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Iron Man may not be a man for much longer, as Marvel has just chosen Riri Williams, a 15-year-old Black woman, to take over from Tony Stark, Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis revealed to Time magazine Wednesday.
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In an effort to move away from the typically white male hero, the comics publisher has created the character of Williams, a “science genius who enrolls in MIT at the age of 15” and “comes to the attention of Tony when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm,” reports Time.
Bendis said it was inspired by the story of a “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.”
This is not the first time Bendis has broken the mould. The writer has also participated in the creation of a new Miles Morales, the teenage half-black half-Puerto Rican Spider-Man, as well as female superheroes Jessica Jones and Maria Hill.
The increasing diversity of Marvel's characters, although harshly criticized by various conservative sectors, has been welcomed by “an audience crawling through the desert looking for an oasis,” says Bendis.
The move may be considered progressive but it remains to be seen how truly feminist Marvel's new superhero will be. As previous female characters like Wonder Women have shown, superheroes who are women are often typecast as eroticized figures, defined more by their sex appeal than anything else.
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