Warning: contains spoilers for Champions #8
Iron Man has become known in comic books for collecting bright young people to mentor and support, whether that be in the sciences or as young superheroes, and none of his young followers have taken after the billionaire quite so much as his protégé Riri Williams aka Ironheart.
Harley Keener has made his way onto the pages of Marvel comics, proving himself to be intelligent and a crafty fighter. His genius is on full display in Marvel’s newest comic W.E.B. of Spider-Man, by Kevin Shinick, Alberto Alburquerque, and G. Gurihiru, as he is capable of using his own inventions to fight attacking villains and work with the team of other young geniuses. While he does attempt to define himself as closer to Iron Man and somewhat of an heir to his mantle, arguing with Peter Parker about who exactly Tony Stark’s right-hand man is, his abilities shine more in tech creation than super-heroics. His skills are complementary but ultimately greatly contrast with those of Iron Man’s true heir, Riri Williams.
Champions #8, by Danny Lore, Luciano Vecchio, and Fredrico Blee, not only displays Riri’s strong leadership and level head, but also the sense of barely controlled impulsiveness that she shared with Tony Stark. As the threat to young superheroes from Kamala’s Law dissipates, Riri has turned her sights on the shady company, Roxxon’s, new push to reach young consumers with its social media apps. The app—disguised as a mental health and lifestyle initiative—is part of a much larger plot to once again target teen superheroes, and this time the Champions plan to nip it in the bed. Instead of hanging back and waiting for Roxxon to reveal their next move, Riri has directed the rest of the Champions to infiltrate the company and access sensitive files to incriminate the company.
The plan is very much one that Tony himself might create—offensive instead of defensive and extremely risky if anything were to go south. It’s a move that would very likely impress Tony Stark with its boldness. In W.E.B. readers are shown that Harley Keener is a capable fighter and able to work as a team with others when necessary, but he has, so far, been shown to play defense and stick to the rules he was given. He may have Tony Stark’s respect, but he isn’t quite at a place to be taking on his superhero mantle, or considering himself any sort of successor.
While both Harley Keener and Riri Williams are incredibly intelligent, it’s Riri who shares his spirit in the dogged pursuit of her goals. Her tech expertise makes her both an excellent “guy in the chair” for the Champion’s clandestine intel gathering, but Ironheart's willingness to lead her team into battle proves she’s Iron Man's real protégé.