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Credit: Marvel StudiosYet another review-bombing campaign is underway – this time, for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Ironheart.
The Disney+ series centers on Riri Williams, introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as a teenage engineering prodigy who builds her own Iron Man–style suit. Played by Dominique Thorne, Riri was positioned as a spiritual successor to Tony Stark, but her arrival in the franchise was met with mixed reactions from fans.
Set after her expulsion from MIT, Ironheart follows Riri as she returns to Chicago and tries to forge her own path outside the legacy of Iron Man. The series introduces Parker Robbins, a petty criminal who comes into possession of dark magical powers and becomes The Hood – setting up a confrontation between Riri’s tech and Robbins’ mysticism. While the show explores themes of identity, innovation, and responsibility, it has also become the latest target of online backlash.
The first three episodes of the series premiered on Disney+ on June 24 and has been met with relatively positive reviews from critics. While some noted that episode one wasn’t the strongest start to an MCU series, the decision to focus on street-level superhero business was met with praise, as was Thorne’s performance.
“Dominique Thorne ignites the MCU skies with charisma and confidence to boot, making Ironheart a worthy watch despite its conventional genre armor,” reads the show’s current critics’ consensus.
At present, Ironheart boasts a respectable 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. Prior to its premiere, however, some Marvel fans left an onslaught of negative reviews in an effort to drag down the show before it began.
How fucking miserable do you have to be to review bomb #Ironheart that you obviously didn’t watch because the episode weren’t available until an hour ago and reviews were embargo just got lifted.
Not to mention y’all are just copying and pasting the same tired ass fake review!
How fucking miserable do you have to be to review bomb #Ironheart that you obviously didn’t watch because the episode weren’t available until an hour ago and reviews were embargo just got lifted.
Not to mention y’all are just copying and pasting the same tired ass fake review! pic.twitter.com/feg7Gpgw68
— Neysha 🔜 FanExpo? (@NeyshaPlays) June 25, 2025
As noted by ScreenRant, Ironheart had a 32% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes prior to its premiere. Over on IMDb, it currently has a rating of 3.7/10, thanks to what appears to have been yet another organized review bombing campaign.
Will Review-Bombing Drag Down Yet Another Female-Led Show?
Despite its strong production values and willingness to explore uncharted lore, The Acolyte was flooded with one-star reviews before its premiere. Critics praised the series’ character focus and world-building, but online detractors seized on perceived canon deviations, its slower pacing, and creative choices that differed from past Star Wars projects — all of which would be valid complaints if they weren’t positioned as evidence of a broader ideological agenda.
Much of the backlash fixated on casting and themes rather than substance. Stenberg’s dual role, the prominence of Jedi women like Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss), and the show’s inclusion of characters of color drew inane accusations of “wokeness.” Threads and TikToks framed it as proof that Disney had “lost” Star Wars.
Though initial viewership numbers were solid, the online narrative became difficult to counter. By early 2025, Disney cancelled The Acolyte, citing internal creative shifts. However, multiple reports suggested the relentless online hate had played a key role in that decision.
The real damage may be longer term. With The Acolyte now sidelined, characters like Sol, Mae, and Osha are unlikely to be revisited in future projects. The series was effectively erased from the broader Star Wars conversation—a warning sign for Ironheart, which is already facing similar pressure.
The same tactics were used against Ms. Marvel, Marvel’s 2022 series about Muslim-American teen Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani. The show broke new ground for the MCU, blending coming-of-age storytelling with vibrant cultural detail and a unique visual style.
Despite these creative risks paying off critically – Vellani in particular was widely praised for her charismatic and grounded performance – the show was review-bombed before its premiere, with thousands of one-star ratings flooding IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes within hours of release.
While some viewers genuinely struggled with the show’s shift in tone compared to other Marvel projects, much of the online backlash was tied to Kamala’s identity as a brown, Muslim, female lead. Accusations of the show being too political or too juvenile often masked discomfort with its cultural specificity and youthful point of view.
In the aftermath, Ms. Marvel struggled to find a broad audience on Disney+, and though Vellani returned for The Marvels, Kamala’s solo series has been largely excluded from larger MCU narratives so far.
Now, Ironheart appears to be caught in the same cycle. The concern isn’t just about skewed ratings—it’s that the show, like The Acolyte, could be pushed to the margins of the MCU altogether. If Marvel views the backlash as a branding liability, Riri Williams may not get the long-term arc that characters like Spider-Man or Loki have been afforded, wasting both a character and an actress with real franchise potential.
What do you think of Ironheart?