Marvel presents the successor of "Iron Man" in the MCU; this is the result

Portrayals of black women and girls in film show signs of progress and those characters are more likely to be portrayed as leaders or heroes.
Marvel presented a glimpse of Dominique Thorne, who will put on the armor of Ironheart en fall 2023, but first, we’ll meet Riri Williams in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.
Studies show that black actors comprise 12.9 percent of leading roles in scripted cable shows, reflecting an overall black population of 13.4 percent.

panel Marvel on the Comic-Con San Diego was packed with incredible reveals and heartbreaking trailers, but none were as powerful as the reveal of “Pantera Negra: Wakanda forever” and the presentation of Dominique Thorne as It’s Williamsalso known as Ironheart, the creator and successor of the most advanced armor since Ironman.

The importance of black women in Marvel Cinematic Universe It is a subject that cannot be ignored.
A Hollywood really likes to follow a trend and now that the myth that “ black movies don’t sell” has been deleted, there is progress for black women like Superheros. With the lines between theaters and television blurred by broadcasting, these characters appear on all of our screens.

It is clear that times have changed. Recent studies show that black actors comprise 12.9 percent of leading roles in scripted cable shows (proportionally reflecting the overall black population of 13.4 percent). However, the numbers behind the scenes are not that encouraging. Only 6 percent of the writers, directors and producers of films produced in the United States are black.

In the case of women, representations of black women and girls in film show signs of progressand those characters are more likely to be portrayed as leaders or working in professions than white women, but issues of “colorism” still exist, according to a study released Tuesday.

But the report did find some shortcomings, noting that nearly 80 percent of black female characters have fair or medium skin tones, suggesting that “colorism is persistent”. The report also found that more than half of black female leads in popular movies in the past decade have hairstyles consistent with “European beauty standards in opposition to natural black hairstyles”.

However, the report praises several television shows in recent years that have featured black women with natural hairstyles and others that challenge white standards of beauty, including Insecure , Blackish y Dear White People. The report calls this “a positive change” and Marvel is getting into the game with Ironheart.

Who is Ironheart?

Riri Williams is a 15-year-old engineering student and the daughter of the late Riri Williams Sr. Following the death of her father, Riri lives with her mother Ronnie and her paternal aunt Sharon in Chicago. As a certified super genius, the young woman attends the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a scholarship. Working on her own, Riri designs armor similar to Iron Man’s armor using material stolen from campus. When campus security becomes aware of the stolen material and clues point to Riri, she flees in the suit.

When Williams stops two inmates from escaping from the New Mexico State Penitentiary, her suit is damaged and she is forced to return to her mother’s house to repair it. Tony Stark learns of Riri’s achievement and goes to meet her. After learning of the young woman’s wishes to become a superhero, Stark decides to back her up.

In this sense, Dominique Thorne he will don the armor in the fall of 2023, but before that, we will meet Riri Williams this year in the movie”Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.

The series of Marvel Cinematic Universe they have become one of the auxiliary pillars of this crossover universe. Characters with less weight on the big screen have enjoyed prominence, while others less known have seen their arrival through their own television series.

Ironheart and Echo are two additions in a long list of projects that Marvel Studios continues to add to the biggest franchise in the industry.

This tells us that meaningful representation of people of color in popular culture is crucial. The recent worldwide success of the animated film “Charm”which took even Disneyshows the importance of greater diversity in storytelling and of being represented on screen.