After Watching Ironheart, I Have To Talk About How The Show Handles Grief And Mental Health

Spoilers for Marvel’s Ironheart lie ahead, so you’ve been warned.

Ironheart’s six-episode run has come to an end amid the 2025 TV schedule, and Riri Williams and those in her orbit will surely never be the same. The show (which is now available to stream in its entirety with a Disney+ subscription) offers up fun characters and comic book-like thrills. However, that’s not all that executive producer Chanika Hodge and her team convey through this miniseries. There are also themes that relate to grief and mental health, and, after watching the show for myself, I’d like to discuss that a bit.

Ironheart Features Scenes That Beautifully Capture Struggles With Grief

At the onset of this Marvel Cinematic Universe show, protagonist Riri Williams is still reeling from the death of her stepfather, Gary, and best friend, Natalie. Five years before the events of the series, Nat and Gary are killed in a drive-by at the latter’s garage, with Riri in the vicinity as well. In the present, Williams has a hard time dealing with the event and refuses to discuss it with her mother, Ronnie. Despite that, Riri’s feelings manifest in a few ways, and it’s her grief that even causes her to brain-map a digital recreation of Natalie as her A.I.

One of the first scenes of the show that truly illustrates Riri’s grief occurs in the first episode. In it, the young hero is working when she begins to listen to a mixtape put together by Natalie’s brother, Xavier. Riri initially enjoys the tunes, but once she hears Nat’s voice interspliced with the music, she becomes overwhelmed and begins to cry, much to her mother’s concern. It’s a heartbreaking scene, but one that keenly conveys how even little elements can trigger repressed feelings of loss.

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Ironheart’s penultimate episode sees Riri unpacking her grief while facing her past, both figuratively and literally. During that installment, she, Ronnie and the A.I. version of Nat visit Gary’s since-closed garage to regroup after Parker Robbins’ team tries to kill Riri. It’s there that Riri openly expresses her discomfort with being there, saying that it’s taken so much from her. Natalie helps her process her feelings, however, by showing her a recorded childhood memory involving Gary.

Marvel’s latest TV offering doesn’t shy away from the angst associated with grief and how it can impact someone’s life. Additionally, it also provides moments of catharsis when it comes to grieving, which may be visceral for viewers who can relate. The same may also be true in regard to the show’s handling of mental health.

Mental Health Also Ties Into Riri Williams' Journey On Ironheart

Riri’s mental health is prominently highlighted throughout different portions of the show. At the end of the third episode, she has a full-on meltdown after joining Parker Robbins and his gang in launching an assault on the Heirlum corporation. Williams’ anxiety specifically stems from the fact that she had to let fellow crew member John die to save herself (and conceal the piece of Parker’s cloak she stole). Later in the season, Riri has another anxiety attack while in her suit due to being overcome with the notion that Parker will kill her and her loved ones due to her betrayal. She panics so much that she has to find a place to land.

This isn’t the first MCU show to approach mental health in some form or fashion. The latest movie in the franchise, Thunderbolts*, serves as a meditation on depression, for example, and the recent Spider-Man movies take a cerebral approach to the topic as well. Most notably, Iron Man 3 showed Tony Stark battling panic attacks due to post-traumatic stress in the aftermath of the Battle of New York. Mental health isn’t a novelty in the MCU, and Ironheart’s writers do a superb job of showing how visceral Riri’s anxiety is.

I always appreciate when the creatives behind the MCU insert deeper themes in their productions. While Riri Williams’ solo series isn’t perfect in my eyes, I have to give the show credit for covering grief and mental health head-on. Wherever Riri Williams shows up next in this expansive fictional universe, I hope these concepts are expanded upon. In the meantime, stream Ironheart now on Disney+ and keep an eye on information about upcoming Marvel shows.