Marvel Comics is really diverse, at least in terms of race and gender.* Last year they made Captain America’s sidekick longtime companion good friend Sam Wilson, who happens to be African-American, the new Cap. And then they brought back the original, white-ass Captain America because everybody identifies Chris Evans as the real Cap. Then they made Cap a Nazi (not really, though). But the black guy is still Captain America, too. Confusing, right? It’s comics, so confusing is good.
Marvel also made Thor a woman, which will stand until they bring back the original white male misogynist Thor. And the Hulk is now a Korean guy, because why not? White males are bad. Diversity is good.
But the big brains at Marvel were just gettin’ warmed up! Eliana Dockterman, Time Magazine:
There’s a new Iron Man. Well, Iron Man for now. She’s still working on the name. The events at the end of the comic book event series Civil War II will result in Tony Stark stepping out of the Iron Man suit and a new character, Riri Williams, taking over, Marvel tells TIME…
Riri is a science genius who enrolls in MIT at the age of 15. She comes to the attention of Tony when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm.
No word yet where Riri falls on the LGBT spectrum. Do the right thing, Marvel.
If the whole point of the new Ghostbusters was to anger a bunch of nerds, they ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Here’s a look at the new Iron Person Who Is Not A Man:
This is good because Iron Man shouldn’t be an old white dude who looks like Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man shouldn’t be a dude at all. Who says a man has to be a man, instead of a woman? Um, maybe you haven’t heard of a beautiful lady named Caitlyn Jenner.
I’m fine with this, for two reasons. 1) Tony Stark is a boring character who nobody cares about unless he’s being portrayed by a charismatic actor, and 2) I don’t want anybody to call me a racist and a misogynist.
Also:
To be fair, Iron Man's biological classification is literally "Fe Male".
— Sonar Jose (@SonarJose) July 6, 2016
Get it? Because the symbol for iron is Fe.
And that’s why this is good, and if you don’t like it you hate women. Now, no jokes!
PSA: Your sexist joke about a female Iron Man doing a lot of ironing is hackneyed and sad.
— OhNoSheTwitnt (@OhNoSheTwitnt) July 6, 2016
*Race and gender are merely social constructs, of course. That’s why you need to shut up, white man.
P.S. Sorry, girls, but that name is taken: