At its core, Ironheart explores how far individuals will go to make up for his or her previous failings — and the way these efforts can go incorrect. Even a noble aim can lead somebody down a darkish path, the present suggests, as soon as private need begins clouding their plans.
The MCU has constantly explored how the highway to hell is paved with good intentions, beginning with Tony Stark’s redemption in 2008’s Iron Man, and persevering with by means of characters like Wanda Maximoff in WandaVision, Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Approach Residence, and Agatha Harkness in Agatha All Alongside. All of them are well-meaning at one level or one other, however private motives steer them into darker territory. Marvel Studios has had a number of possibilities to introduce an current Marvel Comics character who absolutely embodies this arc, and whereas his debut has been rumored for a lot of of these tales, it appears the firm has been holding off till he may seem alongside Riri Williams, bringing the theme full circle again to Tony Stark.
Who is that this mysterious character who’s been looming in the minds of Marvel theorists for years? That is a spoiler of epic proportions, so for individuals who don’t wish to know the place the closing episode of Ironheart goes, you’ve been warned.
[Ed. note: Major Ironheart character introduction spoiler ahead.]
In Ironheart’s season 1 finale, Sacha Baron Cohen portrays Mephisto as the bodily manifestation of making a take care of the satan, presenting Riri with a proposal she will’t refuse. It’s revealed that he supplied a related deal to Peter Robinson, aka The Hood, by giving him a cape powered by darkish magic. As The Hood is making an attempt to flee seize throughout a heist, the mysterious Mephisto rescues him and provides to make him richer and extra influential than the father who ostracized and deserted Peter as a baby. The catch: Peter can by no means be with out the cape, or he’ll undergo bodily ache and listen to voices in his head, engaging him to put on it once more.
Like most needs in fiction, Mephisto’s provides are monkey’s paws, with stipulations that bitter the want’s success. For Peter, carrying the cape makes him simpler to govern, and he turns into hooked on its energy.
Mephisto’s supply for Riri is equally double-sided. At the finish of the collection, she loses her AI bestie, who took the form of her murdered finest good friend, Natalie. Mephisto provides a method to convey her again. Riri takes the satan’s deal, however as a substitute of Natalie returning, Riri finds herself with a new look, in what we are able to assume is a new multiverse setting the place Natalie by no means died. However what does that imply for the relaxation of Riri’s household?
If her new Afro hairdo and ’60s retro-tech locale imply something, she might be in the identical alternate-universe setting as the new Incredible 4 in Incredible 4: First Steps. That doesn’t bode nicely for her, contemplating that Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, is approaching. However that will turn into Riri’s Iron Man second: Creating a new go well with of armor and serving to the Incredible 4 save the world could also be the jumping-off level for her redemption arc, similar to Tony Stark, years prior, becoming a member of the Avengers to avoid wasting the world from an alien invasion.
Photograph: Disney Plus
Again in 2021, followers speculated for weeks that WandaVision would introduce Mephisto to the MCU, citing the present’s hexagon motif and the presence of Agatha Harkness, who’s associated with Mephisto in the comics. However he by no means appeared. The Mephisto theories reignited with Spider-Man: Far From Residence, which drew inspiration from One Extra Day, a Marvel Comics arc the place Peter makes a take care of Mephisto to avoid wasting Aunt Might’s life at the value of his future with MJ.
In Marvel Comics, Mephisto is basically the satan, and it’s simpler to listing heroes he hasn’t tangled with than the ones he has. He performed a position in the 1991 comics miniseries Infinity Gauntlet, which Avengers: Infinity Conflict borrows from. He’s a frequent foe of Physician Unusual. A 1989 comedian even revealed that Wanda Maximoff’s twin sons have been created using fragments of his soul.
Now that Mephisto has been launched to the MCU, it isn’t a matter of whether or not he’ll return — there’s simply an excessive amount of story potential in a supernaturally powered villain who provides individuals no matter they need, at unpredictable and horrible prices. He’ll be again. It’s simply a query of when and the way a lot of a position he’ll have as Marvel launches Section Six of its cinematic venture.
All six episodes of Ironheart are streaming on Disney Plus now.
