First Black Panther, Then Ironheart—Get Ready for the Dominique Thorne Takeover

Dominique Thorne remembers seeing Black Panther for the first time like it was yesterday. It was 2018, and she was at Le Grand Rex in Paris, the largest movie theater in Europe. The theater’s massive screen, star-painted ceiling, and all-encompassing sound set the ideal stage for the year’s biggest film. "It was truly like an arrival into Wakanda,” she says. For Thorne, who was still a student at Cornell University at the time, it was an unforgettable experience. To see both the spirituality and tradition of Wakandan culture and so many different shades of Black skin in a Marvel superhero film was a beautiful thing. Truth be told, it wasn’t Thorne’s first encounter with the project—nor would it be her last. 

Thorne auditioned for Black Panther in its early days and didn’t end up getting it. But as fate would have it, she would meet BP director Ryan Coogler two years later while working on Judas and the Black Messiah. "I thought that was the completion of this full-circle moment, but it was definitely just step one,” the actress says with a smirk. "That alone felt like a wonderful opportunity in itself to get to work with him in that capacity.” Though she lacked experience at the time of her first audition, the Marvel execs never forgot about Thorne, and when it came time to find their Riri Williams, they had just the person in mind. "By that point, I had gotten the experience that they were referring to,” she says. "It made this true full-circle moment of actually getting to work [with Ryan] in a directorial capacity the most fulfilling completion to that journey.”

With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which arrives in theaters November 11, Thorne will make her debut as super genius and Tony Stark prodigy Riri Williams aka Ironheart before headlining her own Marvel series titled Ironheart for Disney+ in 2023. For the Hollywood newcomer and self-proclaimed Marvel geek, it’s a surreal moment that she’s still processing. "I don’t think that’s a conversation I will ever forget,” she says of speaking to producer Nate Moore about the plan for the character. 

Riri is a young girl from the south side of Chicago with a superpowered mind who attends the prestigious MIT and, with those resources, creates an incredible Iron Man–like suit. Thorne is from Brooklyn, New York, graduated from Ivy League institution Cornell University (she was the first of her family to go to college), and used what she learned at school to build herself a successful acting career. The parallels between the young women are almost too good to be true. Naturally, Thorne immediately connected with Riri’s day-to-day life, which was her first entry point to the character.

"To be given the gift of such a well-written script and a well-written character arc, it only helps to ground the perspective or whatever assumptions I may have about who this girl is and how she interacts with the world. And getting to hear Ryan Coogler’s perception on how she interacts with the world as my foundation and as my building blocks for her is something that I think has made all of the difference,” she says. "[Black Panther: Wakanda Forever] is Riri’s birthplace, and there was just a wealth of things to learn from and to try out, and the goal was to fine-tune those things as we transition into the series where the world truly is focused on Riri.”

Most of Riri’s scenes in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are with Shuri, played by Letitia Wright. In Shuri, Riri finds a similarly brilliant-minded counterpart, someone who truly understands her, despite their very different backgrounds and upbringings. It’s this dynamic that truly excites Thorne. "I think seeing these two young minds together at the same time from a character perspective is such a refreshing place to be in,” she says. "So much of Riri in the comics has to do with this uniqueness or this outsider zone that her genius has put her in, so to get to know her in a space where there’s someone who sees her and gets it, it makes for a wild ride.”

Working alongside Wright immediately put Thorne at ease. The tone from the beginning was just about having fun and dispelling any nerves or doubt. "She’s so great, and she was also the first one to be like, ‘Hey, I know it’s Marvel, but just forget about it,’” she adds.

It’s hard to forget the size of the moment when you are stepping onto a set among a cast and crew who have created a world that so many people, Thorne included, have fallen in love with. "It was like entering someone else’s house,” she describes. "You want to be as respectful as possible.” The 25-year-old got a front-row seat to watch the brilliance of her castmates and their process for expanding our understanding of these characters while figuring out how to introduce her own. But as much joy as there was, this was also a cast and crew grieving a huge loss. 

In the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s death, the film serves as a love letter to the late actor and the legacy he built as T’Challa, and although her interactions with Boseman were brief, Thorne could feel his presence and lasting impact on the project. 

"Aside from being a story of characters that people are coming together to play, this is a true family unit that has suffered a loss,” she says. "So the returning characters… Not to speak for them, but I think it’s fair to say that they have stepped back into this home of theirs having to shoulder that hurt and that pain but also to balance it with the joy that comes with wanting to celebrate someone. And I think Winston [Duke] said something similar, and I totally agree that all of that emotion has come together in the most beautiful way.”

The film is on track for a massive run at the box office, paving the way for the highly anticipated Ironheart series to follow. Although it’s still in production, Thorne promises the six-episode series will offer a very different tone and flavor from previous Marvel shows. That’s really all she can tell me about the show at this stage—that and the fact that the project required her to have a certain trust in the process and character she hasn’t employed before. 

In her young career, Thorne is already making a statement in her choice of projects. From If Beale Street Could Talk to Judas and the Black Messiah and now Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ironheart, the actress’s résumé is rooted in strong Black storytelling. When I ask about her project-picking philosophy, she is quick to share that it really comes down to finding truth and authenticity, whether that be with the character itself or the people telling the story. It is this prioritization that has not only led Thorne to so many noteworthy collaborators but has also set her on the path to becoming Hollywood’s biggest rising talent. The great news is she is just getting started. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now in theaters. 

Photographer: Marcus Ezell

Stylist: Wayman + Micah

Hairstylist: Marva Stokes

Makeup Artist: Autumn McKenney