Ironheart star Dominique Thorne reflected on Riri Williams’ decision to leave an important supporting character to die in Episode 3 of the show during a new interview. The series premiered on June 24, 2025, on Disney+ with the first three episodes.

Dominique Thorne on Riri leaving John to die in Ironheart Episode 3
Thorne spoke about her character’s choice to leave behind Manny Montana’s John in Ironheart Episode 3 in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. John discovers that Riri has stolen a piece of the enchanted cloak that Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robbins / The Hood wears. He confronts Riri about it during the Heirlum facility heist. A fight ensues between the two in the greenhouse, which ultimately results in Riri actively deciding to leave John as he suffocates to death. She later confirms that he has died with a heat scan using her armor.
The Freaky Tales actor told the outlet that Episode 3 is “without a doubt” her favorite episode, as it depicted her character going “there.” She explained, “How she handles it, how much she takes pride in it, is another thing. But I think the fact that she made the conscious choice says a lot about who [she is and] some of the internal conflict that she is working through.”
Thorne made her MCU debut in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where Riri witnessed Letitia Wright’s Shuri deal with grief and the desire for revenge. According to the actor, that experience had a deep impact on Riri as she “got to see what an actual leader and hero looks like.”
However, Thorne indicated that the self-serving choices her character had made would lead her to a completely different path than Shuri’s. “She [Riri] is willing to put herself first over the life of another person — it’s telling,” Thorne elaborated. “And I think it definitely adds to that tension and the vast, vast, vast, vast range of possibilities that exist for who Ironheart is and the actual cost of her dreams,” she further stated.
The remaining three episodes of Ironheart will come out on July 1, 2025.
Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on SuperHeroHype.