Marvel's Kevin Feige announced that Thorne would be joining "Wakanda Forever" during an August 2021 interview with Comicbook.com. "We're shooting 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' right now, and the character of Riri Williams, you will meet in 'Black Panther 2' first," he said. "She started shooting, I think, this week before her 'Ironheart' series."
Thorne's Riri Williams is an MIT student who creates a suit that rivals Iron Man's. She'll star in her own vehicle, "Ironheart," in 2023, but first she will make an appearance in "Wakanda Forever" — and the new trailer showcases her putting together her suit, taking flight, and plunging into battle, showing she'll have much more than a cameo in the film.
In an Oct. 3 feature, Thorne told Entertainment Weekly that she loves the character's individuality. "She's definitely not the typical or traditional superhero," she said. "She's very much Riri Williams, the 19-year-old student first, and then there's this whole Ironheart business that she has to figure out."