The Marvel Cinematic Universe is bringing another super genius into the live-action fray. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will see the debut of not only Namor but Riri Williams, who could potentially fill the absent void that Tony Stark left behind in his death. Riri Williams becomes Ironheart, an armored suit created out of her genius and inspiration from Tony Stark himself.
It’s a cause for celebration to see the MCU embrace its newest and youngest heroes, as Riri Williams was only introduced in 2016, but quickly became a favorite amongst Marvel Comics fans. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be the beginning of a great journey for Riri Williams in the MCU.
7 Built Her First Suit As A Dare
Although Tony Stark built his first suit in a cave with a box of scraps, Riri Williams took this personally and dared herself to do better. She already had a vast knowledge of mechanics at a young age, and during her time at M.I.T., she managed to reverse engineer the technology from an old and outdated Iron Man suit and create her prototype.
It’s highly impressive that Riri created her first armor with stolen materials from her campus, alone. However, what’s more impressive, is how this all came from a dare. Riri Williams dared herself to create something superior to Tony Stark’s creation and succeeded above and beyond as she continued.
6 Super Intelligent
As a child, Riri Williams acted out a lot purely out of boredom. Even at five years old, Riri was diagnosed as a super genius, which far exceeds what’s known about geniuses. She gets bored easily. She’s smarter than everyone in the room she is in and acts up because she is better than a juice box at the age of five.
Riri’s intelligence allowed her to succeed in education, and receive a scholarship at M.I.T. Riri Williams is one of the youngest Marvel heroes, and at fifteen, she created her suit of armor and continues to innovate it and her life throughout the comics to this day.
5 Civil War 2 Veteran
One of the Inhumans known as Ulysses Cain had the ultimate power to see into the future and warn others of imminent disasters. When Captain Marvel learned of this knowledge, she wanted to use Ulysses to pre-emptively take care of disasters and crimes before they even occurred. However, Iron Man opposed this idea and argued that it was dangerous to take these visions as gospel, as well as the morality involved in punishing someone for something they could do, not what they would do.
This led to a second Marvel Civil War, and involved on Tony Stark’s side was Riri Williams. Riri battled in her iron armor against the forces of Captain Marvel and may have come out a few friends lighter, considering this was one of her first entries into the superhero world.
4 Tony Stark’s AI
During the events of Civil War 2, Captain Marvel attacked Iron Man and put him into a coma. During his coma, Riri Williams wanted to continue his legacy as a proud and selfless hero and tried to create a new and improved suit of armor. This was done with the assistance of Tony Stark’s A.I., which was a duplicate of his very interesting and unique personality.
Tony Stark’s A.I. helped Riri Williams throughout the early years of her superhero journey. Considering Tony Stark is dead in the MCU after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Riri might not have a mentor in Tony, but someone to look up to, and aspire to be.
3 Home Here In Wakanda
In one of her many solo adventures, Riri Williams needed to enter Wakanda. It was here that she met Shuri, and developed a rocky introduction into a great friendship. Her mission to Wakanda included the Ten Rings and saw herself making heroic efforts to save Wakanda. This action did not go unnoticed, and Riri was blessed with the Circlet of Bast.
The Circlet of Bast was one of the highest honors of Wakanda, and Shuri let Riri Willams know that Wakanda would always be a home for her. Considering Riri is set to debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, perhaps she takes Shuri up on the offer to have a home here.
2 Founder Of The Champions
America was under siege from the fascist Hydra. This was led by a convoluted fascist doppelganger of Captain America. During this attack on America, Riri Williams and Tony Stark A.I. joined the Underground, which saw a group of heroes and civilians seeking to combat Hydra’s dreaded fascist ideals. During this time, Riri became close with the Champions, a group of teen heroes.
The Champions had members like Totally Awesome Hulk, Miles Morales’ Spider-Man, and Ms. Marvel, and Riri Williams proudly joined them as Ironheart. This team has a lot of potential in Marvel Comics, and perhaps one day will see the live-action blockbuster stands of the MCU.
1 Victim Of Gun Violence
Gun violence is a serious crisis in many countries, and America has certainly seen itself under the spotlight in recent years. Marvel Comics often tries to depict real-world tragedies and to challenge readers with the material that their writers express. One such incident saw Riri Williams as a victim of gun violence.
Riri and her family were at a picnic in Marquette Park when they saw themselves caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. They were hit, along with some other bystanders in this hard-to-watch tragedy. The result ended in Riri unscathed, but her friend Natalie and Riri’s step-father were hit, and succumbed to their injuries and died.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to release in theaters on November 11, 2022.