Hey! I just wanted to apologize about the Riri/Xavier ask! I had no harm behind It. I was just wondering because I was wondering if you read the comics. My apologies!
Thank you for clarifying!
I was just confused on how to respond tbh, bc sometimes I over think it. I wanted to answer the question, but tone can be hard to read online and I know some people are trying to bait arguments so I was wasn’t sure on your intentions before now.
I have read the comics! For any one who’s curious, Xavier actually isn’t related to Natalie in the comics. He’s Riri’s neighbor and is his name is “Xavier King”. I can’t remember if they were close before the tragedy, but he is one of the few people who regularly check in/ interact with Riri. I believe the writers changed his origin so he’d be more immersed in the themes of the story and have a deeper connection with her.
Also, in the comics while his romantic subplot is hinted at, it isn’t really the focus in a lot of her storylines (which is similar to how it’s presented in the show.) Riri is a character who is fairly inexperienced with romance, friendship, and social situations so while he is presented as a potential romantic option, we’ve only really seen them interact as friends as of now (With the occasional references to more being a possibility. Otherwise, she’s been kissed by Viv—but we haven’t gotten a follow up/update on that in awhile as far as I’m aware. The only universe where she’s explicitly in a romantic relationship is the Spider Punk Universe, but Riotheart is a different character with a different life, friends, etc so it’s not a 1-1 comparison to 616 Riri and her journey. ) The Ironheart series is probably the most I’ve seen them explore Ironheart having romantic feelings actually 😭😭😭
As for your previous ask, This might be a casting thing that’s throwing you off. Tbh I think beards can be pretty deceptive tbh, so he might read as older, but I think he looks a lot like how guys in that age bracket tend to look when they have facial hair.
Also it’s good to remember that Natalie died when she was 15 in the T.V series (13ish in the comics). So honestly if the story was true to life, she’d look younger than him as an A.I. I’ve always assumed the comic/T.V series ages her up to match Riri because she was developed from Riri’s mind and Riri’s perception of how she’d be at that age.
Anywayss, thank you again for reaching back out. Let me know if you have anymore questions. Also yall feel free to add on if you want to elaborate on her different pairings, cause while I've read the comics, I haven't read everything so I could've easily missed something.