Marvel revealed last month that Tony Stark is retiring his familiar armored suit and letting a new character, Riri Williams, step into his shoes come November, leaving fans to wonder what superhero moniker the new female character would adopt. We now have the answer, thanks to Wired, and it turns out Williams will be known as Ironheart.
It took some discussion for editors to agree on a name. Perhaps the most obvious suggestion, Iron Woman, was rejected because it “seemed old-fashioned to some,” writer Brian Michael Bendis told Wired. Other options were thrown around, but in the end, it was writer, editor, and artist Joe Quesada’s idea that won out.
The superhero name is fitting for a number of reasons, according to Bendis; it “speaks not only to the soul of the character but to the Iron Man franchise as a whole,” he said. He added that although Stark and Williams’ reasons for putting on the armor are different, they’re both “heart-related.”
“When people see her story, you’ll be amazed at how simple and brilliant Joe’s suggestion was,” said Bendis.
Williams will take over from Stark in Invincible Iron Man #1, which is due out this fall. While many readers will be sad to see Iron Man go, he won’t be absent in every sense. Editor Tom Breevort assured Wired that Williams’ in-armor A.I. will be based on the beloved superhero’s personality and that he’ll be “soaring along with her spiritually.”
Williams suit will be different from that of her predecessor in some ways, though. Apparently, being the science prodigy that she is, she reverse-engineered hers in her dorm room. We will see what else she is capable of in the coming months when Invincible Iron Man #1 debuts.
