Ironheart Premiere Sparks Familiar Backlash Pattern

On June 24, 2025, Disney released Ironheart, its newest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), on Disney+. Despite receiving positive reviews from critics for its first three episodes, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a fresh score of 72%, fans have given the show lower scores on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, with Ironheart debuting with a rotten fan score of 32%. However, there is one caveat that needs to be addressed: the negative fan score was posted before the show was even released.

Disney is no Stranger to Backlash

Disney’s latest properties, particularly those with inclusive content and castings, are no stranger to targeted negative ratings and disparaging commentary, with much of the content on platforms like YouTube aimed directly at the actors.

When analyzing recent Marvel and Disney releases, a pattern of review-bombing and targeted criticism emerges. In 2022, Ms. Marvel faced early negative reviews on IMDb, with several one-star ratings appearing before the series premiere had finished rolling out. Similarly, Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series, also airing in 2022, sparked controversy, with actress Moses Ingram becoming the target of coordinated attacks, prompting public support from Disney and Ewan McGregor, who played the titular character. More recently, in 2023, the release of The Little Mermaid featuring Halle Bailey, a Black woman, as Ariel was also the subject of review bombing, leading IMDb to filter out non-genuine reviews and issue a formal statement on the matter.

Shea Couleé, of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame, joins the cast of Ironheart as Slug, a bold drag queen and hacker. Couleé, who is no stranger to how passionate and sometimes misguided fandom can be from her own experience on reality TV, has faced online attacks centered around anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments. Some people have said “no one asked for this” about a prominent drag performer appearing on the show, despite Marvel Comics creating a character partly based on Couleé and several other drag queens back in 2019.

What Happens Next?

It’s no secret that review bombing has become the go-to tactic for online actors to attack projects with female, non-white, and queer leads and cast members. While those making these criticisms may claim that they are allowed to dislike shows like Ironheart, and they are right, they are free not to enjoy an IP just because its story and cast are diverse. However, they go far beyond simply disliking the show. Saying that the show is bad based on the trailer, hearsay, or internal biases that exist outside of the show, before it’s even aired, isn’t just disliking it; that’s discomfort with the mere existence of inclusion.

Now that Ironheart has officially made its debut, a more nuanced depiction of its reception is available. The previous 32% fan score has been updated to an average score of 60%, indicating that it still falls on the lower side for Disney+ and MCU content. However, it still presents an overall solid and favorable view in comparison to its score before its debut. While the review bombed scores still weigh down the newer one, it highlights that even when a diverse cast is exceptional or even just “good enough,” they must still contend with viewpoints and opinions that have already been formed, even before their proverbial stage has been set.