MARVEL.COM: Speaking of big character reveals, the show also introduces Alden Ehrenreich as Joe McGillicuddy, later revealed to be Zeke Stane, the son of Obadiah Stane from the original Iron Man. What interested you about introducing that character?
CHINAKA HODGE: In very basic writing terms, [it was about] the mechanics of creating opposition and story. Riri has a suit on the outside. Zeke has a suit that’s on the inside. They get to talk about the ethics of partial or long-term augmentation. The conversation in our show about the ethics of tech is really huge, so to create a character who’s a tech ethicist by day and Zeke Stane by night is really fun.
The symmetry of characters is very fun, and there was something magical that happened between our actors on screen. To watch Joe McGillicuddy and Riri Williams in the battle that happens in front of White Castle, that’s the joy of reading comic books. I had Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and Hungry Hungry Hippos as a kid, and there’s a little bit of that in [that fight]. We wanted to create some fun fights and some fun action sequences. Our stunt and action teams are incredible. [Stunt coordinator] Danny Hernandez worked on The Woman King right before Ironheart, and I feel like we got some of that fight energy all through.
MARVEL.COM: Tell me a little bit about working with Ryan Coogler on this. He served as an executive producer on Ironheart, and he obviously has a passion for this character after introducing Riri in Wakanda Forever.
CHINAKA HODGE: Ryan and I are from the same neighborhoods in Oakland and the Bay Area, and we went to film school together at USC. My partner actually played football on the same college football team that Ryan did, so we’re connected in a lot of ways. He’s my real-life family, and to be able to work with him on this project is a dream come true.
When we were at USC together, I’d seen his student short [films] Locks and Fig. When I saw Fig, I watched the whole thing, turned it off, and watched it again. The next time I saw him on campus, I would stand two to three feet from him and just be like, “Hire me, bro. Find a production and hire me for it.” [Laughs] I didn’t know [Coogler’s company] Proximity Media was tied in with Marvel when I was pitching for [Ironheart]. So when they veil finally raised and they said, “Meet your other producing partners,” I was like, yes! You hired me! [Laughs]
MARVEL.COM: Another standout character is Zelma Stanton, played by Regan Aliyah. What was fun about getting to introduce her to the MCU?
CHINAKA HODGE: I’ve got to give credit where credit’s due: [Supervising producer] Kelsey Lew was in our writers’ room and found Zelma as a character. We tried our very best to hew as closely as possible to Zelma from the comic book pages, down to the horn-rimmed glasses and the iconic orange hat that she wears. She’s from the Bronx in publishing, so our backstory is that she spent some time in the Bronx but ended up back in Chicago. We loved creating a couple different outposts in the MCU where magic might take place. Zelma is literally the embodiment of “Black Girl Magic,” which is so much fun. And then come on, Cree Summer as her mom? You can’t beat it.
A fun tidbit for super fans is that the candy shop and bookstore, Stanton’s Bookshop, is based on my long-term family friend’s bookshop in Oakland, which is called Marcus Books. It’s the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the country. We just wanted to create a nod to Black-owned bookstores, which are one of the places that we know create magic all over the country.
With Zelma and Ms. Stanton, I could see spinoffs. I could see other movies. I could see people not needing to go all the way to Madripoor to understand some magic. We wanted to create some doors and openings in the MCU for people like us to fall in. And if you watch the end of episode 6, you see that when you create a door, sometimes it opens Pandora’s Box.
MARVEL.COM: Are there any other hidden details that you want to highlight?
CHINAKA HODGE: If you check the spoon that Mephisto is using in his first conversation with Parker, that will reveal everything you need to know. That’s a cool little insert, which engaged our VFX teams for a quick little pop. I would also say the scar spreading on Riri’s arm says everything. And just for what it’s worth, Riri’s got this magic suit and she’s got this cloak, and things might be next. All I can say is she’s got the components to avoid certain doom.
Marvel Television’s Ironheart is streaming now, only on Disney+.
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