Marvel's new Iron Man is 15-year-old black girl

The new Iron Man character, Riri WilliamsMarvel/JEFF DEKAL

The character, Riri Williams, is a science genius who builds her own armoured suit at university

Comic book maker Marvel has revealed a 15-year-old black girl will be donning the famous armour of Iron Man in an upcoming episode of the series.

Civil War II sees Tony Stark hang up his boots to be replaced by Riri Williams, the company said.

The character is a Chicago-born science genius studying at MIT and made her debut earlier this year.

The news has prompted a huge reaction online, with many welcoming it as a step forward for diversity.

Iron Man writer Brian Michael Bendis told Time he came up with Williams' character after being struck by the "chaos and violence" of Chicago while working in the city.

"And this story of this brilliant, young woman whose life was marred by tragedy that could have easily ended her life, just random street violence, and went off to college was very inspiring to me.

"I thought that was the most modern version of a superhero or superheroine story I had ever heard."

The Iron Man character first appeared in 1963. The series focuses on billionaire weapons inventor Tony Stark.

There has been jubilation at the news

A tweet reads: "Riri is a science genius who enrolls in MIT at the age of 15." New Iron Man is a black teen girl. Today is great.@ericsmithrocks
A tweet reads: "MORE OF THIS PLEASE: @Marvel's new Iron Man is a young African American woman. Can't wait to meet you Riri Williams!"@i_am_other

But not everyone was impressed

A tweet reads: "A new Ironman? Riri Williams? Marvel is trying so hard to be relevant."@PhoeboBuffay
A tweet reads: "How is iron MAN going to be a woman? Im all for equality but come on thats legit not what the character is"@leke03

There were practical questions

A tweet reads: "I'm still trying to figure out how the new Iron Man supposed to fit all that hair in a tiny helmet"@emulatelife

Or had Marvel missed a trick?

A tweet reads: "The new Iron Man will be female and will be called Iron Man. That's all fine, but I feel they missed an opportunity to call her Iron Maiden."@keatingthomas
A tweet reads: The only thing offensive about the new Iron Man being a black woman is that it's not Beyoncé.@GayAtHomeDad

And some questioned Marvel's commitment to diversity

A tweet from Ira reads: Marvel Comics: "Iron Man as a black woman would be dope." Black Woman: "I would love to write —" Marvel: "We have white people for that."@ira

More on this story