Marvel comics was introduced to the world in 1939. Since then, it has created  characters of all backgrounds. Every character embodies characteristics that fans all over the world have come to admire.

However, Marvel’s most recent comic book character is taking on a less-than-traditional role: there is a new person wearing the Iron Man suit and it is a 15-year-old black girl, Riri Williams.

Williams is a genius who, at the age of 15, enrolls in MIT and creates her own Iron Man suit in her dorm room. Her ability to recreate the suit with such limited resources causes Tony Stark to choose her as the next person to wear his suits.

Williams will be the third black female superheroine that Marvel has, the other two being Storm and Spectrum.

“I feel like it is very inspirational. It’s cool that there is a new platform for female minorities to look up to,” Freshman Natalia Quinones said.

There are many superheroes and supervillains that people can relate to and  Williams is just one of many. Falcon and the Black Panther, both black characters, have been in the limelight for their roles in Captain America: Civil War. Yet there have not been any openly gay characters for the LGBTQ community to view as role models in DC or Marvel movies. This is unlike in the comics, where there are many characters who are in a relationship with the same sex or bisexual.

Yet there have not been any openly gay characters for the LGBTQ community to view as role models in DC or Marvel movies. This is unlike in the comics, where there are many characters who are in a relationship with the same sex or are bisexual.

Poison Ivy, Green Lantern, and even Batwoman are characters that have openly supported the LGBTQ community.

Poison Ivy is a superhero that has a very complicated sexuality. She is attracted to plants and women. When she tends to Harley Quinn when the Joker tries to kill her in the comics, Poison Ivy becomes fixated and the very flirty Harley Quinn returns the feelings often speaking in sexual innuendos.

In the film Green Lantern, the hero and second Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, is played by Ryan Reynolds. However, the original hero, Alan Scott who first appeared in the comics in 1940, appeared to be an openly gay superhero in 2012. He even seals the deal with a kiss to his boyfriend, Sam. His son Obsidian, also is gay.

Batwoman was in love with the Gotham City P.D. detective, Maggie Sawyer, in the comics. These characters were even close to getting married.