Meet Riri Williams. She's a teenager black girl from Chicago, a science genius who enrolls in MIT at 15 and she will be taking Tony Spark's place in the Iron Man series using a suit that she built herself by reverse-engineering one of Stark's old model armors.
Impressive!
Williams' first appearance was in this year's Invincible Iron Man #7. According to writer Brian Michael Bendis, the story is about "a brilliant, young woman whose life was marred by tragedy that could have easily ended her life — just random street violence — and went off to college.”
Bendis thinks that Williams' story was the most modern version of a superhero or superheroine story he's ever heard.”
He anticipates mixed reactions from fans, saying "there are fans who say, 'show us the new stuff,' and then there are fans who say, 'don’t do anything different from when I was a kid.' So when you’re introducing new characters, you’re always going to have people getting paranoid about us ruining their childhood."
And he's right.
Some fans welcome this new plot in the series.
I LOVE THAT THE NEW IRON MAN IS A BLACK GIRL. I'm here for Riri Williams— Timothy (@TimothyNesmith) July 6, 2016
I want Riri Williams comics right now— Dayanne (@Dayanne_Couto) July 6, 2016
Yaaaas black teenage GIRL as the new Iron Man?!?! I'm so down— Marvin Johnson (@MarvinLeonJr) July 6, 2016
While some have complaints coming from different perspectives.
@RobertDowneyJr not happy— Jake (@sleepywil) July 7, 2016
@RobertDowneyJr so many of you quoting this... relax guys I am gutted about Robert leaving that's all...— Jake (@sleepywil) July 7, 2016
@CharlesPulliam more childhood superheroes ruined because it's sexist to women. Great— Remember the salt (@llamabuzz) July 6, 2016
Excited to read, but hoping @Marvel will hire black women writers. Young woc deserve heroes written for them. https://t.co/3NHZ4vBoa3— Andrea L. Pino (@andreactually) 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."
A new Ironman? Riri Williams? Marvel is trying so hard to be relevant.— Felipe Dumas Varon (@PhoeboBuffay) July 6, 2016
Fan cast for Riri Williams : Teyonah Parris !!! pic.twitter.com/eTj74xLvfL— taylor (@papibellamy) July 6, 2016
Fans have named great actresses in their 30s eg Lupita, Gugu How about cast an actual teenager and make her a star? #IronMan #RiRiWilliams— Alfonso Espina (@alfonsoespina) July 7, 2016
Please cast rihanna as riri williams #invincibleironman— Tam (@TamimiTakrim) July 7, 2016
@marvel PLEASE donot cast Rihanna as #ririwilliams YOUR riri doesn't return to bad situations w/o regard to her influence. She's stronger!!!— Cynthia (@Opinion_NYC) July 7, 2016
This is an inevitable transformation in the Iron Man series, so generally, people are excited.
Get ready for a new generation of Marvel BAMF... pic.twitter.com/nMChfQkh0n— Robert Downey Jr (@RobertDowneyJr) July 7, 2016
Photos: Marvel Entertainment | Comicbook.com
Sources: Time | BuzzFeed
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