Ironheart Ending Explained: What's Next For the MCU After That Devilish Post-Credits Scene?

This article contains spoilers for the finale of Ironheart.

They say the devil is in the details, but it turns out that the devil is also finally in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). As of the season (series?) finale of Disney+’s Ironheart, “The Past is the Past,” Mephisto has finally, officially arrived in the form of actor Sacha Baron Cohen… Thankfully, not giant and red, wearing only his underwear, as per Marvel Comics’ depiction of the bad guy. Though we wouldn’t put the Borat actor past that.

That said? The reveal of Mephisto is just the tip of the iceberg in hell that Ironheart dropped in its closing hour, including a wild twist cliffhanger, a mid-credits scene that sets up some potentially big things for the MCU, and a general, even bigger question as to whether given the circumstances surrounding Ironheart if any of this will be followed up, ever.

Ironheart Ending Explained

For context, the episode starts off as we discover how Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) got his demonically powered hood. After trying to rob his own father, he escaped thanks to some help from a mysterious stranger (that would be Mephisto), munching pizza in Desperito’s Pizza. We’ll ignore that the pizza is decidedly not Chicago style, which is either Mephisto playing a classic trick in the Windy City, or a missed opportunity to tie deep dish pizza to the devil. This leads to the present, where Parker is losing control of his powers and becoming more demonic by the minute.

Enter Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who now has magic armor, but as a cost, has lost N.A.T.A.L.I.E. (Lyric Ross), the AI modeled after her dead best friend. Undeterred, she heads to Desperito’s to confront Parker before he can attack her family, and discovers Ezekiel Stane (Alden Ehrenreich) is there, desperate to escape from Parker’s control over his biological implants. Riri knees him in the groin, resets his controls, and Zeke thanks her but assures her that in the future they won’t be friends. “Just know you and I aren’t done,” Zeke says, still salty after Riri ruined his life and landed him in jail.

Anyway, that’s a series wrap on Zeke, and it’s on to the final battle with Parker. The Hood loses it, literally and figuratively, with Riri beating him up, taking his hood and leaving him, to paraphrase the immortal words of Natalie Imbruglia, cold and shamed, lying hoodless on the floor. That’s when Riri heads to the seating area of the pizza place and discovers Mephisto is once again eating non-Chicago style pizza. This guy won’t quit it! He loves pizza!

In case you’ve lived through the whole Mephisto saga online for the past half a decade: yes, it is 100% definitely Mephisto, he even says it out loud. Speculation that Marvel’s devil could show up stretches all the way back to the beginning of the Disney+ era and WandaVision in 2021, continued through 2022 when Cohen was cast on Ironheart, and was fired up big-time when they dropped the name of the baddie on Agatha All Along. And now, here he is in the flesh, tempting Riri Williams alongside a slice of pizza… Even if the pregnant pause Cohen adds delivering his character’s name lands like a thud with Riri. “Oh,” she says, nonplussed. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

…Well, it definitely means something to the viewing audience at home. And it also quickly means something to Riri, as – shocker – she makes a deal with the devil. While not explicitly stated, she clearly asks for Mephisto to bring N.A.T.A.L.I.E. back. But the twist is that Mephisto doesn’t bring the AI back… He brings the real Natalie back to life, after being gunned down prior to the events of the series. And the stinger at the end as Riri hugs her confused friend? The same devilish veins that grew all over Parker Robbins the more he used his hood have begun to snake their way up Riri’s arm. Yuh-oh!

What does this all mean? And what about that mid-credits scene?

Ironheart’s Cliffhanger Teases Projects That May Never Happen

So, here’s the deal: Ironheart was announced in 2020, mostly filmed in 2022, and then there was reportedly some added production in 2024. There was clearly some retooling of the series last year, but this is also a project that comes from a version of the Marvel Studios overall plan that doesn’t quite exist the same way in 2025. From a slowing down of the release of movies and TV shows, to a rethinking of how Marvel Television approaches the small screen in general, a project like Ironheart that is “more of a six-episode movie” is – at least as Marvel has explained – not how they’re doing projects anymore.

And while we won’t know whether the stingers on Ironheart will be continued or not until they are (or are not), there are plenty of plans that have been either announced or denounced in the half a decade that Ironheart has been in the works.

Armor Wars is the first that comes to mind, formerly a Disney+ series starring Don Cheadle as War Machine, spinning off the end of Secret Invasion. That was “upgraded” to a movie in 2022, but perhaps due to the less-than-enthusiastic response to Secret Invasion, or the tightening behind the scenes, we haven’t heard much since. Thorne was reportedly going to reprise her role as Ironheart in the Disney+ version; the film, TBD.

Similarly, it would make sense that a rivalry between Ezekiel Stane and Riri Williams could have (and could still) continue in a movie that’s all about various Iron Man-related characters fighting. But again, with that movie in doubt, it’s up in the air whether Enrenreich is building a one-and-done franchise curse between this and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

How about the mid-credits, though? This is pure speculation, but educated speculation as to what this could have been leading up to. In the mid-credits scene, Parker goes to Stanton’s, the combo candy store/magic store that is home to Zelma Stanton (Regan Aliyah). He wants help and is interested in Zelma’s magic, but she’s dubious (as she should be). But Parker won’t quit, he wants to see the real magic stuff in the back of the store. “I know you don’t know me, at least not yet. But if you’re up for it, how about a little abracadabra?” Parker says as we cut to black.

While never officially greenlit, back in February Marvel paused development on a TV show version of the comic Strange Academy. Per the title, it’s a magic school set up by Doctor Strange, and it was expected that the TV show version would be run by Wong (Benedict Wong). In the books, Zelma Stanton is a key character and works as the school’s librarian. On Ironheart, she’s probably a little young for that, but repeatedly mentions how interested she is to study magic at Kamar-Taj, the monastery where Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) trains in the first titular movie, and later America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

It’s not too much of a stretch to think that a potential Strange Academy series could feature both Zelma and The Hood – or whatever Parker becomes without said demonic hood. At the very least, this is the most likely suspect for what this mid-credits scene was leading up to… Another possibility that doesn’t seem very likely to happen any time soon.

The other possibilities for following up on some of these characters could include Black Panther 3, given Riri debuted in the second Black Panther movie. That movie has at least been announced and is in the works from director Ryan Coogler, though we don’t have a timeline on when that will appear on screen… Nor any announced cast members, other than Denzel Washington in a mystery role.

Less sure but leaning into the magical aspects of Ironheart is Doctor Strange 3, something rumored given the blockbuster status of the previous movies, and a cliffhanger at the end of the second film. But that hasn’t been confirmed other than in the rumor mill, nor is it clear if it was greenlit that it would follow up on any of these plotlines, what with it being a Doctor Strange movie and not Ironheart 2 (feat. Doctor Strange).

And in terms of projects that are definitely in motion, the entire MCU seems to be set to appear in either Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars. It seems unlikely that either movie would have the room to deal with the weird veins growing on Riri’s arm, given the scale, but stranger things have happened.

But what of Mephisto? He’s a Thanos-level villain in Marvel Comics, and fans have been anticipating his debut for years now. It seems a little crazy to think they’d leave him on the shelf. A Doctor Strange movie could be the likeliest possibility for Mephisto’s next pizza date, as the hero and villain have tangled multiple times in the comics. But again, we just don’t know where he’ll be seen next.

And in fact, it’s unfortunately likely that none of this will be followed up on in any significant way. Times have changed for Marvel, strategy has changed, and the company that greenlit Ironheart way back in 2020 is not the same Marvel that we see today. Things could change again, of course. Most likely, what you see on screen in this finale is the end of the road for these characters, for the moment. Like Riri and Parker’s deals, we got what we wanted when it comes to Mephisto… But at what cost?