Tony Stark’s protege Riri Williams has gotten her own superhero name. Marvel comics’ new Iron Man will go by the name of Ironheart, according to Wired
Riri, a 15-year-old genius enrolled at MIT, was able to catch Stark’s attention after she reverse-engineered one of his power suits. Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Stefano Caselli teamed up to create Riri and wanted to make sure her superhero name was as unique as her character.
“Iron Woman seemed old fashioned to some,” Bendis told Wired . “Iron Maiden looked like a legal nightmare. And Ironheart, coined by Joe Quesada, after I told him my planned story for Riri, speaks not only to the soul of the character but to the Iron Man franchise as a whole. Tony first put on the armor to save his heart. Riri puts it on for different reasons altogether but still heart-related. When people see her story, you’ll be amazed at how simple and brilliant Joe’s suggestion was.”
While Stark is a part of Riri’s story, he won’t be involved in her Iron suit’s A.I. Instead, Stark will be more of a mentor to Riri. Ironheart’ s first issue will debut this November, and hopefully the stories will be unique, considering the backlash the comic faced earlier this year. Among other complaints, comic fans were not happy to see the Riri story wasn’t being written by a black female, and called out Marvel for not taking the opportunity to diversify their writing staff.
Still, Riri’s story is a step in the right direction for Marvel, who's been taking steps to diversify their superhero lineup with the introduction of the female Thor and a mixed-race Spider-Man. What do you think of Ironheart? Let us know in the comments section below.
