Tony Stark is retiring the suit and handing over the Iron Man title to 15-year-old genius Riri Williams — and she’s probably going to need a new alter ego name.
The young black girl caught Stark’s attention in the Invincible Iron Man #9 issue of Marvel’s Civil War II series when she reverse-engineers one of his old suits in her MIT dorm room. “Her brain is maybe a little better than his,” writer Brian Michael Bendis comments. She gets kicked out of school because of the experiment, but uses that as a chance to seek out Stark himself.
"I dared myself."
— Riri Williams (@WomanWithIron) May 23, 2016
pic.twitter.com/wD7tTrVieE
Riri isn’t the first female or person of color to try on the Iron Man suit for size, but the character is slated to become a main fixture of the new Marvel generation, a more diverse generation of characters.
While Marvel has been diversifying on the page, it’s been slow to follow suit in the writers room. Most of the Marvel comics that put women and people of color front and center are still written by white men — including the Invincible Iron Man series, which Riri will be the centerpiece of. This has prompted some to respond to Marvel’s unveiling of the new character on social media with tempered excitement.
I'd be more excited about Riri Williams if the book were written by a black woman.
— Dominant Queen DJ (@OhHeyDJ) July 6, 2016
Marvel Comics: "Iron Man as a black woman would be dope."
— Ira Madison III (@ira) July 6, 2016
Black Woman: "I would love to write —"
Marvel: "We have white people for that."
I'm happy for all of these Black women leads in Marvel comics, but really wish the publisher would give Black women a chance to write them
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) July 6, 2016
Bendis acknowledges that the lack of diverse representation in the past is problematic.
“Talking to any of the older creators, it's the thing they said they wish they'd done more of — reflecting the world around them. It just wasn't where the world was at at that time. Now, when you have a young woman come up to you at a signing and say how happy she is to be represented in his universe, you know you're moving in the right direction,” he told TIME.
There’s still more to be done, but it’s certainly a step toward an inclusive representation of the world. Riri is also poised to be a figure to whom young female comic fans can relate, an example of a smart and empowered girl, capable of anything.
i'm pretty sure i can say that riri williams single-handedly saved me and everyone in the marvel fandom
— very tired noor (@harlcyivy) July 6, 2016
Some are already anticipating a movie and making casting speculations.
Skai Jackson turns 15 next year. pic.twitter.com/HZi2E6BaPR
— Jumah Eid (@TheUnholyPrince) July 6, 2016