As has been said by many people in many places, comics are weird. Wonderful, but weird. The latest wonderful weirdness is the news that Iron Man (aka Tony Stark), the richest and saltiest of Marvel’s Avengers, has been replaced in his famous flying suit by teen genius Riri Williams. Oh, and because “Iron Man” doesn’t quite work for a 15-year-old girl, Williams will be known as “Ironheart” when she takes to the skies in the all-new Invincible Iron Man #1 due out this fall.
Just to be clear, this switcheroo is only in the comics for now—Robert Downey Jr.’s job is safe for the time being. However, it does mark the continuation of a trend that has seen Marvel replace several of its most popular heroes with new characters who come from often underrepresented groups. Currently, Thor’s ex-girlfriend Jane Foster wields his hammer and Asian-American whiz kid Amadeus Cho has replaced the recently deceased Bruce Banner as the Hulk.
Speaking of whiz kids, Williams is a teen prodigy who made her own Iron Man-like suit of armor in her MIT dorm room. Nice! A person of color stepping into the shoes of a major comic-book hero is rare enough—that she’s a young woman in the STEAM field is actually unique.
Now, comics being weird, you should expect that Williams’ tenure as Tony Stark’s replacement won’t be permanent (few things in comics are, including death). Nonetheless, it’s a wonderful moment for Marvel and a nice nod to all those young women trying to make something of themselves in the science and tech worlds. Girls, your hero has arrived.
