Marvel has made a new Iron Man now - a young woman by the name of Riri Williams, donning the mantle and the name of Ironheart. The prodigy will be officially taking up the role of the mechanical hero (or heroine, in her case) by this November.
Wired covered an exclusive interview with writer Brian Michael Bendis, stating that the young heroine will be stepping into the suit and earning her name within the first issue of the relaunched "Invincible Iron Man." Both Bendis and artist Stefano worked on Riri Williams' origin and how it will tie in to her transformation as Ironheart.
Origins of her superhero name began on a group discussion with Bendis and a team of editors. While the name "Iron Woman" was deemed "old-fashioned" and "Iron Maiden" being like a "legal nightmare," "Ironheart," termed by comic book editor, writer, and artist Joe Quesada, was the most appropriate among their many choices. Bendis said that the name not only spoke "not only to the soul of the character but to the Iron Man franchise as a whole."
Riri Williams enrolled at MIT at the age of 15. She was able to reverse-engineer her own powersuit in her own dorm room, which caught Tony Stark's attention and eventually giving the title to her.
This doesn't necessarily mean, however, that Tony Stark will give up being the metal superhero we all know and love. In fact, William's armor A.I. will be patterned after Stark's personality, being there for her "spiritually."
Marvel has already made moves recently in the past in rebooting many of their franchises to promote diversity. Joining in with Riri Williams as Ironheart in this move include Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel, Jane Foster as the new Thor, Miles Morales as Spiderman, and Amadeus Cho as the Hulk.
According to an earlier interview with Time, Bendis mentioned about having newer characters as new versions of the heroes getting a whole range of mixed reactions from fans. There are fans who want something new and there are those who want things the same.
Bendis also hopes that fans will realize and learn to accept the changes he and the team are making. There are fans, however, who actually longed for a change of pace and style, especially in regards to diversity.
The writer also mentioned that it is essential that characters are created "in an organic setting," never to needlessly create character out of obligation. He added that he's draws inspiration from the world and the lack of what that world represents in popular culture.
Fans will get to see Ironheart and how her story will pan out in the first issue of the new "Invincible Iron Man" this Fall.
