I enjoy Ironheart a great deal, but I couldn't tell you where or how it fits into the great plan that is the Marvel multiverse. At this point, I don't think Marvel can, either.

The closest I can figure is that it's sometime after Wakanda Forever, Ryan Coogler's majestic goodbye to the incomparable Chadwick Boseman. Within the near three hour runtime was a short cameo from Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a genius engineer with a chip on their shoulder, who had devised an Iron Man suit of their own.

If you don't remember Riri, that's understandable. Wakanda Forever was a mammoth of a movie, stuffed so full of ideas and characters that it felt like three pictures instead of one. On top of that, it dealt with overwhelming grief while still setting the stage for whatever future adventures would one day arrive.

So, in a way, Ironheart is a new introduction to Riri, and it takes the entirety of the first two episodes just to settle into this world. Then, just as we think we've got a handle on things, Marvel throws in another curve ball. At this point, it feels like these properties are nothing more than one setup after another until the MCU can figure out what story it wants to tell.

Likewise, Ironheart is a solid buildup to a punchline that ends before it can soar. It's paced like a film split over six episodes, and Marvel calls it a limited series, meaning there's little hope for continuation. But everything about this screams for a second season, one that's longer with more room to breathe. What even is the point of putting together compelling characters and ethical arguments if you're not going to do anything with them?

Thorne is the major reason the series works, as is Anthony Ramos, playing the would-be gangster Hood. Both bring gravitas to their parts, and Thorne in particular is stellar as the grieving and angry prodigy who can't figure out where to direct her sorrow.

Around them, the rest of the cast is full of colorful and funny characters, all who deserve longer arcs of their own. Back in the 2000s, this would have been a 20 episode season, where b-plots featured each member of Hood's gang in little adventures of their own.

By the end, just as Ironheart really gets going, it comes to an abrupt halt. Again, there's a promise of something greater happening in another property, but it's hard to care about that when you've just got to know this one. At this point, it's hard to recommend a new Marvel series because even Marvel doesn't seem to care if anyone watches them or not.

Despite this, Ironheart is certainly worth your time. It's well-written, wonderfully acted, and it has a fantastic ground level view of the Marvel universe we don't get to see enough. This feels like the real world, full of the hopes and frustrations everyone faces. While Spider-Man is undoing the fabric of the known universe, Riri just wants a way to pay rent for the next month.

In a way, she's closer to the everyman hero than anyone else at the moment. It feels like a crying shame not let her have a moment to figure out what to do with it.