After two weeks on Disney Plus, Ironheart aired its season finale during a three-episode drop on Tuesday night. Though the show didn’t serve as a vehicle for Riri Williams’ introduction into the Marvel universe, it’s brought in new and not-so-new characters that we recognize from the comic books and greater MCU — even if some of them were only present in spirit. 

The penultimate episode saw Riri, Ezekiel/Joe and Parker confront their daddy issues in their own ways, with the latter putting a gun to his father’s head and seizing his home and company. Though he has Ezekiel under his thumb, he still doesn’t know Riri is alive. She got busy working with her family and Zelma Stanton to forge new armor made from parts of her stepfather’s car. Sadly for her, by the end, she lost her bestie and AI assistant Natalie when magic was uploaded to her suit. That’s a double heartbreak over Natalie’s loss.

Magic has a price, doesn’t it? It’s something we’ve seen with Doctor Strange, Agatha Harkness and Scarlet Witch. 

Still, Riri put a plan in motion to take on The Hood in the lead-up to the finale. She wants the cloak for her own reasons. I’m going to break down what happened in the finale episode, that being who showed up at the end and what it could all mean for the MCU. If you haven’t watched the series or these last three episodes, do not read any further. Spoilers ahead.

Parker’s path to The Hood and his undoing

Opening this episode with Parker’s path to demonic deal-making helped viewers realize how he wound up with the hood and the markings on his body. In the past, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Lucifer-like character (“What is your greatest desire?”) appeared with nefarious intentions, including his insidious act of eating pizza with a fork and knife. This isn’t aligned with how they meet in the Marvel comics, but we know Parker basically sells access to his soul in exchange for money and power. 

When Riri shows up at the pizza spot to fight The Hood, she has to get through Joe first, who’s magically programmed like a puppet to protect Parker at all costs. She figures out a crafty way to override his tech and shut him down. After this and the careless move Riri made that got Joe locked up, they’re not exactly friends but not raging enemies, either. “Joe’s gone. I have millions of dollars’ worth of weapons inside me, and no idea where to put this anger.” He tells her to handle Parker and lets her know that the two of them aren’t done. What does that mean?

Parker/Hood isn’t too surprised when a fully alive Riri confronts him in his loft, but he’s thrown off by her use of magic. They battle, his demon-esque side pops out, and she activates her “emergency protocol” to prevent him from destroying them both. It looks like Riri’s blown up her suit — and The Hood — as she crawls through pieces of scrap. Parker is fine, aims a gun at a teary-eyed Riri with the intention of shooting her “for John.” But it’s all a hologram! 

She appears behind him, snatches the cloak off him and leaves him writhing on the floor in agony. “Don’t you see what it’s doing to you?” Now, this feels a little hypocritical because she wants the hood for her own designs, but nevertheless, she leaves Parker begging for it back and walks out. 

With great pizza, comes the great Mephisto

Following her tussle with Parker, Riri takes the elevator downstairs to Desperito’s Pizza. That cunning fork-and-knife pizza-eating demon is waiting at the table. He snaps Riri out of her suit and makes it vanish while imploring her to sit with him. She realizes he’s the source of Parker’s hood, and he starts his sales pitch about helping her achieve her dreams. “I’ve been watching you. Rooting for you. Wanting to meet you for some time now because I love the exceptional, the driven, the dogged — someone inquisitive and curious.” 

Homing in on her underdog complex, he offers to help and lays it on thick by adding that he’s aided all 100 people on Forbes’ richest list. Then he hits her with a combo of telepathy and saying Riri’s own words aloud of “building something iconic.” Her response? “Yeah, OK, Dormammu.” 

A guttural laugh signals that’s not who this is, and he tells her she can call him Mephisto. Yeah, it’s the Mephisto so many of you have been waiting for since WandaVision, Multiverse of Madness and Agatha All Along. He’s here, and he’s insulted that anyone would think Dormammu is powering the cloak. How rude of us. 

Ultimately, he asks her what she wants, then reads her mind as she recalls her memories with Natalie — the real one and the AI version. He pushes her to accept his help, and assures her “the catch” is something “she won’t miss.” The camera cuts, ending their interaction before we see her answer. 

A new scene shows a table covered with magical supplies and candles, and Riri analyzing sorcerous seals and mathematical formulas. A voice calls her name, she looks up, and it’s Natalie. Riri says, “It worked?!” and rambles about her advanced AI creation. But this is flesh-and-bone Natalie, brought back from the dead, and they’re both shocked and confused. 

In a flashback, Riri did indeed shake hands with Mephisto, and that’s confirmed when we see black lines crawl up her arm as she hugs Natalie. 

Ironheart’s mid-credits scene 

A short time after the credits roll, Parker appears and walks into Stanton’s shop. His head is covered, but there are traces of blackened lines on his face — so his demonic connection is clearly not broken. 

It’s his and Zelma’s first meeting, but he wastes no time asking for magical help. Doubtful that she’s capable of more than tricks, he implies he wants to see “what’s in the back.” Zelma stares him down as he says, “I know you don’t know me, at least not yet. But if you’re up for it, how about a little abracadabra?” She shrugs, and the scene cuts. 

What does all this mean for the MCU? 

Oh, Mephisto’s presence can go in multiple directions, but remember this series marks the end of Phase 5. Phase 6 is still in the Multiverse Saga, so as far as realities and timelines go, there’s room for resurrections, shape-shifting, dimension hopping, reality bending and more drama in the cosmos. Mephisto’s comic book entanglements have him involved with Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, Loki, Victor Von Doom (aka Doctor Doom) and a host of other heroes and villains (yeah, Moon Knight and Scarlet Witch, too).

It wouldn’t be completely impossible to see Mephisto making deals with Peter Parker or anyone else in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and definitely don’t be surprised if Marvel drops him into Avengers: Doomsday. This demon’s comic storylines with the Avengers, Doc Doom, and even the Maximoff twins could be reworked for the big screen as well as upcoming TV shows like Wonder Man or Vision Quest. Nothing is confirmed, but it’s time to get your fan theories popping.