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’Ironheart’s Lyric Ross on Riri’s Wild Finale Deal With Mephisto and Natalie’s MCU Future

6 जुलाई 2025

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Ironheart.

After one of Marvel’s most buzzed-about delays, Ironheart finally hit Disney+ — and it was well worth the wait. The Ryan Coogler-produced series does an excellent job of fleshing out Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) — who is a great, complex new addition to the MCU’s lexicon of heroes (or anti-heroes). The series features Riri meeting and interacting with several characters integral to Marvel’s extensive history, both in terms of the MCU and the original comics. This includes the constantly suffering Hood (Anthony Ramos), the morally questionable Ezekiel Stane (Alden Ehrenreich), and most importantly of all, her best friend — and later AI companion, Natalie (Lyric Ross).

Natalie, both as a human character and as an AI, proves to be the heart and soul of the series. She feels almost entirely unique and independent in a universe that already has plenty of conceptually similar characters like Vision (Paul Bettany) and Ultron (James Spader). That’s in large part thanks to This Is Us star Lyric Ross’ performance, and we recently had the brilliant opportunity to discuss Natalie (and N.A.T.A.L.I.E.) at length and what might be in store for her and Riri in the future.

Lyric Ross Was Pleasantly Surprised To Join the MCU With ‘Ironheart

“It was a huge shocker to me.”

COLLIDER: First off, congrats on the show. It’s an absolute blast, and you are a true standout in it. I wanna ask you so many questions about Natalie — how she factors into the show and what might be in store for her in the future, but before I get into all that, I’m curious about what it was like when you first got the call from Marvel when they said “Hey, not only do you we want you in our new show, but you’re going to be probably, next to Riri, one of the most important characters of the show. What was it like when you first got that call?

LYRIC ROSS: Yeah, it was pretty shocking, ’cause I had little to no idea what this character was going to bring to the show. Especially when I was doing the audition and all of that. They keep things really secretive. I didn’t have any description at all. They were basically telling me to “try something out, just wing it, do what you feel.’ The whole thing was a huge surprise, getting to read the script and listening to where they really wanted to take this dynamic between Natalie and Riri. The fact that Natalie is a big part of what the core of the show is. It was a huge shocker to me.

The thing that makes your character and your performance so interesting is that you’re effectively playing two different characters. You’re playing Natalie as a human and then Natalie as an AI, both of which are very integral to the plot. When you were focusing on playing those two characters, were you thinking about how you could differentiate the human Natalie vs the AI Natalie, or were you more focused on making those two feel as similar as possible, given what the show is all about?

ROSS: I did want to differentiate the two. I wasn’t really sure how to do that especially when they have the same personality and mannerisms that everything the people around her knew and loved about her. But at the same time, I feel like I was thinking too much into it, cause I kind of got into that place of AI Natalie has not lived life; has not gone through the ups and downs of whatever reality brings you. Natalie Washington has, so just to tap into that a little bit, hopefully, I was successful at it.

What Sets Natalie Apart From the MCU’s Other AI Characters?

“This is a very new challenge for her, dealing with people in a humane way.”

I absolutely think you were, and I think there’s one major component that makes her unique. The Marvel Universe has definitely had a lot of AI characters before with Vision and Ultron and they’re all characters that kind of just appeared one day and then go on from that. But Natalie, as an AI character, believes she has these memories and these different components of her. But I would love to hear your thoughts. What would you say makes Natalie unique compared to some of the others, somewhat similar in the Marvel Universe, like Jarvis, Vision, Ultron, etc?

ROSS: I think it’s the fact that she simply feels real. It’s a lot of things that you can relate with her with. Even the back and forth between Riri and Natalie and the way that they handle each other. Those are real situations when it comes to very strong and personal relationships. It was a lot of things that she gave to their dynamic that was really actions of love that any regular person can give to another. I think just the core of that and being honest, I think that was a huge thing. The way that she took on challenges, to me, was very similar to the way Riri took on challenges. They were kind of one in the same, but at the same time, very different. It’s a lot of different moving parts that I feel like people can relate to. You know, looking at the Jarvises and characters like that, as much as you love and adore them, its very hard to relate cause they stick to the whole robotic or program feel, and Natalie was there to prove that she was much more than that. And that she wanted to be a friend, a supporter, and a protector in any way that she could.

I think she is by far one of the most human and empathetic versions of those characters that we’ve seen yet. Especially in her scenes that you share with Dominique Thorne. Was there a specific moment in the show that kind of stands out as the defining moment of Natalie in the series? Either behind-the-scenes or in the actual show.

ROSS: You know what? After everything that Riri has put that girl through, I think that projection scene… well, two projection scenes when she was showing Riri that memory of young Riri Williams and Gary, and bringing that sentimental emotional moment to her. And she kind of filled up with emotion then herself, not really understanding what was happening. They both felt it. They felt the exact same thing, and another projection scene where she is watching another memory of Riri and Natalie Washington, and she is basically trying to mimic what Natalie is doing. I thought that spoke volumes of she is not going to stop trying to be that person that she sees herself being for Riri. Even with all of the rejection that keeps being thrown at her from time-to-time, she’s still very determined to be that person for her.

Fantastic, that actually leads perfectly into my next question. So, Ironheart was delayed for quite a while, but it actually ended up being a blessing in disguise, because in our current day and age — both in the entertainment industry and beyond — AI has become such a major talking point, including AIs like Natalie who are intended to be more empathetic and are intended to feel more human. Do you think Natalie the AI as a character is a good coping mechanism for Riri as she copes with the loss of the real Natalie and her stepfather, or do you think she’s one that Riri needs to move on from to give Natalie rest and closure.

Oh, that’s deep. Can I say both?

Yeah absolutely! There is absolutely [room for] nuance in this as well.

ROSS: Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. You can see her intention. You understand that she’s really there just to help and not hurt any way. Of course it sounds like she’s a little bit more selfish and like she wants that relationship and joy and happiness that she keeps replaying for herself. But she also acknowledges the fact that this girl is still hurt. This girl is still grieving, and because she loves her, she is willing to do anything in order to help her heal. And she doesn’t have everything figured out. It doesn’t have anything to do with anything tech-wise or programming. All of that she can do with ease. This is a very new challenge for her, dealing with people in a humane way. This is literally still an AI, so the fact that she is still figuring things out, but you can tell where her intentions lie. I think it was really good for her. She gave Riri things I don’t think her mom knew how to give her or maybe Xavier or anybody else close to her. But at the same time, the whole journey is very confusing. So I don’t know, it can be one or the other I guess [Laughs].

I think that’s the perfect answer, because in the real world today, I don’t think we have the answers yet. It’s still the Wild West, and we’re all trying to find a nuanced perspective like that which is great.

Lyric Ross’ MCU Future Is Looking Bright

“There’s no way you can predict the twists and turns… the sky’s the limit.”

Dominque Thorn (Riri) and Lyric Ross (Natalie) in the pilot for Ironheart Season 1 on Disney+ — Image via Disney+

I’m diving deep into spoiler territory on this one, but you mentioned how Riri makes decisions that aren’t necessarily the right decisions, which is one thing I love about the show. How she is a complex character who, very similar to her predecessor Tony Stark, doesn’t always make what most people would probably consider the “right” decisions, and we see that in the end. We finally get to meet Mephisto, who is a character fans have been begging to see for a very long time, and she makes a deal with the devil, quite literally, to bring Natalie back. That obviously seems to set up a pretty audacious and exciting future for these characters. What do you personally think the future has in store for Riri and Natalie now that this very, kind of almost tragic, decision has taken place?

ROSS: Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure that out for the past three years or so. The way that they ended this, it’s like it can go just about any way. I think that was the beauty of it. They left it so open to where you desire a Season 2. There’s no way you can predict the twists and turns that can happen in the next season. The fact that I don’t know, and I was a part of it, and people in the cast and crew, we’re talking about what could possibly happen, the sky’s the limit, and I think that was the perfect choice to end it that way.

That’s the perfect feeling to have after a great first season. Do you think maybe we could see Natalie and Riri again sooner rather than later? Maybe in an Ironheart Season 2, or, I mentioned Vision and Ultron and they’re both coming back for their own Disney+ series. It seems like that show is just chock-full of AI characters that we’ve met, so that seems like it could be the perfect return for Natalie and Riri. Do you think that’s a possibility?

ROSS: I sure hope so. I actually think it’s a possibility, yeah. I mean, even with the new Avengers coming soon. I hope that takes us to a different place in the MCU.

One thing that Ironheart does that Ryan Coogler’s work does amazingly well is that it’s an approachable crowd-friendly project that also has a lot to say. We mentioned the stuff with AI, there’s even some gun violence commentary with what happens to Natalie, there’s also some addiction commentary with what The Hood is going through. Taking into account either all of that or none of that, what is one big thing you want fans and audiences to take away from Ironheart after they finish and get to that shocking conclusion?

ROSS: I think one of the things that I learned from Riri’s perspective is that she was really scared, it seemed, to use the resources around her and ask for help. Or accept help, accept the people who try to lend a helping hand, cause whatever they were trying to help with normally it had something to do with something she maybe went wrong on or something that’s maybe a little bit too personal and she would have to do some digging within herself. I think its really important that you understand that you don’t go through things like that alone. And to use your resources, especially those people around you who are there for your well-being, and you know that they’re there for your well-being cause they show you constantly. I can understand, for somebody who self-isolates all the time — I can understand her in that area, but I am learning that is not the healthy way to go when it comes to growth or getting over different obstacles.

Ironheart Season 1 Is Streaming Now on Disney+.