RuPaul's Drag Race winner Shea Couleé is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart.
According to Deadline, Couleé has boarded the cast of Marvel Studios' Ironheart in an undisclosed role. Couleé joins series lead Dominique Thorne, who plays main protagonist Riri Williams/Ironheart, as well as the likes of Hamilton's Anthony Ramos and Solo: A Star Wars Story's Alden Ehrenreich, whose roles are similarly being kept under wraps.
Shea Couleé is the drag identity of Jaren Kyei Merrell, who is non-binary. Interestingly, industry scooper Daniel Richtman, aka DanielRPK, reported this past March that Marvel Studios was looking to cast a major non-binary character for Ironheart. An alleged casting call did not include the character's name, though did describe them as being "extremely intelligent, shrewd" and "poised."
Couleé rose to prominence after competing on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. They went on to win the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars before also competing in the latter show's seventh season. In 2016, Couleé co-produced, directed, wrote and starred in their own film, titled Lipstick City.
Marvel Studios' Ironheart Is Set to Premiere in 2023
Created by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato, Eve Ewing and Kevin Libranda, Riri Williams/Ironheart made her first full appearance in 2016's Invincible Iron Man #9. In the comics, Riri is a teenage MIT student who manages to create an Iron Man-esque suit of armor using material stolen from the campus. While Riri's exploits initially land her in hot water, the original Iron Man himself, Tony Stark, comes to endorse her role as the world's latest armored superhero.
It was at The Walt Disney Company's Investor Day in December 2020 that Marvel Studios announced it was developing a live-action Ironheart series for Disney+, with Thorne attached to star as Riri Williams. At San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed that Ironheart would premiere in the fall of 2023 as part of Phase Five of the MCU.
Before that, however, Thorne is slated to make her on-screen debut as Riri in the Marvel Studios film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which will close out Phase Four of the MCU when it hits theaters later this year on Friday, Nov. 11. Wakanda Forever's first official teaser trailer appears to show Riri constructing an early iteration of the Ironheart armor.
Marvel Studios' Ironheart premieres on Disney+ in fall 2023.
Source: Deadline