Marvel has actively been introducing more diversity in its comics in the past several months. Their latest project involves a new black Iron Man. The new superhero replacing Tony Stark will reportedly be a 15-year-old black female named Riri Williams.
Writer Michael Brian Bendis stated that after the events of "Civil War II," Tony Stark will decide to exit The Avengers. In turn, Riri Williams will step in as the black Iron Man, who is also a scientific and mechanical expert.
Riri enrolled in the prestigious MIT at only 15 years old and grabbed the attention of Tony after he discovered that she created her own version of the Iron Man suit in her own dorm room.
In an interview with TIME, Bendis said that he decided to feature Riri Williams as the new black Iron Man two years ago in Chicago. He intended to come up with a superhero who dealt with street violence in Chicago and used the experience to improve the world.
Instead of making Williams a vigilante, the writer provided her with very high intelligence to help those in need. Compared to Tony Stark, Riri is ahead in terms of acumen and experience.
Bendis said that fans had mixed reactions regarding the new black Iron Man. He was given the benefit of the doubt at least, after the introduction of new characters like Miles Morales, Kamala Khan, female Thor, and Jessica Jones, among others. He acknowledged that diversity in the new cast has caused controversies among loyal fans.
However, he hopes that people will be more open with the adjustments. He added that it is important to create the character in an organic setting. The character was inspired by Bendis' environment and he saw that it was underrepresented in popular culture.
It took some time to transform The Avengers into a more diverse team. The older creators said that they wish they provided more diversity in the past. The positive reactions that they have been getting from various people reportedly encourages them to keep moving towards the right direction.
Bendis hinted that Tony Stark will encounter the black Iron Man shortly in the comics. He will particularly be intrigued by Riri, who seems to be more intelligent than him and flying around in the same armor that he has.
Polygon noted that Bendis found it very important to tell different stories from various perspectives. The creation of Riri Williams as the black Iron Man will hopefully pave the way to the introduction of more diverse Marvel superheroes in the near future.
