What’s Next for Riri Williams After That Shocking Twist?

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the Ironheart finale.Everybody loves a happy ending, and while it first looks like Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) is going to fly off into the sunset, a devastating decision could spell disaster for the future of the hero (or anti-hero) known as Ironheart. Taking place well after her introduction in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri is struggling to make ends meet after getting kicked out of MIT (seems like her friends in Wakanda could have put in a good word for the woman who helped save their country, but that’s neither here nor there). As a result, Riri reluctantly joins the criminal crew run by Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), a plucky young upstart who just so happens to have a mysterious red cloak that gives him the abilities of a demon.

While the two willingly work together for a while, it isn’t long before tensions start to flare, particularly when Riri discovers that Parker has been having his former associates murdered. After leaving Parker’s right-hand man, John (Manny Montana), to die, Parker effectively declares war on Riri Williams, even turning her former companions Ezekiel Stane (Alden Ehrenreich) into a relentless killing machine. This leads Riri to create a brand-new suit of armor that combines the forces of technology and magic, but this leads to more than a few problems for both our hero and our villain.

Riri Brings the Fight to Parker and Ezekiel in ‘Ironheart’s Explosive Ending

With the help of her friends and family, Riri succeeds in building her new suit, but at a terrible cost. The AI version of her deceased friend Natalie (Lyric Ross) that she accidentally created is also inadvertently destroyed when the mysterious magic is infused. Riri has now unexpectedly lost her closest companion for a second time, but she doesn’t have time to grieve.

Riri arrives at The Hood’s base of operations to put an end to Parker’s reign of terror once and for all, and soon comes face-to-face with Ezekiel, who initially let her go when they first fought. Ezekiel may have had a grudge against Riri in their first fight, but he’s since mellowed out a bit, though that doesn’t really matter since Parker messed around with his new cybernetics to place Ezekiel’s body and motor functions completely under his control. Riri and Ezekiel have a messy rematch, with Riri coming out on top this time, disabling Ezekiel’s cybernetic upgrades to give her former friend yet another chance at building a new life for himself.

‘Ironheart’ Producer Teases the Surprising Link Between Riri Williams & Two Iconic TV Antiheroes

She’s an anti-hero in the making.

After the preliminary fight with Ezekiel, Riri moves upstairs for the main event with Parker, whose organic tattoo work all over his body implies that The Hood has taken full control of his body. The tense battle sees Riri try to outmaneuver and outwit a demon-possessed crime lord, and it’s a riveting battle from start to finish. But again, Riri ends up the victor, with her finally being able to separate Parker from his Hood, leaving him weakened and afraid in the process. Beating The Hood seems like it should be the end of Riri’s adventure, but there’s something much more sinister waiting for the complicated hero downstairs.

Riri Williams Makes a Deal With Mephisto in the ‘Ironheart’ Finale, but at What Cost?

Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams looking ahead in a still from Ironheart. — Image via Marvel Studios

After defeating Ezekiel and Parker, Riri comes downstairs to meet the man behind it all – Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen), AKA the shadowy character who has been the subject of rampant fan theories ever since WandaVision. Effectively the Marvel universe equivalent of Satan himself, Mephisto is infamous in comic circles for making deals that come with a terrible price, be it erasing the world’s memory of heroes’ secret identities or tricking naive bikers into becoming his Spirit of Vengeance. Mephisto is admittedly impressed that an average human like Riri was able to defeat one of his avatars, and he knows full well that she wants to reunite with Natalie.

Much like her predecessor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Riri Williams is a flawed person whose sense of morality conflicts with her personal desires. This is made evident by Riri seemingly agreeing to Mephisto’s proposition, only instead of bringing back Natalie the AI, he brings back the Natalie who was killed in that drive-by shooting all those years ago. Riri is overjoyed to see her friend again, but the same scars that Parker got from wearing the hood are now manifesting on her own body.

In addition to an end-credits scene that sees Parker trying to regain his magic powers, there are so many questions at the end of Ironheart. Is Riri’s reunion with Natalie doomed to fail? Will Parker be back to cause more magical criminal mayhem? Will Ezekiel continue to follow in his father, Obadiah’s (Jeff Bridges) footsteps? What is Mephisto’s overall goal in helping Riri? And most importantly, when and where will we see these plot threads and characters again? Only time will tell, though maybe Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars have the answers we seek.

All episodes of Ironheart are streaming now on Disney+.