Marvel’s “Ironheart” series is starting to round out its cast. “This Is Us” star Lyric Ross has boarded the Disney+ project, TheWrap has confirmed.
Ross, who plays Deja, the adopted daughter of Randall and Beth Pearson on “This Is Us,” will play Riri Williams’s (Dominique Thorne) best friend. In the “Ironheart” comics, Riri’s best friend is a girl named Natalie Washington, who was killed after getting caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. It is unknown whether Ross will be playing Natalie or an original character.
Williams herself is known better as Ironheart. In the comics, Williams is a Black teen prodigy attending MIT who builds her own suit by reverse-engineering Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit design. She’s mentored by Pepper Potts — similar to how Tony took Peter Parker under his wing in the MCU — providing her with resources and a suit AI.
Anthony Ramos will star alongside Ross and Thorne, though his role is being kept tightly under wraps. Helming the live-action series will be Chinaka Hodge, who will serve as the head writer.
It remains unclear when “Ironheart” will debut on Disney+, but Riri Williams will definitely be on our screens this year, as she’s set to make her debut in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“Ironheart” is one of several upcoming Marvel Studios series: “Moon Knight,” the studio’s sixth series for Disney+, will premiere on March 30, and will be followed by “She-Hulk.”