'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' star Dominique Thorne's Ironheart suit weighed 52.5 pounds, which she says was 'exactly half my body weight'

• "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" star Dominique Thorne spoke to Variety about her Ironheart suit.
• Thorne said that her suit was "all practical" and weighed 52.5 pounds, excluding one piece.

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" star Dominique Thorne said that her character Riri Williams' Ironheart suit was half her body weight.

"Unlike some of the other suits that may be added in later with visual effects, the Mark I was all practical," Thorne said of the costume in a new interview with Variety.

The actor added: "To get to feel the weight of that on my body and just understand how it moves — you almost want to say it's clunky, but when you have it on, you realize, 'Oh, this is actually such a smart build, like all my joints are free so I have so much movement. But also, this is heavy as hell. And it flies? Whoa!'"

The "Black Panther" sequel, now in theaters, centers on the people of Wakanda in the wake of King T'Challa's (Chadwick Boseman) death. The film also marks the introduction of Thorne's whip-smart character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Without spoiling her exact involvement in "BP 2," Riri is a 19-year-old student at MIT who's a gifted engineer and mechanic. Her actions lead her to cross paths with Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Okoye (Danai Gurira), who track her down at her campus.

More about the character will be explored in the upcoming series "Ironheart," set for release on Disney+ in fall 2023, but "BP 2" shows the budding superhero taking flight in her suit.

Thorne told Variety that it was "otherworldly" to feel the weight of the suit when she tried it on for the first time. The "Judas and the Black Messiah" star also said that, as she became more comfortable in the elaborate and bulky costume, "walking around in it became a lot easier."

"They just told me the weight of it like a month ago," she said. "They waited until we were done."

Thorne added that the suit weighs "52.5 pounds, and that's without one piece."

"That is exactly half my body weight," she said, adding that she was strengthened "physically, mentally, spiritually" by wearing the suit.