Marvel has given us our first look at the eponymous armor that the 15 year old wunderkind Riri Williams will be donning this fall when she takes over the mantel of Iron Man this fall starting with Invincible Iron Man #1 this fall. The new suit, designed by artist Stefano Casseli, seems to show a more proficient and lustrous armor configuration. There’s no doubt as to the identity of this armor, she will definitely be the new Iron Man.
There’s a noticeable lack of any gender identifiers that seems to be by design. Perhaps Marvel will be keeping her identity secret from the public for the time being? We already know thanks to Brian Michael Bendis (who is no secret to controversial moves to the Marvel books), that Riri will be taking over for Tony Stark due to him going through some great financial and personal strife. Assuming Stark survives the events of Civil War II, we can make an educated guess that he will be providing a mentor role to the young Riri.
Riri is no stranger to armor desing, as she has created her own suit in her dorm room at MIT. She also shares some parallels in personality with Stark. Both are impulsive and seem to be aloof and not think about the consequences of their actions at times, and both created their first suits in secret in an amateur manner.
Riri Williams takes over as Iron Man starting this fall in Invinvible Iron Man #1
She’s had a solid run as a supporting character starting with a sub-plot in Invincible Iron Man #6, but will Riri have what it takes to be the Iron Man for an extended period of time? How much will her being a teenager and a student conflict with her new role as super hero?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!