Black Panther: Wakanda Forever featured the official MCU debut of Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams, a young genius inventor who creates a suit of armor that rivals Tony Stark. With her recent introduction and getting an upcoming solo project, it looks like they are setting her up as the next "iron" hero in the MCU.
However, as it turns out, her debut in Wakanda Forever would have paralleled Tony Stark's journey into Iron Man in his first film as revealed by Thorne during a recent interview with The Direct. However, that storyline ended up getting deleted in the final cut.
"A lot of those moments in the cave were definitely strong, relationship-building moments for Shuri and I. That was definitely the first time that…," she said.
"We obviously know and associate both these characters with an incredible amount of brilliance, but this was, in that cave, sort of the first time that they’re both realizing, ‘Oh, you speak my language. Okay, I don’t have to alter myself. I don’t have to tone it down. We can just get straight to the meat of the problem.’"
Just like when Tony Stark was building armor in the cave with Ho Yinsen in Iron Man, a subplot in the recent film would have also featured Riri and Shiri building a technological supply to help Namor which will parallel the first MCU film.
The actress continued, "In this case, it’s the fact that they’ve been kidnapped and that Shuri has gained the favor of Namor at the time.
"So, there were moments where, actually, how Shuri goes out into Talokan, and she’s getting to see the city where Riri joins them as well, and they discover as they’re taking this view, Riri notices the thing that’s powering them, the Sastun that they mentioned, could be used to help them escape…"
Thorne also emphasized how both characters would use their "shared brilliance" in front of Namor to help the city and get them closer to freedom at the same time.
She also revealed that the final product would end up using the audio from the cut scenes in the Talokan and placed them around the final cut of the film where the characters are discussing how they will defeat Namor.
It is interesting to learn that Riri's journey in her MCU debut would have paralleled Tony Stark and that could have been a compelling way to introduce her since she is being set up as the "next Iron Man."
While it is unfortunate that they cut that part in the film, we will still be able to spend more time with her in the Ironheart series and perhaps we could see more parallel with Tony Stark's earlier journey on her solo journey.
Also Read: Angela Bassett Makes MCU History with Oscar Nomination for Black Panther 2
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to arrive on Disney+ on February 1.
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!