'RuPaul's Drag Race' pride Shea Coulée to join the cast of 'Ironheart'

American drag queen and popular actor Shea Couleé is the latest to board the Marvel train. They've joined the cast on Disney+'s Ironheart in an undisclosed role. Couleé joins series lead Dominique Thorne, Hamilton's Anthony Ramos and Solo: A Star Wars Story's Alden Ehrenreich, whose roles are also currently being kept under wraps, reported Deadline.

Shea was competitor on RuPaul’s Drag Race, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars and finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars All Winners. Sharing their excitement about becoming a part of the MCU, Coulee tweeted, "BEYOND excited to be strutting out of the Werkroom right into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Words cannot express how excited I am to be a part of this amazing project! Acting was my first love, and I’m thrilled to be doing it again in such a big way!"

Ironheart, set to debut on Disney+ in the fall of 2023, stars Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk, Judas and the Black Messiah) as engineering genius Riri Williams, who, in the comics, develops a super suit similar to Tony Stark’s Iron Man. The show's cast also includes Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Lyric Ross (This Is Us), and Manny Montana (Good Girls). Thorne’s character is set to be introduced this fall in the Marvel feature film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Chinaka Hodge was recently tapped as head writer on the series. Coulee’s role is presently unknown.

Shea Couleé is the drag identity of Jaren Kyei Merrell, who identifies as non-binary. Interestingly, industry scooper Daniel Richtman, aka DanielRPK, reported this past March that Marvel Studios was looking to cast a major non-binary character for Ironheart. The casting call allegedly did not include the character's name, though did describe them as being "extremely intelligent, shrewd" and "poised."

Coulee caught the eye of the audience after competing on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. They went on to win the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars before also competing in the latter show's seventh season. In 2016, Couleé co-produced, directed, wrote and starred in their own film, titled Lipstick City. In addition to this Shea has also been featured in major prominent publications throughout the world, including covers in Out, Entertainment Weekly, Gay Times, and the international fashion magazine Metal.

Ironheart will debut in the fall of 2023, exclusively on Disney+.