[8] In March 2020, Xiran Jay Zhao signed a two-book deal with Penguin Teen Canada[9] for a reimagining of the rise of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor of China who ruled during the late 600s.

"[16] Numerous anime shows, such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Digimon, and Attack on Titan served as inspiration for Iron Widow.

Aided by mysterious and unseen gods (the Heavenly Council), humanity has recovered from a devastating attack ages ago that forced civilization to rebuild.

Chrysalises are piloted by young men with high levels of spirit pressure who can release their qi, following the five classical Asian elements.

Male-female pairings that don't risk the concubine's death are called Balanced Matches, but are rare and treated as celebrity marriages.

The strongest male pilot in history was the legendary emperor Qin Zheng, rumored to be frozen in stasis within his Chrysalis, the Yellow Dragon, to stave off an illness until a cure could be found.

Zetian discovers that Shimin is actually a gentle artist who murdered his family for gang raping a young woman and that the army forced his alcohol addiction to control him.

Shimin and Zetian torture a high-ranking official, who confesses that girls are just as likely to have strong spirit pressure as boys, but the system is rigged to ensure the survival of the male pilot.

Zetian establishes herself as the new ruler of Huaxia, "Empress Wu", and together with Yizhi, forces the surviving military and political powers to submit.

[19] Kara Savoy, Penguin Random House Canada's integrated marketing director, told Singer that "it's one of the books that we've really been sending out to Canadian influencers.

[19] Iron Widow reached #1 in the Young Adult Hardcover category of New York Times Best Sellers in the first week after its release.

[25] Business Insider highlighted that the Iron Widow is on "The 20 most popular young adult reads of 2021" list based on Goodreads reviewers.

It was announced that J.C. Lee was hired to write the screenplay and that the film will be produced by Erik Feig, Jessica Switch and Julia Hammer.