A recent casting call from POC Culture shed light on a new, supporting character to be featured in the as-yet-undated Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Ironheart. The report indicated that the production is searching for a Black, Latina or Afro-Latina transgender woman between the ages of 18 and 22 to portray a character described as “smart” and “confident” with a “unique sense of humor.”
As the news made the rounds, one additional bit of information seemed to slip through the cracks just a bit and it’s information that might lend credibility to some previous rumors about the villain of the series. In early January, The Illuminerdi reported that a casting call for Ironheart might indicate that Parker Robbins, aka The Hood, could be villain of the project. That idea has been met with a heavy dose of skepticism by fans because it seems incongruous to have a mystically-enhanced villain going up against a tech-based hero. However, the recent casting call for the transgender woman included an additional description of the character that actually supports the idea of The Hood.
POC Culture’s report included among the descriptors of the character that she also had a “mystical bent.” While this is EXTREMELY vague, it does indicate that Ironheart will include at least some sort of mystical elements. And while this in no way confirms the presence of a character so steeped in mysticism as The Hood, it does raise some interesting points for discussion, not the least of which being that by putting a magic user up against Riri’s powerful tech, Marvel Studios would be going against LONG-established pillars of their stories in which the power sets of the villains match the heroes. By pitting someone like The Hood against Ironheart, Marvel Studios would give Riri a chance to truly flex her genius muscle and separate herself from her armored predecessor. So while this is by no means some sort of confirmation of The Hood, it is interesting food for thought and something to follow over the next couple of months.
