Final week, Marvel premiered the primary a part of its latest sequence, “Ironheart,” on Disney+. However even earlier than the present dropped, followers seen one thing off: “Ironheart” had already been “evaluation bombed” (a phenomenon the place numerous customers flood a platform with detrimental evaluations) on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.
Marvel followers aren’t any strangers to critique. Whether or not it’s a loyal adaptation of a comic book e book arc or a contemporary reimagining of a legacy character, the fandom pays consideration, they usually have opinions. However in recent times, some followers’ self-appointed mission to “defend” Marvel’s storytelling has revealed a sample. There’s a transparent distinction between the initiatives they uplift and those they instantly label as “trash.”
“Ironheart” is the most recent to fall into that sample. Produced by Ryan Coogler and helmed by a crew of Black girls administrators and writers, the present stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams. First launched in “Black Panther: Wakanda Without end,” Riri now will get her personal highlight, with the sequence pulling instantly from her comedian e book storyline. With a Black feminine lead and a forged that celebrates tradition and neighborhood, “Ironheart” is boldly intentional in its illustration.
Nonetheless, some Marvel followers didn’t wait to hit play earlier than voicing their disapproval. Within the days main as much as its June 24 premiere, viewers evaluation platforms like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb have been flooded with low scores. At one level, Ironheart had a 32% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Popcorn Meter.” Whereas the platform has since eliminated most of the untimely evaluations, the incident speaks to one thing deeper inside Marvel’s fanbase.
We’ve seen this earlier than. When “Black Panther” was launched in 2018, Reddit threads and social media remark sections have been stuffed with criticism, though the movie was broadly praised. Earlier this 12 months, some conservative followers aimed their frustration at Anthony Mackie, the franchise’s first Black “Captain America.” In 2024, “The Acolyte,” a sequence led by Amandla Stenberg that includes LGBTQ+ illustration, was additionally review-bombed forward of its launch.
Since its premiere, “Ironheart’s” viewers rating has climbed to 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, boosted by fan help and word-of-mouth reward. In response to the backlash, “Ironheart” co-star Anthony Ramos addressed the noise.
“You’re gonna have negativity it doesn’t matter what. ‘Transformers’ individuals have been speaking sh-t… this one, individuals are speaking sh-t. All people’s gonna say no matter they wanna say,” he stated in an interview. “However on the finish of the day, we all know what we made, and we’re happy with what we made. While you’re the primary of a factor… effectively, not essentially the primary, however of all of the reveals we’re positively completely different. […] Everyone seems to be entitled to their opinion, however hey, at the very least they’re speaking about it.”
