Marvel's new Iron Man is going to look completely different
Teenage black woman is the latest character in Marvel's diversification of classic heroes
Tony Stark is out, and Riri Williams is in.
A black woman is taking over Stark's Iron Man suit as part of Marvel's "Marvel NOW!" relaunch this fall.
Williams is a 15-year-old student at MIT who comes to Stark's attention when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm.
"Her brain is maybe a little better than his," Brian Michael Bendis, Williams' creator, told TIME. "She looks at things from a different perspective that makes the armor unique."
This is the latest addition to Marvel's plans to diversify its classic superheroes. There's already a female Thor, a Muslim-American Captain Marvel named Kamala Khan, and a black Latino Spider-Man named Miles Morales — who was also created by Bendis.
Though many see the new additions as a a step forward in Marvel's long tradition of making white men the superheroes, there is still pushback to the new class of diverse heroes.