Ironheart‘s executive producer Ryan Coogler talks about that Mephisto debut, but remains coy on what’s next for Riri Williams/Ironheart. Speaking with Variety about Ironheart were the likes of Coogler, lead star Dominique Thorne and writer Chinaka Hodge. They opened up about Mephisto (Sacha Baron Cohen) making his debut, finally, in the MCU.
“I learned in the midst of our shooting,” star Dominique Thorne tells Variety about learning of the surprise. “So, by the time they gave me the correct name in the script, it was like ‘Whoa, the Reddit guy! The guy from all the rumors. He’s in this show? OK, y’all are serious!’”
“The true Marvel fans know that Marvel always has a plan,” Thorne adds. “So, to know that they’ve chosen to introduce him here with Riri Williams, with Parker Robbins, it’s strategic and it has a place in the larger storytelling and in the larger twists and turns that this phase will continue to unveil. And it is just a joy to get a seat on that ride.”
“I just absolutely love that we’re not meeting him in ‘WandaVision’ or ‘Agatha [All Along].’” Said executive producer Ryan Coogler. “You’re meeting him through this stressed-out, young Black genius. When you watch the show, it’s like, ‘Oh, that was how you always were gonna meet him.’ It wasn’t gonna be in ‘Loki.’ That’s the trickster; that’s how he works. That’s where he’s gonna be: in a pizza shop in Chicago, like, where you would absolutely never expect him.”
Why Mephisto?
Hodge describes the decision to introduce Mephisto as a “collaborative” one. “I could tell the story about process, and you would know how benevolent Kevin Feige is,” Hodge teases. “But I will say that it was a collaborative effort, where we all landed on Mephisto together, but there was one of us in the room who led us there, and I’m eternally grateful for him leading us that direction.”
But including Mephisto in the plot wasn’t the “initial idea,” notes Marvel’s Zoie Nagelhout, an executive producer on the show. “If you look to publishing, Parker’s power is drawn back to Dormammu, who is also a very epic character in the MCU and who would have been very exciting to play with,” Nagelhout explains. “But as we developed it, we realized Mephisto was a better thematic fit for what the show is about.”
“Diving into these scenes of ambition and cost and what you’re willing to give up for the things you want, he offered a sort of interesting and heightened way to tie together the characters’ journeys — and in particular, Riri’s — so it became almost like a no-brainer to have him.”
RELATED: Ironheart Review – Decent But Not Great – With Future Potential
There’s a lot more in the source link above, including why Sacha Baron Cohen was chosen for Mephisto. Check it out.
As for what happens next and where for Riri and Mephisto?
“I don’t know jack shit,” Coogler replies, laughing, when asked where she’ll pop up next. (“I just did an all-nighter writing ‘X-Files,’” he quips.) “I’m here for whatever Chinaka’s got coming at us next; whatever Kevin’s got coming at us next, you know what I’m saying. I think the audience is going to take to that ending and I can’t wait to see those characters again.”
What do you think of their comments as Ironheart‘s executive producer Ryan Coogler and rest talk Mephisto? What is next for Riri Williams and Mephisto, or what would you like to see next? Thoughts below.
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