Iron Man Is A Young Black Woman Now (Well, In The Comics, At Least)

Tony Stark is taking a breather from the Iron Man suit in Marvel’s new comic series, letting newcomer Riri Williams step into the role.

Time broke the exclusive news, from Marvel’s upcoming Civil War II instalment. (The comics company has assured readers that knowing these details does not spoil any of the book’s events.)

Of course, what’s most notable about Stark’s replacement is that she’s a young black woman, which is a huge anomaly in the otherwise lily-white (and testosterone-heavy) world of comic books.

Writer Brian Michael Bendis explained to Time that Williams – a 15-year-old science prodigy who builds her own Iron Man suit in her MIT dorm room – “is flying by [Stark] in terms of how quickly she’s doing it.”

“Her brain is maybe a little better than his,” he adds. She’ll begin her tenure in All-New Invincible Iron Man #1.

Bendis also commented on the guaranteed fan backlash.

“Some of the comments online, I don’t think people even realise how racist they sound. I’m not saying if you criticize you’re a racist, but if someone writes, “Why do we need Riri Williams we already have Miles [Morales, a black-Hispanic teen who took over as Spider-Man]?” 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.”

Though you can easily find hostile comments about Riri online, we’ll share a more tempered – but nonetheless misguided – common argument:

Iron Man being black. Who cares.
Iron Man being a woman. Huh. Okay.
Iron Man being 15 years old.
There comes a point where it's like:
why

— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) July 6, 2016

It’s easy for those from demographics who’ve found themselves commonly represented as heroes in comics, movies, television and literally every medium in history to think of these kinds of updates as unnecessary. But undeniably, representation of minorities – particularly in comics – has been unfortunate, whether it be through racist depictions, or none at all.

Riri Williams could give young black women an icon to idolise, just as Peter Parker is idolised by young white men. Williams won’t just have to be a hero to simply one race either, or one gender, just as Tony Stark is not solely for white dudes.

Basically, diversity should always be welcomed with an open-mind. Bring on Civil War II.

Photo: Marvel.