Riri Williams, the successor of the original Iron Man (a.k.a. Tony Stark), will be known as Ironheart. This 15-year-old genius initially caught Stark’s attention by constructing her own version of the Iron Man suit in her MIT dorm room.
Writer Brian Michael Bendis came up with the idea for this new protagonist. Artist Stefano Caselli developed the character design. International Business Times reports that Williams’ debut as Ironheart will be unveiled in the first issue of the Invincible Iron Man series. The publisher has set the release date for November 2016.
In an interview with WIRED, Bendis revealed the thought process behind choosing Williams’ new superhero moniker: “Iron Woman seemed old fashioned to some. Iron Maiden looked like a legal nightmare. And Ironheart, coined by Joe Quesada, after I told him my planned story for Riri, speaks not only to the soul of the character but to the Iron Man franchise as a whole. Tony first put on the armor to save his heart. Riri puts it on for different reasons altogether but still heart-related. When people see her story, you’ll be amazed at how simple and brilliant Joe’s suggestion was.” (via Mashable)