Ironheart Gives Marvel Fans The One Thing They Always Wanted (And WandaVision Failed To Deliver)

The article contains spoilers for the finale of "Ironheart"

A vocal subset of Marvel fans has spent the post-"Avengers: Endgame" era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe constantly theorizing about the arrival of Mephisto — Marvel's Comics Code-approved version of the Devil. The theories were at their most intense during the initial run of "WandaVision," where every little mention of demons or "666" Easter egg sparked speculation that Mephisto would be the show's ultimate villain. When those hints turned out to be mere red herrings, fans hypothesized that Mephisto would make his on-screen debut in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" or "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." These theories were also proven false.

Rumors next emerged that Mephisto would be played by Sacha Baron-Cohen in an hour-long "Marvel Presents" special. The character's name was said aloud for the first time in the MCU by Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) in Episode 3 of "Agatha All Along," though eagle-eyed freeze-framers have noted Mephisto was previously mentioned in SHIELD documents about the Tesseract way back in 2012's "The Avengers."

Now, Sacha Baron-Cohen has shown up to take center stage in the finale of "Ironheart" — and he is, in fact, Mephisto himself. Fan theorists disappointed that "WandaVision" never followed through with its teases should be very pleased with Mephisto's appearance in "Ironheart."

In "Ironheart," protagonist Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) finds herself working for and eventually fighting Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), a gang leader and master thief known as "The Hood," thanks to a hood that gives him magical powers. Studying a sample of Parker's hood with help from sorcerer Zelma Stanton (Regan Aliyah), Riri comes to believe its source of power is Dormammu (the villain from "Doctor Strange"). The finale reveals that Parker actually got the hood through a deal with Mephisto.

Flashbacks show Mephisto giving Parker powers to fulfill the wish of becoming "stupid, disgusting, greasy rich." When Parker asks what Mephisto wants in exchange, Mephisto answered, "Something you won't even miss." The cost of such power is apparent in how each use of the hood results in Parker being covered in veiny scars he tries to hide with tattoos. In the present, Parker begs to get more out of Mephisto, a request that the demon laughs off, telling Parker he'll consider it if the latter can "hold on to what I gave you."

Riri takes away Parker's hood with her new magic-enhanced suit — making her Mephisto's new choice to "replace" Parker. Mephisto manipulates Riri's ambitious nature and her feelings of being "unseen" and "unheard" to try and convince her to make a deal with him. She agrees, but rather than seeking power for herself, she instead has him bring her best friend Natalie (Lyric Ross) back from the dead.

It's unknown when we'll see either Mephisto or Riri next in the MCU, but this deal with the devil begs for further exploration. Obviously Mephisto's deals inevitably come with consequences, but without getting to see those, the "Ironheart" finale plays as the most ominous "happy ending" possible. 

On its own, "Ironheart" is almost the opposite of "WandaVision" — where Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) tried to use magic to forget the loss of her beloved Vision (Paul Bettany) before reaching a place of acceptance, "Ironheart" makes magical necromancy its conclusion rather than its inciting incident. Natalie's earlier A.I.-based resurrection was already unnerving to many of Riri's peers, so what could this actual resurrection mean?

One detail that could have bigger implications for the MCU is Mephisto's casual reveal that he's made deals with everyone on Forbes' "100 Richest" list... as well as "14 kings, three popes, and also a Beatle — Ringo." Riri's inspiration, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), has been dead for a while now, so he wouldn't be on the current Forbes list. But with RDJ's casting as Doctor Doom in "Avengers: Doomsday" implying a potential connection to Tony Stark, and Doctor Doom's terrifying combination of science and magic paralleling what we've seen in "Ironheart," Mephisto's dealings could very well have a greater impact on the MCU than we're aware of.