A black teenager is putting Tony Stark out of a job- at least as Iron Man.
Marvel has unveiled its newest character to the superhero family. Her name is RiRi Williams. Marvel Comics veteran writer Brian Michael Bendis describes her in a TIME magazine interview as a science genius, who enrolled in MIT at the age of 15.  She caught Stark’s attention when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm.

Bendis tells TIME the idea of RiRi came about while he working in Chicago on a TV show . He came across the story of a young woman whose life was filled with violence, mainly from the streets where she lived. But instead of surrendering to the hardships of her environment, the woman went to college. Bendis says her story inspired him.

“I thought that was the most modern version of a superhero or superheroine story I had ever heard, ” he tells TIME. “And I sat with it for awhile until I had the right character and the right place.”
Williams will make her debut in “Invincible Iron Man” comic book this fall.

Marvel has several diverse characters in their comic books but they have never appeared  in a Marvel film or TV adaptation. They include: the African-American Captain America, the Asian -American Hulk, Muslim Ms. Marvel, biracial Spider Man and female Thor.  Also let’s not forget “The Black Panther”, starring Chadwick Boseman. It premieres in theaters July 6, 2018.