember from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as the rebellious young genius and MIT student famed for creating the most advanced suit of armor since Tony Stark’s Ironman. It co-stars Evergreen Park’s Lyric Ross (This Is Us), who plays Natalie.
From Ironheart’s opening scene, which places us at the heart of one of the South Side’s most renowned streets, to the show’s compelling and wonderfully complex protagonist, Riri—an effortlessly brilliant yet tortured iconoclast grappling with profound loss—this series feels personal and rooted.
Thorne and Ross chatted with The Chicago Defender about the show, what audiences can expect, and what it means to have the Marvel Universe come to the city—finally.
“It’s been great… highlighting Chicago—my people.”
Tacuma Roeback: Lyric, you’re from Evergreen Park. What does it feel like to be back in Chicago in Ironheart, a show set in the city?
Lyric Ross: Awesome. If I could talk to my little self right now, I would be like, ‘Do you see what we’re doing today?’ Yeah, it’s been great. It’s been great—all of the things that I have dreamed about, Marvel being its own thing. And on top of that, it’s a Marvel show that is highlighting Chicago, my people. It can’t get any better than that.
Stepping Into the Suit
Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams in ‘Ironheart’ (Photo Credit: Getty Images).
Roeback: Dominique, you were in the second Black Panther installment. What was it like to transition to do a show—your own show, Ironheart in this format?
Dominique Thorne: What a challenge. It was probably the yummiest challenge I’ve undertaken yet. Definitely the first time stepping into that much dialogue and that much text, but also wanting to lean into and expand this person that I got just a snapshot of in Wakanda Forever. But, like, I feel like I had so many questions and curiosities about what the show would have been about and, who are we going to get to meet, and what portion of the world is it going to open up. And by the time I met the team involved and the cast that was chosen and realized, like, ‘Okay, we are leaning into the Chicago of it all—like we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna tell that story. Excitement just continued to fill and fill and fill and overshadow any kind of nervous energy that I thought I expected to feel, making that type of transition.
Playing a Legacy of Excellence
Roeback: You know, when I look at your role as Riri in Ironheart, we serve a legacy audience—African American newspaper—you’re playing a young Black woman who’s shaping the future through her intellect, through innovation. There’s some complexity to her character. Can you talk about what that represents to be able to play a role that we don’t see too often on television?
Thorne: Oh man, I think even if that’s a role that we don’t see too often in television, I think we as Black people know that we see that in our everyday lives—amongst ourselves and our communities, in our home, in our children—we see that kind of bright flame. And it’s been apparent throughout history, throughout the diaspora—like we can see that same legacy that you talk about.
It’s a legacy of excellence and of innovation and brilliance and talent that’s undeniable. Though different moments in history and even throughout entertainment may have attempted to shape that into a very specific narrative, we just have to highlight and give thanks and praise to those who stepped into this arena and decided, ‘Oh, actually, no, let me show you a little bit more about what the truth of us actually is.’ And I think that people—actors, brilliant, brilliant artists—who have been doing that for so long to allow for this moment to be here, where a Riri Williams character can take center stage and take that even further.
What Sterling Taught Me
Roeback: Lyric, I know people will recognize you from This Is Us—that show has such a ubiquitous appeal. Can you talk about the lessons you’ve learned working with such an accomplished actor as Sterling K. Brown?
Ross: How much time we got (laughs)? I think one of the biggest things that Sterling indirectly taught me about was just teamwork, having a companion in your scene partner, you know—which is actually great that I found another in Miss Dominique Thorne to practice that again with along the way. He was so open and free with me whenever we were just going back and forth with each other in our scenes. And I mean, I was young. I was a kid. I was 13 years old, and the fact that he felt he could challenge me was, you know, let him tell it, challenging himself. I think different things like that are very important with your scene partner. If you feel like you can trust them with whatever move you make without you getting there before it actually comes out. You know you don’t have to be aware of it. They’re going to catch it because you trust them, and having that trust in your partner is important. He didn’t say that directly to me, but that’s exactly what he showed me. So, that’s one of the things that I have carried since.
“I hope we do Chicago right.”
Roeback: Last question for the both of you. June 24, it officially releases—we’ll get to see it, Ironheart, en masse. What do you want viewers to take away from this unique, awesome, innovative series?
Thorne: I think a sense of pride, for sure. Number one—I hope we do Chicago right. I hope we make y’all proud. And I hope that folks come out of it feeling excited about everything that’s in store in the MCU, for sure, but also for this chapter of film and television. I hope that people are getting excited again about new, fresh ideas and not being or getting away from any sort of hesitation to tell new stories and to take these kinds of educated risks.
Ross: I really want them to take away anything they came in looking for, desiring—without them knowing it, I guess, you know? Because some people, they need things, and they had no idea until they received them. But one thing that [her character] Natalie has taught me—I’m nothing like this girl. But she’s just so confident and fly and so sure of herself. Like she knows exactly what she’s doing, and nobody can tell her different. And if you try, you are completely wrong. And I aspire to have that type of confidence anytime I walk into any room because I’m supposed to be in that room, obviously. Just know for myself that I am worthy to be doing what I am doing. I am capable. I’m more than capable.
Thorne: Amen.
Ross: Amen, yeah, and I can conquer whatever comes my way with ease.
For Your Information
Marvel Television’s Ironheart
- What: A new Disney+ mini-series from Marvel Television
- Who: Starring Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, with Lyric Ross of This Is Us
- Premiere Date: June 24, 2025
- Where: Streaming exclusively on Disney+
- Why Watch:
- Set in Chicago with strong South Side roots
- Centers on a Black teenage tech genius and MIT student
- Continues the legacy of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Blends superhero action with real-world emotion and edge
