brendan halpin

Disney doesn’t seem to understand the whole “absence makes the heart grow fonder” thing, so they’ve been shoveling Marvel and Star Wars content at us more or less nonstop for years, to the point where I have no interest in either anymore.

But then I read a thing about how terrible people are mad about Ironheart, so I decided to give it a try. Watching TV: it’s basically activism!

It’s a good show. It starts a little slow, but once it all starts coming together (and, of course, falling apart) in episode 3, it’s really good—a show with action and superhero stuff, but also a show about trauma and grief and making terrible decisions as a result. It’s got depth and heart, and when Riri accidentally makes an AI to control her suit that happens to have the face, voice, and mannerisms of her dead best friend, the show is really getting into interesting territory about grief that I haven’t seen in this genre before. (Yes, I’m counting both Spider-Man and Batman here because those deaths are motivators for them, but we almost never really get to see them actually missing their dead parental figures as people.)

Now look—if you’re not into superhero stuff, this probably isn’t the thing that’s going to win you over. But if you have any fondness for the genre at all, even if said fondness has been ground down to a nub by the Disney machine, it’s definitely worth checking this out.

So why do people hate it? Well, the main character is a Black woman, which probably tells you all you need to know. But I made the mistake of looking at some of the reviews on IMDB when I was checking to see where I knew Zoe Terakes from (they were in Nine Perfect Strangers), and I’d like to address some of the concerns I saw addressed there.

“*clutches pearls* she’s a criminal!” This criticism holds a lot of weight because I remember you saying the same thing when Ant Man came out. JK! You didn’t! Didn’t bug you when Paul Rudd was a criminal, now did it? I think what’s really bothering people here is that Riri joining a heist crew (this happens early in episode 1, so it’s not really a spoiler) is actually kind of relatable. She has big ideas but she can’t get big financial backing to make them a reality. She could work in Starbucks until she dies and never make enough to make an Iron Man suit. She explicitly says that it was easier for Tony Stark because he was also a genius, but was also already a billionaire before he became Iron Man. In short, the show acknowledges that rich people have it easier than non-rich people and makes it understandable that one would turn to nonlegal means to get money under these circumstances.

Oh, and also? The people the crew is hitting are terrible tech bros who are called out for being terrible by the show. The first target is a pretty thinly veiled Elon Musk (albeit female). So, again, this show is taking superhero conventions and going right at the problems of society. Which of course comics have always done and terrible white fanboys always pretend is something new.

“Riri is arrogant and not likeable.” Yeah, why didn’t they make her as humble and likeable as Tony Stark? Seriously, though, did you see any movie with Tony Stark in it? He’s a dick! And unlike Riri, Tony didn’t even witness his best friend being murdered at age 15! Riri is a genius carrying a ton of trauma around, and she’s prickly and guarded and all of this makes sense in the context of the show and makes her an interesting character. This is a dumb criticism that is properly understood as “I don’t like that the main character is a black woman.”

“This is the worst Marvel show ever.” Have you forgotten Iron Fist so soon?

And look, I get it. With so many Marvel superheroes of color these days, who do the white incels have to look up to anymore? Besides, you know, Wolverine. Deadpool. Cyclops. Professor X. Colossus. Gambit. Reed Richards. Ant Man. Daredevil. The Human Torch. The Thing. The Hulk. The Winter Soldier. Adam Warlock. Angel. Banshee. Dr. Strange. Iron Fist. Darkhawk. The Warriors Three…there are more I’m sure, but I didn’t feel like researching. Not to mention all the back issues and older movies where Thor and Captain America and Iron Man and Spider-Man are all white guys.

I think it’s cool that Marvel has worked hard to diversify its universe. And as a white guy, I found Riri very relatable. (I too have some grief-related trauma! I too was mad at the world and kind of a dick!) It’s certainly possible to watch this show and have legitimate reasons for not liking it. I just haven’t seen any.