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Marvel’s New Iron Man Is A Teenage Girl

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Marvel has given Iron Man a dramatic makeover in the comics world unveiling a new incarnation of the the beloved character - she’s a scientifically-gifted teenager named Riri Williams… who also happens to be black.

Williams is set to assume the Iron Man mantle in Brian Michael Bendis’s ‘Invincible Iron Man’ comic series, and she’ll be introduced after the end of the Marvel-spanning event series ‘Civil War II’.

“Riri is a science genius who enrolls in MIT at the age of 15,” explains Time, “She comes to the attention of Tony when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm.”

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It sounds like it’s only a temporary measure in the comics with the new Iron Man stepping in while Tony Stark has some of his own issues to resolve.

“One of the things Tony does to distract himself from all the things going on in his life,” says Bendis, “is he goes to find this young woman who is flying around the middle of America in an armour that’s not completely made to try to find out what her deal is.”

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Riri Williams is the latest character introduced by the comics giant to address Marvel’s perceived diversity problem that’s historically seen most of its characters being portrayed as caucasian men.

The black-hispanic Miles Morales was introduced as the new Spider-Man in 2011, Pakistani-American Kamala Khan became the new Ms. Marvel in 2013, and in 2014 Jane Foster became the female Thor.

Bendis says there has been some resistance from fans over the new direction for these beloved characters but, overall, the response has been very positive.

“Some of the comments online, I don’t think people even realise how racist they sound,” explains Bendis.

“I’m not saying if you criticise you’re a racist, but if someone writes, ‘Why do we need Riri Williams we already have Miles?’ that’s a weird thing to say. They’re individuals just like Captain America and Cyclops are individuals.

“All I can do is state my case for the character, and maybe they’ll realise over time that that’s not the most progressive thinking.

“But increasingly we see less and less of that. Once Miles hit, and Kamala Khan hit and female Thor hit—there was a part of an audience crawling through the desert looking for an oasis when it came to representation, and now that it’s here, you’ll go online and be greeted with this wave of love.”

Image credits: Marvel