Marvel is changing things up in their Comic Book Universe. After the publisher relaunched its series it looks like one of the famous faces of Marvel, Iron Man is about to change. Usually, Tony Stark, billionaire playboy, but now its time for a new Iron Man. Or will she be called Iron Woman?
RiRi Williams is a genius 15 year who attends M.I.T, of course who else could fill Tony Stark’s metal boots. Williams gets the job after creating her own Iron Man suit that must leave quite the impression on good old Tony Stark. Infamous Marvel writer, Brian Michael Bendis, who broke down the knew character RiRi Williams in an article with Time.
“One of the things that stuck with me when I was working in Chicago a couple of years ago on a TV show that didn’t end up airing was the amount of chaos and violence,” Bendis said of developing the new character. “And this story of this 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 was very inspiring to me. I thought that was the most modern version of a superhero or superheroine story I had ever heard.”
Source: Marvel/Time
As the internet usually does there is plenty of fanboys crying out asking why?
Bends said in his article with the Time
Some of the comments online, I don’t think people even realize 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?” 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 realize 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.
I think what’s most important is that the character is created in an organic setting. We never had a meeting saying, “we need to create this character.” It’s inspired by the world around me and not seeing that represented enough in popular culture.
RiRi Williams is one of many new characters who have been used to diversify Marvel’s comic storylines and create a new world to read for the generations to come.
