Meet the new Iron Man, a badass black female teen prodigy.
The cover of Marvel's upcoming "Invincible Iron Man" comic contains a bold 21st-century update for the iconic character.
Photo by Marvel.
According to Marvel, Tony Stark will be stepping down as Iron Man — at least temporarily.
Robert Downey Jr. with an Iron Man suit. Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/Getty Images.
Assuming the role in his place? A black female teen prodigy named Riri Williams.
Photo by Marvel.
According to a Time report, Williams' skills make her a natural fit for the role.
"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."
Marvel has taken steps to increase the diversity of its characters in the past several years.
Previous nonwhite characters to take over as tent-pole superheroes include Spider-Man Miles Morales, whose arc began in 2011, and Sam Wilson's Captain America.
The diversification extends to gender as well: Marvel increased its number of female leads from zero in 2012 to 16 in 2015. Kamala Khan, the first Muslim-American Ms. Marvel, was introduced in 2013.
Needless to say, the announcement was met with much rejoicing!
But with the news came calls for more inclusion behind the scenes, as well.
Jamie Broadnax, who hosts the "Black Girl Nerds" podcast, was enthusiastic about the announcement.
"I think it's great. I cannot stress that enough. I think that Marvel is doing excellent work, even in the cinematic world," Broadnax told Upworthy.
Nevertheless, she believes the industry has fallen short when it comes to opening doors to creators of color — and black women in particular.
"I think it's important that black people are allowed to write black stories," she said. "I'm not saying that it should be exclusive to us, but I think that we should have those opportunities."
She cited Regine Sawyer ("The Rippers," "Eating Vampires"), Mildred Lewis ("Agents of the Realm"), and Nilah Magruder ("M.F.K.") — talented writers and illustrators who would be assets to publishers like Marvel, especially as they introduce more characters of color.
"They're out there. It's just that for some reason, they seem to get missed when these opportunities come by," Broadnax said.
In the meantime, the Riri Williams "Iron Man" is an overdue acknowledgement of the obvious:
Practically speaking, you don't need to be any particular race or gender in order to fly around in a red-and-gold mechanical suit.
Though it helps to have some cool poses handy. Photo by GabboT/Flickr.
And in a universe where mutants move objects with their minds, alien raccoons hang out with giant trees, and gods mingle with mortal men, the notion that superheroes have to look the way they always did is ... dubious at best.
Here's hoping that in the future, character choices like this will be met not with a big announcement but with a shrug.
If comic-book writers' rooms start to look more like what's on the page, we might just get there sooner than expected.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
A brown buddha statue sits near a green mountain. Photo by 
Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
Ladybug unexpectedly found during colonoscopyPhoto credit: 
Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."