We’ve been waiting for Ironheart for a very long time. An MCU take on the character was first teased in 2018 and the project was officially unveiled as a Disney Plus show in 2020. Dominque Thorne’s Riri Williams would go on to play a key role in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and since then….? *crickets*
While Ironheart doesn’t appear to have suffered the same emergency creative overhaul as Daredevil: Born Again, it’s clear that something has gone wrong behind the scenes, as the shoot commenced in June 2022 and wrapped that November.
Given the usual MCU release pattern, most assumed Ironheart would drop in late 2023 or early 2024. Obviously this hasn’t happened and on Oct. 6 2023 it was announced that Ironheart would premiere on Sep. 3 2025. That’s three drawn-out years in post-production, but at least we had a firm date to set in our calendars.
Now, as of the latest ‘Upfront’ meeting, even that seems in question. It seems the September release date has been abandoned and all we now know is that Ironheart will be released sometime in 2025. Given that we know a little about Marvel’s release schedule for 2025 already, we can make an educated guess as to when.
When might ‘Ironheart’ drop?
We know that Daredevil: Born Again will premiere in March 2025 and consist of 18 episodes divided into two nine-episode halves. Let’s hedge our bets and say Born Again will debut around the middle of March with a two-episode premiere (as is common for Disney Plus) and the first half will conclude in early May. Marvel Studios will be reluctant to air two MCU shows simultaneously, so we can rule out Ironheart dropping before May 2025.
The second half of Born Again will need another seven-to-nine-week block later in the year and I’m betting this will be around August/September, which is likely why Ironheart has been bumped from its original release date. If that’s the case I’d bet on Ironheart either being brought forward to June 2025 or pushed right back to December 2025.
And, sadly, of those the more likely is December – if only because they’d probably have said at the Upfront if Ironheart was being brought forward. We don’t have any reason to believe Disney and Marvel Studios are skeptical of Ironheart‘s quality, but there’s also a chance they could pull an Echo and release the entire series at once.
Too long in post-production?
A TV show or movie spending so long in post-production isn’t necessarily a bad omen and the repeated delays may be simply due to Disney Plus scheduling problems. That said, if Kevin Feige and Marvel executives were enormously enthusiastic about Ironheart they’d be moving other shows from their release dates to make room for it rather than vice versa.
So, while it’s probably not going to be a Secret Invasion-level disaster, maybe revise your expectations down for Ironheart.