Ironheart has made its debut on Disney+ and the Marvel series is drawing a lot of attention. The story of RiRi Williams (Dominique Thorne) a tech genius thrust into a shadowy world of criminals and magic, is executive-produced by Ryan Coogler and is set in Chicago. Those two factors were undeniably important to director Sam Bailey. Bailey helmed the first three episodes of the show (streaming now) and spoke to Okayplayer about working with Coogler, why she’s eager for the world to embrace Thorne and why Ironheart is a love letter to her hometown.
Okayplayer: Leading up to its release, Ironheart was one of the summer’s most-anticipated shows. What excites you most about being involved with this project?
Sam Bailey: I think what excites me the most is the ability for people to see Dominique Thorne and this beautiful ensemble we’ve put together and to populate this world that is both grounded and magical. This show is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the Marvel Universe, so I’m excited for people to experience it and just be down for the ride.
When did you first become involved with the series?
I was hired in late 2021, and then there was a lot of creative preparation and development that followed. I think we started filming in 2022.
You’re a Chicago native and the city plays a major role in the story. How did your Chicago roots impact your approach to Ironheart?
I think it made me feel a responsibility to showcase the version of the city that I know. It was really exciting for me to be able to introduce Chicago to the MCU and to do it creatively, especially at a time when cities were really feeling the effects of the pandemic. To have the ability to stamp Chicago’s role in this really magical universe felt like a heavy sense of responsibility, but also gave me a huge amount of excitement because I’ve always highlighted Chicago in a lot of my indie work. This felt like having the ability to do that with so many more resources, which generated a lot of excitement for me, and I took it very seriously.
As a storyteller, what did you want to accomplish with your episodes?
I was really drawn to the story of Riri. It was important to me to not only give her character time to have an emotional journey and introduce audience members to her in a deeper way, but also to build out the people around her so that she wasn’t ever fully isolated. And, also to give all of the people in the ensemble something for the audience to remember them by. I think that was really exciting for me.
On a technical level, building a real cinematic language and experience within the show was also important. The show constantly grapples with the groundedness versus the fantastical element, magic versus technology, and analog versus digital. Ante Chang, our cinematographer for the first three episodes, and I really wanted to play with that in the visual language as well. It was both something that we wanted to get in terms of the emotion, but also to have the cinematic language of the show reflect those themes throughout.
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How does Ironheart fit into the MCU–and what do you think makes it stand out?
Ironheart fits into the MCU because Riri Williams is a superhero, an anti-hero, and a complex character, much like many of the other characters in the MCU. I mean, in a very obvious way, what stands out is that it’s the first series that the MCU has made that surrounds and centers a young Black woman, so that obviously makes her stand out for many reasons. However, I think she definitely falls in line with all the other characters who are dealing with a lot of trauma and having to navigate that, as well as their flaws, and figure out how to rise to the occasion.
Ryan Coogler has said it was important for Black women to tell this story. How would you describe Coogler’s involvement in the show?
He’s an EP on the show, and he also introduced Riri’s character in Wakanda Forever, so I think he has real skin in the game in terms of Riri and her journey. We all wanted to live up to the standard that he had created with Black Panther, both culturally, emotionally, and visually. He was there before I was brought on.
What’s been most fulfilling about the experience?
I just want to say that Okayplayer has always been incredibly supportive of me since my web series days, so I’m glad we’re able to do this, and I really just appreciate y’all championing me as I’ve grown as a filmmaker.
