Ironheart finalmente trouxe um personagem da Marvel há muito esperado para o MCU

At its core, Ironheart explores how far people will go to make up for their past failures—and how those efforts can backfire. Even a noble goal can lead someone down a dark path, the show suggests, as personal desire begins to cloud their plans.

The MCU has consistently explored how the road to hell is paved with good intentions, beginning with Tony Stark’s redemption in 2008’s Iron Man and continuing through characters like Wanda Maximoff in WandaVision, Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home , and Agatha Harkness in Agatha All the Time . They’re all well-intentioned at one point or another, but personal motives steer them into darker territory. Marvel Studios has had several opportunities to introduce a Marvel Comics character who fully embodies this arc, and while his debut has been rumored for many of these stories, it appears the company is holding off until he can appear alongside Riri Williams, bringing the full theme back to Tony Stark.

Who is this mysterious character that’s been on the minds of Marvel theorists for years? This is a spoiler of epic proportions, so for those who don’t want to know where Ironheart ‘s final episode will lead, you’ve been warned.

[ Ed. note: Major Ironheart character introduction spoiler ahead.]

In Ironheart ‘s season one finale, Sacha Baron Cohen portrays Mephisto as the physical manifestation of making a deal with the devil, presenting Riri with an offer she can’t refuse. It’s revealed that he offered a similar deal to Peter Robinson, aka The Hood, giving him a cape powered by dark magic. While the Hood is trying to evade capture during a robbery, the mysterious Mephisto rescues him and offers to make him richer and more influential than the father who ostracized and abandoned Peter as a child. The Catch: Peter must never be without the Cape, or he will suffer physical pain and hear voices in his head, luring him to use it again.

Like most fictional wishes, Mephisto’s offerings are Monkey’s paws, with stipulations that sour the wish’s fulfillment. For Peter, wearing the cloak makes him easier to manipulate, and he becomes addicted to its power.

Mephisto’s offer to Riri is equally double-edged. At the end of the series, she loses the AI ​​enhancement, which has taken the form of her murdered best friend, Natalie. Mephisto offers a way to bring her back. Riri agrees to the devil’s deal, but instead of Natalie returning, Riri finds herself with a new look, in what we can assume is a new multiverse where Natalie never died. But what does this mean for the rest of Riri’s family?

If her new afro and retro-tech ’60s location are anything to go by, she could be in the same alternate universe setting as the new Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four: First Steps . This doesn’t bode well for her, considering Galactus, the devourer of worlds, is approaching. But this could become Riri’s Iron Man moment: creating a new suit of armor and helping the Fantastic Four save the world could be the starting point for her redemption arc, much like Tony Stark, years earlier, joining the Avengers to save the world from an alien invasion.

In 2021, fans speculated for weeks that WandaVision would introduce Mephisto to the MCU, citing the show’s hexagon motif and the presence of Agatha Harkness, who is associated with Mephisto in the comics . But he never appeared. Mephisto theories were reignited with Spider-Man: Far From Home , which drew inspiration from the Marvel comics arc ” One More Day ,” in which Peter makes a deal with Mephisto to save Aunt May’s life at the expense of his future with MJ.

In Marvel comics, Mephisto is essentially the devil, and it’s easier to list heroes he doesn’t have than those he does. He played a role in the 1991 comic book miniseries Infinity Gauntlet, from which Avengers: Infinity War borrows. He is a frequent enemy of Doctor Strange. A 1989 comic even revealed that Wanda Maxima’s twin sons were created using fragments of her soul .

Now that Mephisto has been introduced to the MCU, it’s not a question of whether he’ll return—there’s plenty of story potential in a supernaturally powerful villain who offers people whatever they want, at unpredictable and terrible costs. He’ll be back. It’s just a question of when and how much of a role he’ll have as Marvel launches Phase Six of its cinematic slate.

All six episodes of Ironheart are streaming on Disney Plus now.