Marvel quietly cast major MCU villain years ago and we never noticed

If you’ve seen Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, then you may remember that a character by the name of Riri Williams was introduced - also known as Ironheart.

Long before that film was released, an Ironheart TV series was announced in 2020.

You’ve likely forgotten that that was the case, and I could hardly blame you for that but the truth is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always had big plans for Riri.

The Ironheart series was, shockingly, filmed back in 2022 and is yet to see the light of day, but it is believed to be landing soon.

While Marvel hasn’t confirmed its exact plans for the show, it’s widely assumed to be launching in 2025.

Following on from the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the series will follow MIT student Riri as she returns to Chicago.

There, she’ll “unravel threads that bring danger and adventure right to her doorstep,” according to an official copyright database filing.

As for the series’ big bad, Marvel is officially keeping things hush-hush, clearly hoping you forgot about the fact that they too leaked online some time ago.

ICYMI: The first trailer for Thunderbolts* has arrived. Take a look below.

During filming in 2022, a call sheet for the production seemingly leaked online which featured actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s name.

At the time, Deadline was able to corroborate this using an anonymous source close to the production who also claimed that the actor would be portraying, brace yourself, Mephisto.

Last year, a copyright filing formally added Cohen’s name to the cast list although the document simply refers to him as ‘Mystery Man’.

In the time since, many insiders have surfaced to add weight to the Mephisto claims.

Jeff Sneider reaffirmed as much in 2023 and now, so too has Alex Perez during a Q&A with The Cosmic Circus.

Perez simply said that Mephisto will play “a very light supporting role” in Ironheart, suggesting the character is being set up for a much larger project.

Maybe he’ll come face-to-face with Wanda in a future film?

Of course, I have to urge you to take all of this with a generous pinch of salt until we have concrete proof that Mephisto is on his way.

All signs point to that happening though.