RiRi Williams is going to have to face her artificial intelligence N.A.T.A.L.I.E., as her suit is about to go rogue and chase down the young hero. The upcoming story appears to be a spin on a classic Iron Man story, which saw Tony Stark in a very similar situation.
Iron Man’s early-2000’s comic arc (#26-30) by Joe Quesada, Sean Chen, and Rob Hunter featured Tony Stark’s A.I. Jacosta coming alive and controlling his suit. Tony worries about his suit’s sentience as his armor slowly becomes madder and madder - even telling Tony that she loves him. Stark’s former suit and A.I. starts to lose control, murdering the villainous Whiplash. The book ends with the suit taking Tony to a deserted island where he essentially becomes her plaything. Jacosta was stopped after Stark suffered a heart attack, and the suit sacrifices itself to save its owner. It’s really messed up.
In current Iron Man continuity, Arno Stark is leading the fight against artificial intelligence as Tony still figures out who he is as an A.I. following his shocking death in Civil War II. RiRi Williams will be joining the mix against Arno and his attempted control of A.I. life. Paired up with N.A.T.A.L.I.E., her A.I. who’s modeled after her deceased dead friend, RiRi is set to make a splash in the pending fight. However, things won’t go smoothly. In previews for Ironheart 2020 #2 by Vita Ayala, Danny Lore, David Messina, Woo Chul Lee, N.A.T.A.L.I.E.’s is about to go rogue.
The issue teases Ironheart versus RiRi. That’s RiRi’s artificial intelligence Ironheart (aka N.A.T.A.L.I.E.) against RiRi Williams herself. Where will she fall in the robotic uprising and will it cause friction between RiRi and her suit? The issue will see Williams “stop her [N.A.T.A.L.I.E.] from making a terrible mistake,” and that she could lose one of her only friends. Whatever’s about to happen, RiRi is going to face off against her A.I., just as Tony took on Jacosta. Hopefully, Ironheart is just having some sort of existential crisis and doesn’t go full-on crazy like Jacosta. RiRi and N.A.T.A.L.I.E.’s friendship is special, it would be unfortunate to see it disappear in tragic fashion.
- Ironheart 2020 #2 (of 2) Written by Vita Ayala and Danny Lore Art by David Messina Cover art by Woo Chul Lee It’s Riri Williams vs. Ironheart as Riri’s trusty A.I. companion seizes control of her armor! Can Riri get through to N.A.T.A.L.I.E. in time to stop her from making a terrible mistake? Or is Riri about to lose one of her only friends? In comic shops May 27, 2020.
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