Marvel Studios has officially delayed the release of Iron Man's Disney+ spin-off Ironheart, and fans will now be waiting a while.
The MCU introduced the apparent successor to Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man last year in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, who will soon lead her own "direct sequel" series on Disney+.
Once posted for a Fall 2023 release, Ironheart has faced countless disappointing release updates since production wrapped in November 2022. The latest release window had the premiere set for early 2024 before delays saw the series removed from the Marvel Studios release schedule entirely.
Marvel's Ironheart Pushed Back to 2025
According to the U.S. Copyright Office (via The Cosmic Circus), Marvel Studios filed a listing for the Ironheart premiere that seemingly reveals a new date of September 3, 2025, revealing a massive delay for the Iron Man Disney+ spin-off.
The new Disney+ release date likely marks an approximation from Marvel Studios, and it could still shift around. But it does confirm the studio has no intent to release Ironheart anytime before Fall 2025.
The listing noted how production on Ironheart began on June 20, 2022 and was completed later that year on November 2, with filming taking place across Atlanta, Georgia and Chicago, Illinois.
The release will come almost three years after principal photography wrapped and two years after the originally posted release date of Fall 2023 - announced by studio president Kevin Feige as part of the Phase 5 slate at Comic-Con 2022.
Here's Why Ironheart Got a Massive Delay
As Ironheart has had production wrapped for almost a year, the writers' and actors' strikes were probably not the cause of this massive delay, as has been the case for many of the MCU's other recent release shifts.
Par for some huge and unprecedented reshoots, the decision to push Ironheart likely came down the story-based reasons - i.e. other MCU projects need to be released first - or the studio believes it will find more success at that later time.
As Marvel Studios has another Iron Man spin-off in the pipeline with Don Cheadle's Armor Wars, perhaps it would rather Ironheart come to Disney+ closer to that, either for story, marketing, or cohesion.
Armor Wars has yet to set an official release date, but most are expecting it will occupy one of the untitled slots Marvel Studios has allocated for July 25 and November 7, 2025. Following reports that Ironheart may appear in the movie, releasing the two Iron Man-based projects adjacently would make sense.
There are plenty of reasons for fans to be excited about Ironheart, not the least of which is the return to MCU breakout star Riri Williams. The series will also bring the debut of Anthony Ramos as magical villain The Hood, supposedly the child of Iron Man villain Obadiah Stane, and the long-awaited first appearance of Sasha Baron Cohen as Mephisto - yes, for real this time.
The MCU debut of Dominique Thorne's Ironheart can be found in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is streaming now on Disney+.
