On paper, the Mephisto reveal is an exciting one for MCU fans who have been begging for it since WandaVision. Even if his appearance in Ironheart isn't comic book-accurate like it would have been in a show like WandaVision, it's still fitting given the show's broader conflict between magic and technology.

At its core, Ironheart explores how far people will go to make up for their past failings — and how those efforts can go wrong. Even a noble goal can lead someone down a dark path, the show suggests,

But at episode's end - after a suited-up Riri had clashed with a super-bionic Zeke Stane (Alden Ehrenreich), and then outwitted The Hood himself - Riri came face to face with a bearded individual, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Viewers knew him to be the same individual that Parker had met years prior, as seen in flashbacks.