Story highlights Marvel has announced Riri Williams as the new Iron Man

Writer sees it as a natural progression

(CNN) There's a new Iron Man coming to comic books -- and it's not a man.

A black female character is taking over the suit from Tony Stark, Time is reporting. Riri Williams "is a science genius who enrolls in MIT at the age of 15" and "comes to the attention of Tony when she builds her own Iron Man suit in her dorm," according to the magazine.

Exclusive: Marvel's new Iron man is a black woman https://t.co/w0A9RC3t5I pic.twitter.com/w8Lx6uyTps — Alex Fitzpatrick (@AlexJamesFitz) July 6, 2016

"Iron Man" writer Brian Michael Bendis told Time the inspiration for Williams came from his time spent working a few years ago on a television show in Chicago. The show did not end up airing, he said, because of the amount of violent content.

"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," Bendis said. "I thought that was the most modern version of a superhero or superheroine story I had ever heard. And I sat with it for awhile until I had the right character and the right place."

Speculation that Williams was coming started a few months ago with her appearance in Invincible Iron Man Vol 2 #7.

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