As the Marvel Cinematic Universe heads into Phase 4, there’s a whole raft of new heroes coming our way. Since Endgame wiped a bunch of major names off the board, Marvel’s upcoming slate is set to introduce plenty of new characters sure to become major names of their own in years to come. Among them is Riri Williams, aka Ironheart – a genius teen inventor who creates the most advanced armour-suit since Iron Man, and made her comics debut in 2015 from creators Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato. As revealed in last year’s massive Disney+ update, there’s an Ironheart show coming to the streaming service in the future, and rising star Dominique Thorne has been cast in the all-important Riri role.
In the new issue of Empire, Thorne – who has just two acting credits to her name, albeit in acclaimed films like Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Shaka King’s Judas And The Black Messiah – opened up about the casting process, which sounds like it was far from traditional. “I was at home in Delaware and I got a call asking if I would like to play this role,” she says. “It was the best phone call I could have ever received.” Needless to say, Thorne was shocked. “I was so shocked, in fact, that there was a considerable lag in the conversation!” she laughs. “I was waiting for them to say, like, ‘Oh, we’ll send you the sides’, or, ‘Get your tape over to us.’ But there was none of that. It was just like, ‘Would you like to do this?’ It was probably the most unique experience I’ve ever had because there was no audition at all.”
The Ironheart series is currently in pre-production, and isn’t expected for a while yet – with other Disney+ Marvel shows including Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Moon Knight and She-Hulk due to arrive before Riri Williams makes her MCU debut. But based on Thorne’s turns in Beale Street and Judas And The Black Messiah, she’s going to be a mighty asset for the superhero universe going forwards.
Read Empire’s full Dominique Thorne story in the new The Falcon And The Winter Solider issue, on sale Thursday 18 March and available to pre-order online here.