Like many Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ shows before it, Ironheart premiered quietly between two theatrical releases in the franchise. While summer seems like a great time to release a new show -- especially since Daredevil: Born Again ended a few months ago with a brilliant cliffhanger -- the premiere isn't quite hitting the same as that of shows like WandaVision, for example.
There could be plenty of reasons for this -- the show didn't quite live up to its potential for some viewers. What's even more troubling than the show itself, however, is its release schedule. It's following in the footsteps of Star Wars: Andor, and not in a good way. Plenty of audiences don't like it, and it speaks quite loudly to the state of Marvel's shows on the popular streaming platform.
The miniseries premiered the first three of its six episodes on Tuesday. That's not so bad; multiple-episode premieres are far from unheard of in modern streaming. What makes it worse is that the show's final three episodes are all being released next Tuesday. In the span of basically one week, we'll have gotten the entire series from premiere to finale. And that's probably all we're ever going to get. It's specifically being billed as a miniseries, after all. No second season for Riri Williams.
It really does feel like Disney wanted to finally get this thing out and over with. Sort of fair, since there have been delays throughout the production process, and once you get to a certain point, ideally you can't turn back and the thing has to come out. But Ironheart effectively ends on July 1, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters less than a month later on July 25. Phase 5 ends and Phase 6 begins in the same month. Almost as if they couldn't wait to say goodbye to everything that's been pushed out of the production queue over the last few years.
Streaming is dead -- or so they say; who "they" is, I'm not entirely sure. But it has become extremely rare for shows, even in mega-franchises like Star Wars and the MCU, to get second seasons. Daredevil: Born Again is a unicorn. If it's not specifically labeled as a miniseries, a formal cancellation after "season one" probably isn't far off these days.
Presumably, streaming isn't working. Getting into that would require a separate article. It's not where the money is. Blame password sharing, blame plenty of people cancelling their streaming platform subscriptions when shows end only to re-subscribe if they come back in a few years. The list goes on. Something isn't working on the business end of things. If there's a new strategy Disney is going to try with its shows, most of us don't know about it yet.
We seem to be in a rapid state of "get it out, move along" when it comes to these shows. Again, Born Again seems to be a huge exception to 2025's rule. Even if Ironheart ends up being a great show, no one is going to talk about it in three weeks. Almost as if that's by design. Almost as if the executives in charge want to usher in a new era and forget this one ever existed at all.