Origins Riri Williams is a 15-year-old engineering student and the daughter of Riri Williams Sr. Following her father's death, Riri lives with her mother Ronnie, her stepfather Gary, and her paternal Aunt Sharon in Chicago. A certified super-genius, she attends the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a scholarship. Riri later befriended
Natalie Washington, who showed an interest in her work. During a picnic at Marquette Park, Gary and Nathalie are killed in a
drive-by shooting. Working alone, Riri designs a suit of armor similar to the
Iron Man Armor using material stolen from campus. When campus security knocks at her door, she flees while wearing the suit. When Williams prevents two inmates from escaping the New Mexico State Penitentiary, her suit is damaged. Upon returning to her mother's house, Riri continues to work on improving the suit, much to the dismay of her aunt.
Tony Stark hears of Riri's accomplishment and goes to meet her. During their meeting, Stark decides that he will endorse her decision to become a superhero. As Riri flees and Pepper fights them, Techno Golem tries to find out how Pepper knows Riri. When Techno Golem's armor breaks and Tomoe tries to instead attack Riri, Pepper uses her Rescue armored gauntlets and knocks Tomoe out. When
Sharon Carter formally meets Riri after the arrest of Tomoe and the Biohack Ninjas, Pepper tells Riri that they will talk again. Pepper Potts,
Mary Jane Watson,
Friday, the Tony Stark A.I., and Stark's biological mother
Amanda Armstrong are in the Hall of Armor with Riri when she demonstrates her knowledge of each of the Iron Man armors. When Amanda Armstrong offers to allow Riri to use Tony Stark's labs as her base of operations, Riri is hesitant but Pepper encourages her. The next day at her home, Riri's family is visited by the head of M.I.T. She wants Riri to continue working there, as it has gotten sloppy since she left. Riri would also be allowed to use the laboratories at the school. After working in one of the labs, Riri asks the Tony Stark A.I. to find her something to blow off some steam. The Tony Stark A.I. locates
Armadillo during a crime spree and Riri uses the Ironheart armor to defeat Armadillo. She is then approached by the
Champions, who offer her membership into their group.
"Secret Empire" During the 2017 "
Secret Empire" storyline, Ironheart is seen fighting the Army of Evil during
Hydra's takeover of the United States.
Baron Helmut Zemo has
Blackout surround Manhattan with
Darkforce after enhancing him with the powers of the
Darkhold. Riri sends a distress signal to all available heroes to meet her in
Washington, D.C. Ironheart and
Falcon join up with the Champions to assist in the underground's fight against Hydra's takeover of the country. They later follow
Black Widow when she makes her own plans for Captain America. During training, the young heroes disagree about Black Widow's brutality and mercilessness. The heroes later infiltrate a Hydra base to find someone crucial to Black Widow's plan. Black Widow later tells them that they are going to have to kill Steve Rogers, after Hydra destroys the Underground hideout. In Washington, D.C., as their assault begins,
Spider-Man fights Captain America, but Black Widow intervenes and is killed. Just as Spider-Man is about to kill Steve Rogers, the others convince him to not do it and they all get arrested. She also helped the Champions search for survivors in
Las Vegas, Nevada, after its destruction by Hydra.
Champions In a 2019 storyline, Riri is startled to learn that her android teammate
Viv Vision has developed a crush on her, which initially revolts her due to internalized
homophobia. Later, her mind – and that of several other Champions – is corrupted by
Mephisto's son
Blackheart, turning her against her teammates. However, when Riri is about to destroy Viv, it is the latter's honest apology for not considering her feelings which snaps her out of Blackheart's control and finally makes her acknowledge Viv's affection. During the 2020 "
Outlawed" storyline, Ironheart is among the teenage superheroes affected by the Underage Superhuman Warfare Act that was drafted by Senator Geoffrey Patrick ever since
Ms. Marvel was put in a coma during a fight with an Asgardian dragon. The established group C.R.A.D.L.E. raided her lab.
"Iron Man 2020" In the "
Iron Man 2020" story arc, Riri and
N.A.T.A.L.I.E. (an A.I. based on Natalie Washington) confront the Intellicars, who have gone haywire. As Riri interfaces with the Intellicar, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. finds that its A.I. is corrupted with a bad code. As the Intellicar starts acting up again, Riri finds a reset code. N.A.T.A.L.I.E. informs Riri that the signal came from the cell phone of André Sims, an intern at Stark Unlimited's Chicago branch. Sims denies all knowledge of the incident and states that Stark Unlimited is doing the people a favor. ==Reception==