Chinaka Hodge has been tapped to bring Riri Williams’ story to Disney+. The poet, educator, and “Snowpiercer” scribe will be the head writer on “Ironheart,” a six-part series based on the Marvel comics. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hodge landed the gig after pitching her concept for the show to Marvel.
Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, was introduced in 2016’s “Invincible Iron Man” comics. The 15-year-old genius engineering student built her own version of the Iron Man suit in her MIT dorm and took over for Tony Stark as Iron Man for a stint. Ironheart began anchoring her own comic series in 2018.
Dominique Thorne (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) will star as Riri in the Disney+ project.
The “Ironheart” writers’ room is set to start working next month and is expected to include “a strong contingent of writers of color,” per the source.
So far, it seems Disney+’s Marvel shows have made a conscious effort to be inclusive behind the scenes. “WandaVision” was created and run by Jac Schaeffer, and the upcoming “Loki” series is directed by Kate Herron. The recently concluded “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” was directed by Kari Skogland and, according to showrunner Malcolm Spellman, featured a 90 percent-Black writers’ room.
Hodge has written for the series “Snowpiercer” and “Amazing Stories.” Her other works include books “Dated Emcees” and “For Girls With Hips: Collected Poems and Writings” and plays “Chasing Mehserle” and “Mirrors in Every Corner.” She worked with Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”) and Destin Daniel Cretton (“Short Term 12”) to develop “Minors,” a series about juvenile institutionalization.
Check out a TED Talk by Hodge below.
