Ironheart Episodes 1 - 3 Review

0:00 Just like Iron Heart's hands. New York is full of heat, girl. It's hot. It is hot. Does iron, does the suit have air conditioning? Yeah. I would think so. That's like base. That's base model. That's number one, yeah. Yeah, I couldn't be. That was a stretch of a connection there. But I'm glad you got. That I really just wanted to talk about how hot it is and how I'm losing my mind. Welcome to A Bite of Everyone. Jesus. I'm Derek. That's Noah. Today we are talking about episodes one through 3 of Ironheart. Yes, the latest, the greatest question mark MCU new thing that came out.

0:47 This has been a long time. It's already been. It was it was sitting on the shelf waiting to release. It's, yeah, we saw footage, what, 3:00-ish years ago been it's been a minute for Ironheart to get out into the wild. I always feel like with these Marvel properties that it's like announced and we're waiting and waiting, waiting. And then one day it's just here. Yeah, yeah. Some of these properties that have come out recently have had struggles and, you know, pandemics and strikes and everything that have halted its production. I was very hyped for this. So I'm glad it's finally here. I'm very hyped to talk about it. If you want to share your thoughts, make sure you're following us on all the socials. You know, you can e-mail us ABO nibbles@gmail.com.

1:30 You can comment below depending on if you're watching us at on YouTube or on Spotify, all those great things. So just do the normal things if you like what you see. But yeah, spoilers ahead for Ironheart. I think we jump right in. Half the series, baby. Oh God. Let's do the intro and I have some things to talk. About OK OK OK, so let us officially take a bite of Iron Heart episodes one through 3 created by Chinaka Hodge. RiRi Williams is fresh from her international internship and is back at MIT to fund her work. She begins completing assignments for other students, ultimately leading to her expelment. Returning to Chicago, she must face her past and figure out where her morality lies as she joins a team of criminals in order to continue upgrading her suit.

2:17 Oh, Rhode Island. Rhode Island. What a journey. Yeah, general thoughts. What did you? What'd you think? Let me start off by saying this, OK? The soundtrack is bomb.com. Holy smokes. Like 90s hits, current hits, 2000s hits. Every time the music comes on, I'm like, they even had Alanis Morissette. Yeah, of course they did. That's great. Yeah, very good. Great. Those are my thoughts. Soundtrack. A plus. A+ Absolutely. I mean, I think overall this truly felt like an intro to this series. All three of these episodes really felt like they were leading to our mid season climax.

2:58 And so it really, if you dig deeper into that, what I'm trying to say is that I thought it was a little bit of a slow build up. I'm glad we're it finally ended up, but I thought we've really had a slog through a lot of stuff to set up her story. I don't know, what did you think? I think that as the episodes went on, like I liked episode 2 more than one and three more than two and one. I don't necessarily think it was a slog because I did feel that way, but I didn't feel that way. Like I do feel like that's such like a negative word for me personally to use because I'm liking it. I don't love it and I really want to love it. So I'm curious if the second-half is going to really make me is really going to grab me.

3:39 But I like I think it's a good entered of true introduction to RiRi. If I have to say something that like I want more of just from these first 3 episodes is the crew that she's with with Hood and all of them. I just wish I like I felt like they were real people when they're not on the screen. I, I'm not getting much from them and I want to like be all in with them and I'm like, oh, like they're kind of there on screen. But then when they're gone, I don't think that they're like actively moving and like living lives, if that makes sense. No, that really does make sense. And one of the things that I struggled with was some of the characters. No, no, no, no. Not characterizations, but some of the way the characters were written, I felt like there was depth missing, you know, and there's a large group of people that were writing for here. I mean, I believe RiRi has depth when we learn her back story. I really like her mom, her best friend. I love Natalie as well.

4:33 But you're right, when it came to those other characters, they kind of just felt like rough drafts of characters. People who, you know, I think we talk a lot about showing versus telling. They're telling us a whole lot. Well, I feel like they're not. I don't think they're really showing us or telling us personally with this. It's only because I don't know anything about Slug or the Blood twins or who Clown. I don't know anything about them. And I don't know if that's by design, but it's not the worst thing because everything else that I'm seeing, all the stuff with Rhode Island, Rhode Island, all the stuff with stain, we know is now a stain and all of that. Ezekiel and her mother and Natalie, I'm loving all of that. So it's almost like, would we have lost some of that if we focus more on these people that who knows, Ultimately, once the Robin Hood stuff is done, is it going to matter? Yeah, so maybe I should retract my statement or rewrite it. It seems like every episode they're telling us the same thing about them, right?

5:35 It's like I'm clown. I love fire. Guess what? I love fire. It's so that to me seems very base level, telling us over and over the same details about those characters. And maybe it's because they really didn't give them more than that. I I hope the next three episodes will get more, but I don't know where that's going to take us just because of the cliffhanger of the third episode. So I'm not sure, like, is there room to really flesh some of this stuff? Out and I think I think part of my problem with that is that I want to know more about them because when we look at this really awesome diverse in so many ways group it's like I want to live with them I want to know who they are you know seeing Shay Coulay here you know playing slug what's slug's back story We hear something about when they get paid they want to go back home and create a Michelin star lounge all right so do they like food do they want to be a chef How did they get here you know so those are the things that I think I'm missing from there.

6:32 Yeah, I agree. As far as RiRi goes, anytime Dominique Thorne's on screen dynamic, amazing, stealing all the scenes when Natalie comes into the picture, it's fantastic. I want a little more of Xavier. Just, you know, there is some like, Oh well, they won't they they really like each other. Do they like each other? I'm getting the same vibes as in the comics a little bit. I wanted more of him in the comics. And it's funny that it's still happening now. And so I'm just curious if Xavier's always just going to be relegated to just popping up occasionally. But I'm liking some of the changes that they're doing with her story for the MCUI. Think it makes sense. Her AI in the comics is Tony Stark, like that's who her AI is. So I like that they changed it to Natalie, who is a big part of her story.

7:19 Also, I don't think they're going to Robert Downey Junior to be Iron Man and Doctor Doom. That just blow the budget out of the water, I think. But I'm really liking the changes of that. It feels fresh and it feels nice to be with, I don't know, not like giant steaks, but I'm getting like Miss Marvel vibes in a way of like I'm liking like the town that I'm in. I'm liking being with this like community of people. I'm hoping that carries through to the second part. Yeah, I think I agree with. I really, really like Natalie. I loved that kind of flashback of them sitting on the steps, you know, just being teenagers at that point in time. And then of course, everything goes topsy turvy when Riri's stepdad and Natalie are murdered. And when I realized that Natalie wasn't going to be there anymore, I was actually really disappointed because I thought that her chemistry and Natalie and Riri's chemistry was really wonderful.

8:11 So having her back, you know, kind of in this AI all knowing sort of, you know, still human emotion versus fully computer rice personality is really nice because I think that they play off of each other really well. I'm almost curious to see how far this goes and if we are going to continue to get Natalie after the series is done because it is odd that she feels like Natalie and she's acting like Natalie as if Natalie was actually there. And I don't know if the way that RiRi is acting is because they're not supposed to act that way or because it is the face of her friend that is no longer there. So I'm I'm curious to see how far this will go. Like is that is there that kind of the pseudo mystical part to it of like the technology took on a mind of its own? I know it's AI, but it does seem like a different layer of like, how does she know all of these memories? Granted, she got them from brewery, but there's that level of how spiritual are we going with this? I'm curious so.

9:14 Are we, are we wondering that in the sixth episode there's going to be a tearful goodbye to Natalie where the AI disintegrates into the ether? I hate that I don't want that to happen only because I'm so attached to Natalie and RiRi now, and I like the idea of the suit being a character on its own and not just like a thing that RiRi uses, right? So I'm liking this dynamic, right? I do feel like that distinguishes a little different from Tony Stark, who, I mean, this is a legacy character, right? Although we're getting magic in here somehow. I don't know how that's going to weave into the suit. We've seen it in the trailers that magic gets into the suit somehow, or it's used in some sort of way. So I do feel like they're trying to like, yeah, she's, you know, going in Stark's footsteps, but in her own way, she's taking her own path.

10:04 And that's one of the things I liked about this show is that it's showing like, you know, Tony Stark and all the other heroes, it's like billionaires and they they were able to just make the thing and be the hero. So I'm liking that re re story is like, what if you don't have that? Then how do you do this? Because you're capable and you can build those things, but when you don't have Wakanda's resources or Tony Stark's funding, how do you do that? So now we have the story of like, how bad is bad and when is that good and how far can you actually go? Right. I think, you know, one of my favorite things about this series is having the lead be a black woman in STEM, right? And she, no one is ever questioning Riri's intelligence, which is also something that I love. She's a genius.

10:47 They know she's a genius. And even, you know, one of the things that I really love about this world is when you're looking around at the details of the world, right? This set that they have, and when you're in Riri's bedroom, you know, yeah, there's a really cool desk with painted stripes on it, but there's also like a, a wall of like, tools and circuits. And, and it, it seems that RiRi has always been supported in this. And, you know, when we look at Riri's stepfather, who was an engineer, right? And then we look at Riri's mother, who is an artist. The two of them have come together to create the RiRi that we know and love, you know, And you can see both sides in there. And I think, you know, this question of what is Riri's journey here?

11:28 You know, she comes back home and it's almost like she had. She's being forced to face the thing she's been trying to forget, you know, burying herself in her work, not thinking about the loss of her family. And he or she is back again with no other choice to do so. But what does she continue doing? She keeps burying herself in her work, but is kind of going over to the dark side while doing it. You know, she's kind of blind to that because her end goal is to keep working. And So what is she willing to do to do that? Yeah, I, I liked, yeah. I just want to talk for like a second before we get into that about the three episodes, because I have a point on why I want to bring that up. I think the three episodes is bullshit. I don't like when they're like dumping the entire series in two weeks. I think that that doesn't really foster conversation for these things.

12:14 Echo was probably the worst example of this, dropping all six episodes. Anyway, I think these three episodes, they do work. It just does make me sad that next week it's going to be done. And then how long are we going to have to wait? Not like we deserve to see her immediately, but when are we going to see her again? And I think that's one of the issues with the shows and what Marvel was doing is that they they have all the stuff that's coming out and it's like, OK, so now what? Like, when are we going to see Moon Knight again? That was years ago, right? So I think not having us be able to like sit with these characters and talk about it weekly kind of diminishes some of the magic that this the show has. I think, you know, upon reflection, I think it is very disappointing that two female leads, BIPOC leads had their shows completely just dumped out at once. It seems like they're not willing to give it the full time.

13:09 It's like they make it, but then they are already telling us they have no faith in it or they don't believe in it. And you know, you brought up Moon Knight, who is also person of color, and you bring up like a character like Chung Chi who got an amazing movie and has been where. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I think that like part of that is just they did too much and they know that. That's why they're like scaling back and they're like, OK, let's do like 1 here, 2 here, whatever. But I do think that hopefully they realized it and now we're starting to see like slowed down Marvel, which I'm excited for, but it does make it disappointing and confusing when their release schedules are like never the same.

13:49 And I don't know if that's like a conversation for just the greater streaming platforms that are out there. Netflix kind of ruined it for everybody in that aspect. But I do miss the weekly stuff, right? I think like even when we're covering these shows weekly, it's fun to be in those mysteries and questioning things or theorizing. And so they kind of took that away. But I will say that with these three episodes, where it left off was nice because it was nice to go from one to the other. And I know this is kind of sounding contradictory, but with these episodes leaving where it did with a like a mystical note as opposed to all this technology that we've been was kind of cool. Just thinking like, OK, we're not going to dump the whole thing. Where can we separate it and a clean clean down the middle? Now, what do you think of Riri's journey that she's on? It's kind of journey of morality. I think it's fine.

14:40 I think it could go bad and it could go good. Where it left off. They really raised the stakes. I think when we're on this journey with this, this group of people that we don't really know too well, but we're here for RiRi and questioning how far she'll go. But we didn't really see anything that was going to. I don't know make things terrible, right, But now she we have Ezekiel Stein, who is probably going to get found out because she left her technology and also the hood's, you know, relative is like gone that and she's a direct result of it and he knows about that. So I think the stakes are really raised for that, and it does make me feel bad.

15:26 But I like this part of her journey because we're seeing that, like, you know, you tear the hero down before they rise to the occasion. But I do always find it really interesting when a hero has somebody's life, you know, kind of let on their hands. Yeah, yeah. I didn't want to use that word, but like, I guess, yeah, that's the the right word. So where she goes from here is going to be interesting. Yeah, you know, in in that third episode when she is at Ezekiel's house and he says to her, promise me you won't let anything happen to my tech. And she says, I promise in that moment, I'm going, that is a check you cannot cash. You know, we as the audience go, oh, no, Rhode Island, Rhode Island.

16:07 You keep, you keep making these promises. You keep making these agreements for things that you really don't know. I think she she wants to. And if she would just for two seconds, like, I don't know, ask for help or like she could have asked for Natalie's help a little more. Even Xavier, He he there's a conversation that they have and he's like, tell me we're we come from the same streets. And she's like, no. So it's almost like she needs to. That's part of that hero journey, right, Of not being able to just do it for yourself, but ask for help when you need it. Yeah, I think she needs to. I think the scary part, though, is that, you know, she's dealing with, like, tried and true criminals here that also have, you know, demons whispering in their ears that all these people that she's surrounded by, that we love can get hurt by them, you know, and be used as tools to hurt her.

16:58 And so that scares me a little bit. One of the things just in regards to this magic and mystical thing, I don't know if this is an Easter egg. I don't know if this is them playing with us again. But I think it was in the second episode or. Yeah, It's right before she has to go to the show with Xavier, and she's talking to Natalie, and they're talking about, like, who she's mixed up with. There are posters on the wall behind her, and the posters say Faust on them, which, you know, I'm a little bit of digging. Faust is related to Mephisto in the comics. So are they finally going to do it? I know. I mean, yeah, from one division to now, from your lips to Dormamo's ears. I yes, I mean, they could, right? We we have a character that has an object that could literally be imbued or connected to power to anybody in the comics. There's been some other things.

17:56 It could easily be connected to Mephisto. I'm at this point. Sure, why not? I don't know what the point then would be. You know what I mean? Like, OK, Mephisto what? So that's if it is Mephisto, I'm really interested to see, but then really curious to see how that impacts the MCU as a whole. Because Mephisto is not something that you just introduce and you just leave and you never mention again. Because we're I mean, we're talking about Mephisto here. We're talking about like the an entity, a God like character. So it's going to be fun. If it's in this show, I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. I'm very excited for this. Like techno magic, mystical thing being intertwined here.

18:42 I'm just hoping that we don't get it like towards the end, like just because I want more and like I'm really interested with that. So I want to see it. Yeah, I mean, I'm wondering. To me it seems like, right, Rhode Island. Rhode Island now has a piece of the hood, so maybe she can imbue the suit with that piece of the hood in some way while she's experimenting. But how many episodes will it take her to do that when she can finally actually use it against Hood? Yeah, I there's something that's. Yeah, I mean, I maybe that's how she imbues her suit with magic in some way. She's summons something. I don't know. Who knows? I feel like she's going to mess with things more that she shouldn't be messing with because the Hood is doing that and Parker should not be messing with the the forces that he's messing with. One thing that I really like, and I know, I know I had already talked about parallels, but something that happens in the third episode and we kind of see in the second one and we see a little through all of them is her, her mental health. And I like again, they're, they're connecting it to Iron Man, but not in an overt way.

19:44 Because after The Avengers, Tony Stark dealt with panic attacks, he dealt with his mental health because he realized he's just a man in a suit. So there's a lot of cool parallels there that she's again, on the same journey as that, but also the Hood and Rhode Island, Rhode Island are kind of similar in that he has something that makes him greater than who he is. She has a conversation, I think with Natalie maybe, and she's like, he's just a guy. Like once you take that away, he's just a guy. And it's like, well, that's also Rhode Island, Rhode Island. Obviously Rhode Island, Rhode Island can handle herself from hand to hand and she's super smart, but that's also the same thing with her. So I'm liking the storytelling in that way. I just hope that. You know, it pays off it it continues to to do it well.

20:28 Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I do hope that in these coming episodes, I'm curious about how Parker comes to have the hood right, 'cause when we meet him, he just, or he already has it right. And we're, we're getting small clues along the way, right, of something happens to his body. It's like transformed. Every time he uses the power of the hood, it doesn't seem to be a good thing. He has to cover it with tattoos. He keeps it away from everyone else. And now we know that it whispers to him and he shows him premonition. Well, not premonitions. It could show him things. So I want to know the story of how Parker came to be with the hood. Yeah, I like the visual of, you know, re re suit being opened and seeing all the wires and everything and then it goes to the hood and you kind of see the same thing, but organic, mystical versus technology.

21:18 So I I like, I'm liking those parallels. I said it 10 million times already at this point. So I guess you know, kind of wrapping up like final thoughts, right? Is there like what did you is there any stand up moments from these three episodes? And then what are you hoping for or looking forward to in the second-half of the show? I, I think a standout moment for me is was the whole greenhouse scene. I, I also liked kind of Natalie and RiRi working in tandem in that sense, right? Of like they can kind of do a cloak and dagger kind of thing of being in one place and being in another place, but nobody really realizing it.

21:59 I thought that was really cool and really smart. So I hope that they work together more because it's showing us that the more they work together, the better off they are. Not just Rhode Island, Rhode Island on her own and going forward, you know, I'm, I'm looking forward to the arc of Rhode Island, Rhode Island kind of dealing with her past and realizing that she can be powerful, but do things the right way and count on those around her. Yeah, she just unfortunately, like most of us have to do it, not how the system wants us to, because everything's expensive and these systems suck. They sure do. Just. Putting that out there, That's right. Yeah. I think. Oh, yeah. I think the third episode was really great, particularly. I know it's like the terrible moment for her, but when she's realizing both things that she did and Natalie Zucker, are you good?

22:46 And she's like, no, no, I'm not. I think it's a really powerful moment. And I'm. I like those because it's not just the invincible superhero that never has emotions or anything like that. We're getting some layers here. I'm very much looking forward to where this puts RiRi, right? I know we we've seen that the Young Avengers are being made in some way. So at the end of this, are we going to see one of them, Kate Bishop or Kamala Khan, show up to RiRi and be like, hey, you want to come with us? Which would be very exciting, but again, when are we going to see something like that? Because we have huge Avengers movies coming. But yeah, I'm, I'm very excited. I think it's a good start.

23:27 I'm liking it. I'm liking it. I'm hoping by the end of this I love it. Yeah, I'm with you on that. I think it was a slow start, but it got to a good place. And I'm, you know, I'm hoping that the rest of the series delivers it. Also looks fantastic for ATV show. I know we've had like some spotty CGI, even some choreography with some things. This. I've had no issues with anything. It all looks fantastic. The suit looks phenomenal. There has not been a scene where I question that looked weird or that took me out of it. Not a single one. Yeah, I'm with you on that. I think the Fight Courier has been really, really strong, so hopefully more of that going forward. Yeah, and hopefully Shea Coulee is in it more. No, it would just be nice.

24:08 I mean, who doesn't love Shea Coulee? Yeah, I do love Shea Coulee and the nails have been on point so. OK, so next week we'll do the second part to Ironheart. We'll have the full series so far and then the final thoughts then. But let us know what you thought down below or whatever at us, whatever you want to do. Second part to Ironheart. Yeah, that was great. Day. Cool. It's very hot here. Melting. Yeah, very much melting already. OK, goodbye. Bye.