Ironheart Boss Talks About [Spoiler] Finally Joining the MCU, and Where/If Finale Cliffhanger Will Get Resolved

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The following contains spoilers from the season finale (Episode 6) of Marvel Television’s Ironheart, now streaming on Disney+.

The Devil came down to Chicago as Marvel Television’s Ironheart closed out its Season 1 run on Disney+.

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Mephisto Ironheart Sacha Baron Cohen

The back half of Ironheart Season 1 in large part explored the source of local criminal Parker Robbins’ (Anthony Ramos) mysterious powers. After Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) surreptitiously snipped a bit of The Hood’s eponymous cloak during Episode 3’s Heirlum break-in, she and her mother Ronnie (Anji White) delivered it to Madeline Stanton (Cree Summer), the proprietor of a local, low-key magic shop. Madeline’s daughter Zelma (Reegan Aliyah) came to surmise that Dormammu, an inter-dimensional demonic entity, perhaps gifted Parker with his powers.

Ironheart Mephisto Finale

But at episode’s end — after a suited-up Riri had clashed with a super-bionic Zeke Stane (Alden Ehrenreich), and then outwitted The Hood himself — Riri came face to face with a bearded individual, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Viewers knew him to be the same individual that Parker had met years prior, as seen in flashbacks.

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Riri assumed that this enigmatic man seated at the pizzeria was the aforementioned Dormammu, but he was quick to correct her. His name — or, one of the many he goes by — is actually Mephisto, as in the extra-dimensional demon who lords over Marvel’s version of Hell.

As in… the same Mephisto whose introduction to the MCU has been teased for some four-and-a-half years, ever since Disney+’s inaugural Marvel series, WandaVision, baited fans with devilish teases.

WHAT HELL HATH IRONHEART UNLEASHED?

Given that a live-action Marvel series — the 11th one to follow WandaVision — finally put a face/actor to Mephisto, TVLine had to ask Ironheart head writer Chinaka Hodge if she appreciated the magnitude of delivering that moment.

“I thought I got it. I didn’t, really,” she admitted with a smile.

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“I thought I understood the magnitude of it,” the exec producer continued. But, “It wasn’t until these last few days where I really understood what it actually means as a run-on effect in the MCU — partly because we all work on our particular portion of the [MCU] pie, and partly because I could never imagine that little ol’ me would get to inherit such a big gift.”

Then, on top of it all, to have a Golden Globe and BAFTA winner in the devilish role…? “[Getting] to work with Sacha was incredible,” she declared. “Incredible.”

BUT… WHEN/WHERE MIGHT THAT CLIFFHANGER EVER BE RESOLVED?

As magically delicious as it is to finally have Mephisto skulking among us in the MCU, the big question is: Will he appear beyond Ironheart‘s Season 1 finale, which appeared to end with Riri making a deal with this devil to bring back her dead best friend/stepsister Natalie (Lyric Ross)?

After all, Ironheart is not yet renewed, and the series’ long-delayed and quiet-ish launch was interpreted by some as a lack of confidence by Disney/Marvel.

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TVLine asked head writer Hodge where the cliffhanger involving Riri’s deal with Mephisto might be resolved — if it ever is.

“I can’t wait ’til audiences tune in and watch these six episodes, and then we get to see what happens next in the life of the MCU,” she hedged.

Meaning, “Audiences will help make that decision, of what happens next” — if anything, she added. “So, tune in and show Disney and the MCU that we have a strong fan base for Ironheart.”

Want scoop on Ironheart, or for any other MCU TV show? Shoot an email to [email protected], and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!

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