*Riri Wiliams, the black teen girl set to take over for Iron Man’s alter-ego Tony Stark in the comic book series, will get a new superhero name as well.
She won’t go by the name Iron Man when she debuts in “Invincible Iron Man No. 1,” due in November. Instead, Williams will call herself “Ironheart.”
Writer Brian Michael Bendis said he chose the new name came after realizing that “Iron Woman” seemed old fashioned to some [and] Iron Maiden may have brought lawsuits from the heavy metal band.
Ironheart — a name suggested by Marvel CCO Joe Quesada — “speaks not only to the soul of the character but to the Iron Man franchise as a whole,” Bendis told Wired. “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.”
Williams will be one of two replacements for Tony Stark as part of Marvel’s Marvel NOW! superhero line relaunch beginning in October; the other, headlining the new series Infamous Iron Man, will be Victor Von Doom, the former villain Doctor Doom.
Whether or not he’ll call himself Iron Man remains to be seen — as does the final fate of Stark himself.
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