Ironheart is gearing up to drop on Disney+, but its release schedule is raising some red flags because all six episodes will be available in a seven-day span. However, while it seems like Marvel Studios doesn't have confidence in its latest series, it may be doing it a favor by helping avoid an issue that plagued WandaVision.
The controversy surrounding Ironheart stems from its long production. It started filming in May 2022, months before Riri Williams made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. While it's not unusual for a Marvel movie to take a few years to come out, the Disney+ shows are a different story. WandaVision, Marvel's first major production to be released on the streaming service, started filming in November 2019 and aired its first episode in January 2021.
Since Ironheart was seemingly collecting dust for an extended period of time, alarm bells went off. There were reports of extensive reshoots being done, but Marvel Studios never confirmed whether it took another crack at Riri's solo series.
Regardless, the show is ready to release now, and all the press the stars are doing makes it seem like Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and co. are happy with the final product. The only issue is that, rather than having one episode of Ironheart drop each week for a month and a half, all six episodes are coming out over two weeks, starting June 24, 2025.
It's as if Marvel Studios is screaming from the rooftop that Ironheart is on par with Echo, which is still the only show the company has dropped all at once on Disney+. Before the pitchfork comes out, though, there's another explanation to consider, one that saves Ironheart from unnecessary expectations.
Ironheart Is Releasing at a Pivotal Moment in the MCU
Following the wild ending of Thunderbolts*, all eyes are on The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The expectation is that it will connect directly to Avengers: Doomsday and potentially introduce Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom (read more about what Marvel has to say about the villain showing up in the 2025 movie).
If Ironheart kept a traditional Disney+ release schedule, its finale would have aired only a few days after First Steps' release date. Ironheart, being a follow-up to a nearly three-year-old movie, likely won't have any strong connections to the MCU's current events, but that wouldn't have mattered.
Whatever ends up happening at the end of First Steps would have set Ironheart up for failure because there's no way that the Disney+ series about an MIT student fighting a guy in a hood would have massive ramifications for the multiverse.
The book is already out on the Disney+ show because WandaVision suffered from major issues due to its weekly release schedule. It's easy to forget, but there was rampant speculation each week about Mephisto showing up and Reed Richards being the engineer that Monica Rambeau reached out to about the Hex.
There wasn't even a major MCU movie release within a couple of months of WandaVision's conclusion, but that didn't stop the theories from coming. Ironheart doesn't need to deal with any of that, and it definitely doesn't need to fight for attention as Marvel's First Family returns to the big screen.
While the reception to Ironheart's compact release schedule is mixed, to say the least, it's fair to give Marvel Studios the benefit of the doubt for the time being. After all, Feige could have a trick up his sleeve, especially since Riri actress Dominique Thorne played coy about her character returning in an upcoming Avengers movie.
Whether that comes to fruition, it's better to err on the side of caution. Hopefully, that's what Marvel Studios is doing, choosing to give a Disney+ series with a lot of potential a fighting chance during a summer filled to the brim with superhero projects.
