Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler Compares New Marvel Project Ironheart To A Classic Superhero TV Show

As the Ironheart TV show gets ready to arrive on Disney+, Ryan Coogler credits a major superhero series as inspiration for the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe project. After having been absent from the MCU since her initial introduction in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri Williams is finally making her way back into the franchise in 2025, but this time through her own Ironheart series. However, with Ironheart becoming the latest MCU TV show, it appears one of DC’s most iconic heroes had quite the influence on Riri’s spinoff.

During an exclusive interview with ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan, Coogler, who serves as an executive producer on Ironheart; showrunner Chinaka Hodge; and episodes 4-6 director, Angela Barnes, spoke about the mixture of tones for the MCU drama and the inspirations that they pulled from when creating the show. While Hodge and Barnes looked at the importance of telling the story of a young Black woman’s rise to heroism, Coogler compared Ironheart to the Smallville TV show, which focused on Clark Kent becoming Superman:

ScreenRant: I think one of my favorite things about the show is it has this gradual tonal shift from a grounded, tech-driven, street-level story to something much more mystical and even horror at times. What excited you most about the sandbox you could play in, and what were you most excited to bring to this story?

Chinaka Hodge: You asking that question is the first time I realized this, but the directive was to give a 20-something, college-age perspective to the show. And when you talked about it going from grounded to magical, that’s what my twenties felt like. I went from very structured, very known decisions to the world being at my fingertips. I think Sam [Bailey] and Angela [Barnes] did a really good job of capturing that tone … It’s all of those emotions. It’s the whole experience of your twenties.

Angela Barnes: For me, it was about the character. Seeing someone who looks like me, someone I can identify with, front and center in the MCU – but also showing all aspects of her. She’s not all good, she’s not all bad. Black people are not a monolith. I wanted to show the range of Black and Brown people I see in my own friend group, and have that reflected on screen. That’s what I was most excited to see.

Ryan Coogler: For me, I was really excited to make a show about young adults. These young people coming up now, they’re going to have to save us in a lot of ways. And it’s so rare to get an opportunity to make something that’s for them.

I remember being young – I didn’t have a TV in my room with cable – but I used to mess around with the antenna. I guess it would be considered the CW now, but I used to watch Smallville, and I loved watching that show because I felt like it was a show where the creators were taking being young seriously. You know what I’m saying? It wasn’t done in a dismissive way.

And I think that’s what our filmmakers have done with this show. Obviously we’re adults, but they had a stake in these characters and identified with them. I think they’re still in touch with that version of themselves that would’ve really benefited from a show like this – at that age, at that point where decisions mean so much.

So I actually love that. I love the idea of making a show about a smart, college-age person who’s been through some things and is going back home to confront parts of the community that made them.

From the creative team’s perspective, wanting to tell an authentic story about Black culture in today’s media landscape showcases how important it was to them to let the Ironheart characters be three-dimensional. While Hollywood has become more diverse than it was back in the early 2000s, there is still a lot of room for improvement in telling stories about marginalized communities, which still aren’t always handled the right way. That is why Coogler, Hodge, and Barnes’ comments on how they envisioned their approach for Ironheart are incredibly meaningful.

Coogler’s credit to Smallville when approaching Ironheart is not too much of a surprise, as the Tom Welling-starring drama played a pivotal role in making comic book shows a reality. Back when the DC TV show premiered in 2001, there were no shared superhero universes on either the big or small screens, and Smallville’s decade-long run showed network executives that this is a genre worth investing in. But to Coogler’s point about how Smallville accurately portrayed a young hero finding themselves, that is what makes Ironheart even more exciting if they are using The CW show as a source of inspiration in showing Riri growing as a superhero.

From everything Barnes, Hodge, and Coogler shared with ScreenRant, Ironheart is continuing to look and sound even more promising, as the series will hopefully lead to more things for Riri in the MCU after 2025. Since the Ironheart trailers have been showcasing Riri dealing with new challenges following the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, time will tell how her battle against magic will change her. Thankfully, the world will soon get to witness Riri’s MCU return for themselves in Ironheart.

The first three episodes of Ironheart premiere on Tuesday, June 24, followed by the final three episodes on Tuesday, July 1, at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT, only on Disney+.