Ironheart and WandaVision featured similar themes, but one took things a step further in its ending. Both of the Disney+ series explored a central theme of grief, with their main characters finding ways to resurrect their loved ones artificially. In the case of Wanda Maximoff, she constructed a whole Hex reality where she could live out a perfect family life with Vision and their children. Meanwhile, Riri Williams accidentally turned Natalie into a hologram for her high-tech AI.
It was with the ending that WandaVision and Ironheart went down rather different paths, with Wanda letting go of Vision (albeit with a Multiversal plan to find her lost children) and Riri succumbing to a deal with the devil to bring Natalie back.
Thanks to SWORD's White Vision, a resurrected synthezoid still spawned from WandaVision, and next year's Vision Quest will explore his journey to regaining his memories and humanity. It's unclear whether Wanda ever sought out White Vision, as she instead used the Darkhold and Multiversal travel to track down versions of her children, Billy and Tommy, from alternate universes in Doctor Strange 2.
In fact, with Scarlet Witch succumbing to the Darkhold and Ironheart becoming an agent of Mephisto, both left their Disney+ series with some form of supernatural corruption, which set them up for a dark next chapter in the MCU.
In many ways, Ironheart truly committed to the theme of how grief corrupts in its resurrection ending while WandaVision didn't quite dive that deep. Instead, Wanda's true descent was saved for Doctor Strange 2, where she became one of the MCU's most powerful villains thanks to her desperation to find her family.
Of course, Natalie wasn't the only loss that Riri and her family endured in that fateful drive-by shooting, as her stepfather, Gary, was also killed. While her mother, Ronnie, was certainly still feeling that loss, Riri didn't seem as hurt by that loss
How Will the MCU Explore Ironheart's Dark Descent Next
Well, coming out of her Disney+ series, Riri Williams is an agent of Mephisto who has given up her soul in exchange for resurrecting Natalie. While she may be called upon to do a demon's bidding at some point in the future, in the meantime, she may have unlocked some nifty new magical powers akin to The Hood.
Marvel Studios is reportedly building up to adapting "Damnation" in Midnight Sons, where Mephisto could bring in characters such as Ironheart to do his bidding and face off with the supernatural heroes as he seeks to create Hell on Earth.
Alternatively, as Riri Williams is one of the MCU's younger heroes, Mephisto may be a problem for Disney+'s Champions to overcome. There's no denying that the demon would be a tough hurdle for the likes of Ms. Marvel, Wiccan, and Kate Bishop to overcome, but perhaps they could find a way to free Ironheart.
