Ironheart

Interview with director Sam Bailey

Sam is the director of the first three episodes. The first airs on June 24th.

Describe Ironheart for us in your own words.

Ironheart is a story that follows Riri Williams after the events of Wakanda Forever, back to her hometown of Chicago as she tries to find the resources to help support her own tech dreams, which gets her caught up with Parker Robbins and his group of associates. While the big conflict is this battle between magic and tech, we also get into what it costs to be as ambitious as Riri is and what she’s willing to give up in order to realize her dreams.

What drew you to this story?

I think what drew me in initially was the fact that this was a story that was going to center a young woman who was juggling the weight of her dreams and expectations put on her both by herself and her community. I thought that it would be a really interesting take on a Marvel character because we got to get into the emotional realm of this character. It was the heart of the story that drew me to it.

What do you want people to think about the series?

I don’t know what they should think about the show but I hope they find it entertaining and heartfelt. I hope they engage with the entire story and are open to the way it unfolds, which is a bit like a rollercoaster. Riri gets caught up rather quickly and I think it asks the audience to go on that journey with her. And, again, I think it’s quite fun and thrilling. She’s a different type of hero and I think she’s worth diving into.

What was the biggest challenge in making this?

I think just how many people are involved. There are a lot of voices on this project, which is in some ways needed because it's a big story and we're doing it in a short amount of time. I think making sure that the details and the emotional arcs of the characters felt just as important as all of the other story beats, while collaborating with a lot of different people, was probably the biggest challenge.

What was the development process? How did you get involved in the show.

My agent asked if I knew about Ironheart and if I wanted to take a meeting with Marvel because they were hiring directors for it. I was like, “Oh, that is the comic that Eve [Ewing] wrote.” That's pretty much what I knew about Ironheart. I met with them for an initial meeting and got to learn more about the character. I felt connected to Riri in a lot of ways: yes, the Chicago of it all. But also just being a young woman, dealing with grief and balancing that with these grand ambitions. I felt like I could find my way in through her emotional arc and that’s what my pitch focused on.

I got the job in November of 2021 and then immediately started development. It was pre-prep and then prep, and it's a very long process. The scripts were pretty much already done by the time I came on but they did evolve as we got deeper into the process. It was a lot of creative meetings, casting, which I'm always excited by, and just trying to build this world with all of these creative collaborators. It was a long process.

What originally inspired you to become a storyteller?

My entry into storytelling was acting, and I think because, in a way, it costs nothing to be an actor, especially for the stage, I just needed to show up in my body. I loved the idea of being able to build something with a group of people and seeing it all the way through fruition, and seeing how it landed with the audience.

When I shifted into filmmaking, I felt like there was really a lack of stories being told that centered Black women at that time, especially younger Black women. I was like 25 when I made my first web series [“You’re So Talented”], and while I was very new to the medium, I did understand characters and how to bring a group of people together to achieve a specific creative vision. I was just being bold and trying new things and for the first time, I felt like I was really walking in my purpose.

What’s the best and worst advice you've received?

The best and worst advice I've received is to not allow a project to be made by committee. I think you have to have that mindset as a director, and having your singular point of view is really important. It evolves and gets elevated with your trusted collaborators, but it’s important that there’s an anchor to it all. Especially when you’re talking about making films. But in TV, especially in something like a Marvel project, you really have to practice a level of release. There are a lot of people who have to give their input, so you can’t get too invested in any one intention, it might change after it’s gone through the process. So I think it was the best advice as an artist but difficult to put into practice depending on the type of project you’re on. It’s nuanced.

What advice do you have for other women creatives?

I would say to get as clear as possible on what you want to do and what kind of storyteller you want to be. Not to say that that won't change and evolve as you grow, but I think figuring out what you're interested in and then trying to hone your voice around that makes it really clear to people what you want to do, who you want to be, and what you have to say. I think if you don't do that, then you're at risk of just saying yes to anything that comes to you. Sometimes that's beneficial, but it also allows you to be put into a box really early on. Some people will find that also beneficial. I feel like someone that was put in a box really early on and it's a little difficult to move past that. Some things you're just going to learn by experience, and there's no way that you're going to figure that out until you go through it.

I would say stay open, be curious to what you are personally drawn to and try to make work that allows you to explore those things so that you're set up to be able to do that more as you grow as an artist. And trust that if you’re into it, someone else will be too. You don’t need to chase mandates, those are always changing.

Name your favorite woman-directed film or TV show and why.

By far, my favorite TV show is I May Destroy You by Michaela Coel. I mean, I could even add Chewing Gum to that because that's when she came onto my radar. I think that she's incredibly courageous to be as vulnerable as an artist as she is and is very bold and brave. I just think she's an amazing artist. I'm always, always drawn to women artists that are also writers, directors, and multi-hyphenates.

The film I can keep going back to is Losing Ground by Kathleen Collins, who was one of the first Black women to make an indie feature. Unfortunately, it was not initially distributed in the States because some of the feedback was that the distributors didn't think that Black people existed like that. It's ultimately a relationship dramedy between a married couple, and I just think, again, she was really bold. The way that she lived her life as a creator is really empowering to me. I think, “if it's hard for me now, it's not at all equal to how hard it was for her back then to make films.” You always think you're the first one and then you discover that you’re part of an artistic lineage of women who have been creating in the film space. Discovering Kathleen for me was really fortifying, in terms of calling myself a director and a filmmaker, and holding myself to that and knowing that it was possible.

Feel free to share any additional information you would like people to know about this show.

I think Dominique is such a magnetic presence in front of the camera and also on set, she really anchored everybody and was such a lovely collaborator. I'm really excited for people to be able to experience Riri Williams through her take of the character.

Synopsis of the show: Set after the events of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Marvel Television’s “Ironheart” pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne)—a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is both brilliant and flawed, and in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka “The Hood” (Anthony Ramos). The series, which also stars Lyric Ross, Regan Aliyah and Alden Ehrenreich, launches on Disney+ on June 24, 2025.

Premiere date: June 24, 2025 on Disney +