Based on the overwhelmingly racist and adverse response to the first-look images and the trailer for Ironheart, it would behoove Disney+ to reconsider the June 24th release date.
Popular TV and film page Discussing Film had to turn off their comments because the replies to production stills of actress Dominique Thorne as “Riri Williams” were so vile. Instead of the trailer evoking excitement and anticipation, the headlines emphasize the fact that the trailer has been disliked over a quarter million times on YouTube. One headline reads, “Ironheart: Iron Man’s DEI Replacement”.
Is this dispirited response a precursor to underwhelming ratings? With one month until the series premiere, in an effort to circumvent cancellation after its first season, Disney and Marvel Studios should delay the release of the series until the fall to insulate the property with more marketing support.
Here are three recommendations for a more consumer-facing marketing strategy.
The Issue: Who Is Ironheart’s Target Demographic?
Many comic book purists who don’t want to see Ironheart succeed have referenced the fact that Riri Williams is such a new character. Ironheart debuted in 2016, while Iron Man’s first comic book appearance was in 1963. Many of the series’ detractors who have grown up reading comic books believe Ironheart “skipped the line” when considering all of the other superheroes and villains that could have been adapted from the comics into a series.
Solution: Introduce “Ironheart” to Gen-Alpha and Gen-Z.
While Iron Man has had a 60-year headstart on Ironheart, postponing the release of Ironheart to September or even January to align with the school year would allow for the character to become a core childhood memory amongst a younger fanbase beginning with back to school shopping and the release of Ironheart apparel, school supplies, character backpacks, coloring books, Halloween costumes and a second wave of toys and wrapping paper for the holidays.
Presently, there are 48 Marvel titles on the Scholastic Book Store website, but no paperback books about Ironheart. There are, however, four books about T’Challa’s/Black Panther’s sister Shuri. There’s already a seamless segue to introduce comic books and graphic novels about “Riri Williams” through Black Panther. Disney and Marvel could also encourage reading literacy by sponsoring Scholastic Bookfairs in conjunction with the Pizza Hut “Book-It” program, which rewards students for reading a certain number of books with a personal pan pizza.
Even though Ironheart isn’t a children’s series, children are often introduced to comic-book characters as infants for Halloween and for superhero-themed birthday parties.
By building and nurturing a loyal fanbase at such a young age, it not only introduces a new generation to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also allows students to grow up with RiRi Williams, who, similar to Spiderman, is 15 years old at the beginning of her comic book series.
From a PR and Marketing standpoint there’s an opportunity to revise the key talking points to highlight the importance of Ironheart as a celebration of women in STEM careers (Science, Tech, Engineering & Math). Disney could partner with high schools and colleges to host science fairs and “hackathons”(collaborative coding and engineering projects that can help solve real-world issues from sustainability to healthcare) with the winning team receiving an “Avengers In STEM” scholarship. Whereas studios aren’t just using predominately Black schools to check the multicultural screening box, they’re also providing an educational pipeline for students who are inspired by the inventiveness of characters from the MCU to continue pursuing careers in STEM.
The Issue: Women Of Color Being Lambasted for Box-Office “Flops”
Actress Rachel Ziegler and Director Nia DaCosta were slaughtered in the media when their projects, “Snow White” (2025) and “The Marvels,” (2023) underperformed. Toplining a Disney/Marvel project places actors and directors on an incredibly high pedestal where the same trades that gush over talent at their premiere will also exacerbate the project’s failure.
With so many TV and film projects vying for viewers attention, Disney/Marvel should redistribute the weight of the series’ success. Following the historic, record-breaking success of “Sinners” as well as the viral video produced by Kodak of Ryan Coogler explaining film formats, an excellent and strategic step in the right direction was the release of a promotional clip featuring Coogler discussing Ironheart which definitely helped to bring more awareness to the series. However, audiences will need additional incentives to tune in.
The Solution: Build A More Personable Campaign Around The Actress & The Character
Outside of the traditional press junkets and red carpet premieres, how else is Disney planning to reach prospective viewers?
Ironheart needs stronger branding outside of Iron Man shadow. What makes her unique? There are certain comic-book characters whose signature hair style makes them memorable. For example, X-Men’s Storm and her gray hair, Jean Gray’s ginger hair, Poison Ivy’s red hair or Wonder Woman’s long black hair adorned with a gold crown. During premiere week, Influencers, specifically women who make hair content as well as “Mommy & Me” content can promote the series in conjunction with a brand like SheaMoisture (they have new products with red packaging) via a campaign for straight back braids / cornrows with a heart design. These styles could be offered courtesy of Disney/Marvel in partnership with the Braidhouse salon as well as Black owned braiding hair companies such as ReBundle and Slayyy Hair. Thorne’s personal Hair Stylist, Marva Stokes can also host clips and conversations events where she shares how she went about creating Riri’s signature looks and how she styled Dominique’s hair around the armored suit.
While Ironheart isn’t a feature film, the marketing campaign could take a page from Wicked and Barbie’s brand partnerships playbook. Audiences being inundated with collabs from various categories including food and beverages, hair, makeup, home goods, etc. helped to contribute to both film’s massive success.
The release of the trailer could have also been the launch of a plethora of brand partnerships for Dominique Thorne, including an Ambassadorship with Fenty Beauty. Since many people affectionately refer to Rihanna as “RihRih”, she could have introduced a limited edition “RihRih ♡ Riri” Collection with a “Riri Red Gloss Bomb” and a “Hydra Ironheart Vizor SPF”.
Actress Dominique Thorne is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (DST). The sorority has over 350,000 members nationally and abroad. Thorne was initiated into the Mu Gamma Chapter at Cornell University in New York. Disney could partner with Thorne’s alma mater in conjunction with Eastern Region of Delta Sigma Theta for screenings and to amplify the series on social media.
A limited edition makeup collection could have also been produced in partnership with The Lip Bar as the brand’s Founder Melissa Butler is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. These collabs broaden the potential press placements beyond the trades and into more fashion and beauty publications.
The Issue: Ironheart’s Relation To Iron Man
Because of the similarities in their superhero names, naysayers want a clear throughline connecting Iron Man to Ironheart. Even though Riri Williams appeared in “Wakanda Forever” (to my knowledge), there wasn’t any reference to Tony Stark, their friendship, or him co-signing her as a superhero. Moreover, in the forthcoming Disney+ series, her villain is The Hood / Parker Robbins (actor Anthony Ramos), whose character didn’t exist until 2002 and isn’t affiliated with Ironheart in the comics. With Marvel being so meticulous about releasing series and films in phases, it’s understandable how there can be some confusion regarding Ironheart’s place in the MCU.
The Solution: Bring Out The Avengers
To publicly condemn the racist comments as well as stand in solidarity with actress Dominique Thorne and to reiterate their enthusiasm for the series, Disney/Marvel could produce an exclusive featurette for YouTube and social media with different superheroes welcoming Ironheart into the MCU. This could also help fans to better understand the throughlines between Ironheart and other characters from the 2016 comic book, “Civil War II,” who were on the same team with Ironheart in the fight against Ms. Marvel, including Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk, and Deadpool (to name a few). This is important as the success of the Ironheart series and its renewal could also be a determining factor in Disney/Marvel moving forward with other spin-offs and/or cross-over episodes.
The social clips could show Thorne as Riri Williams in her dorm room or working in her lab when she receives a FaceTime call from Spider-Man (actor Tom Holland previously shared his support for Ironheart being adapted for the big screen). With “Avengers: Doomsday” currently in production, a plethora of actors from the MCU are already in costume, and they could easily put together a faux call where they’re checking in on Riri/ Ironheart. (For continuity, since Iron Man died in Avengers End Game, the proposed social clip *could* send Marvel fans into a frenzy by showing a missed call from Tony Stark. Or the most simple act of support would be Robert Downey Jr. with his 57 million followers on Instagram reposting the “Ironheart” trailer with the caption “Congratulations @DominiqueThorne”
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