‘Ironheart’ Director Sam Bailey Speaks Thursday; Filming Begins in Chicago Tuesday

One of the most highly anticipated series to land in Chicago is here, and the action is about to get underway. The Ironheart fandom will kick into high gear this Thursday when Sam Bailey, one of the directors of the Marvel Studios series for Disney+, Ironheart, will be headlining a special event. The Emmy-nominated director and Chicago native will be taking time out of her busy schedule to join IFA Chicago for an intimate chat, which is open to the public. Then Bailey and her Marvel Studios teammates launch into filming the following week. SCREEN broke the news earlier this month that Ironheart will be shooting in Chicago beginning Tuesday, October 25th. Here is everything you need to know…

Updates on Ironheart in Chicago

The series is expected to film in Chicago from Tuesday, October 25th through Thursday, November 3rd. The Unit Production Manager for this shoot is Kevin McGrail, who served as UPM on the big-budget Amazon series Paper Girls that filmed in Illinois last year.

In addition to Bailey, there is another Chicago talent anchoring the series. Ironheart cast includes Homewood, Illinois native Lyric Ross, best known for her star turn on the Emmy-winning series This Is Us. Ross will play Ironheart’s best friend.

More details about the show below, but first, let’s give you full details for this week’s event…

Thursday Details and Tickets

This Thursday, October 20th, IFA Chicago will be hosting an intimate conversation with one of the directors of the Ironheart series, Emmy-nominated Chicago native Sam Bailey. This event is part of the organization’s In Focus with… series.

Doors open at 6:30 pm Central. The event will take place at IFA (Independent Film Alliance) Chicago’s Hub, 2602 W. 16th Street 4th Floor, located on the Cinespace Film Studios campus. The program will be an in-person event with Bailey attending in-person.

Click here to purchase your tickets for this highly anticipated event.

Chicagoan in the Marvel Studios Director’s Chair

As SCREEN reported earlier this year, Chicago native Sam Bailey is directing multiple episodes of this latest foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Sam Bailey’s star has taken off since her Primetime Emmy nomination for the web series Brown Girls, which she created with poet Fatimah Asghar in her hometown of Chicago. The series starred two young women coming to terms with queer identity, and navigating career and relationships, and went on to be developed with HBO. Since then, Bailey has become a mainstay in the television circuit, directing episodes of the series Alone Together, First Wives Club, East of La Brea, Grown-ish, Loosely Exactly Nicole, and Netflix’s Dear White People, for which she was also a writer and producer.

As for Bailey’s Chicago roots, she was born in the city’s Logan Square neighborhood. Bailey began stage acting as a teenager and received her bachelor’s degree from Columbia College Chicago, before co-creating the aforementioned Brown Girls.

So Who Is Ironheart? Let’s Bring You Up to Speed

Comic book aficionados will recall that Riri Williams/Ironheart was first introduced in Marvel Comics in 2016, the creation of writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato. In the comics, she is a 15-year-old MIT student who reverse engineers Iron Man’s armor in order to create armor of her own. Iron Man, also known as Tony Stark, eventually took notice and gave her his encouragement to pursue the life of a superhero.

There is yet another notable Chicago connection with the Ironheart franchise. One of the writers on the comic book series back in 2018 was Chicagoan Eve Ewing. Click here to enjoy her interview with marvel.com. As to Ewing’s involvement with the television series, SCREEN will have updates as they become available.

To bring you up to speed, here is a quick Ironheart character breakdown from vlogger Blerd Without Fear…

For more about Marvel Studios’ upcoming shoot in Chicago later this month, click here for SCREEN’s latest article about the Ironheart production.

Click here to become an IFA Chicago member and to learn more about all of the outstanding initiatives from this organization.

Check back here at SCREEN for updates as Ironheart heads to Chicago this month. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.