Writing on Ironheart is set to begin and the series will be six episodes long. Introduced in 2016, Riri Williams is a genius inventor who built her own Iron Man-type suit and took up the mantle of Ironheart shortly after Tony Stark died in the comics. She has become a popular fan-favorite since her introduction and with Tony Stark dead in the MCU, Marvel Studios realizes this is the perfect time to introduce the character to a wider audience.
Development on Ironheart has been making steady progress behind the scenes. The series was announced as part of Disney's Investor Call back in December 2020, and it was confirmed that Judas and the Black Messiah star, Dominique Thorne, was cast as the title character. Just recently, Chinaka Hodge was hired as the head writer on the series, which now seems to be setting up development soon.
According to Aaron Couch from THR, Ironheart will be six episodes long. The writer's room will open in May to begin developing the series with Hodge as the head writer. There is currently no word on when production will start on the series or on an expected release date.
Ironheart being six episodes means the series will follow The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki's set up of six one-hour episodes, as opposed to the nine to ten-episode setups of WandaVision, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk, which are confirmed to be half-hour programs. The series' writing room assembling in May gives them plenty of time as Marvel Studios has no shortage of programs to develop. Hawkeye just recently wrapped filming, while Ms. Marvel is almost done with production. She-Hulk has just begun filming and Moon Knight should follow, which gives Disney+ plenty of Marvel series until the middle of 2022.
While the series just hired a head writer and the scripts have not been written, the seeds of Ironheart could already have been planted in the MCU. Like in the comics, Riri Williams is entering a Marvel Universe without a Tony Stark, and with the plot of Armor Wars confirming that Stark technology will find its way out to the public, there is a chance that series could be closely tied in with Ironheart. With various younger heroes joining the MCU, like Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop, and Cassie Lang, there is a chance Ironheart could be part of the Young Avengers. The fact that Marvel has already cast the character before a showrunner or scripts were written, indicates fans may see Williams pop up in another MCU property first before she dons the suit in Ironheart.
Source: Aaron Couch