I think it’s safe to say that Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is the darling of Marvel’s booming film franchise. Chris Hemsworth’s Thor may be adorable, but he’s far from suave, while Chris Evans plays Captain America pretty much straight. Downey Jr., on the other hand, brings charm and levity to the role of Iron Man. The Iron Man concept, too, strikes a bell with audiences in the way only a rocket-powered robotic suit can. 1940s super-soldiers and displaced Norse deities take note.
The films so far have shown us a great deal in the way of Stark tech: the original Iron Man film showed us Stark’s initial imperfect effort cobbled together in an insurgent prison-come-workshop. Later on, we saw the iconic red-and-yellow, and the gargantuan Iron Monger suit created from tech stolen by Stark’s partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Iron Man 2 continued the tradition of Tony’s incredible failure to safeguard his tech from prying hands, and we soon saw the “Mark 2” armour piloted by Don Cheadle, and the appearance of War Machine.
Now, if leads are to be followed and leaks are to be believed, I’m set to see the Space Armour make its appearance in Iron Man 3… though as I have yet to see the film, I’m still in the dark here. To keep me going (not to mention those poor Americans relegated to another day for the US release), here are the 10 coolest Iron Man Armours, from Stark’s long history of brilliant combat and poor patent protection!
10. Neuromimetic Telepresence Armour
In truth, I’m kicking off this list with a bit of a cheat; Tony Stark does not wear the Neuromimetic Telepresence Armour, though on occasion, he’s fooled his opponents into believing that he’s inside (a trick I seem to remember him pulling on Magneto and others during the Avengers VS X-Men storyline). The suit is remote-controlled by head-set, with Tony safely hidden away!
It seems a remarkably logical solution to a remarkably obvious problem, when you come to think of it. Stark puts himself in immense danger, vulnerable to EMP or any number of unforeseeable attacks, often hundreds of feet in the air. Even more so than with Batman, it’s incredible that Stark still lives. “Telepresence”, or “remote control” for those of us without Stark’s Masters in Physics, seems a simple and elegant solution: if he is able to be fully, interactively in control of the “armour”, doesn’t a robot convey all the benefits of a robotic suit without any real drawbacks?
In truth, of course, the drawback relates to storytelling; a heroic Tony Stark risking his life to save the innocent is far more thrilling to watch than a Tony Stark at a safe distance, controlling a disposable robot.
9. S.K.I.N.
The S.K.I.N. armour had two or three differing iterations, but the spirit was the same: a much larger suit, initially augmented with pipes and tubes for an almost Steampunk appearance. In the S.K.I.N., Tony looked hulking, almost inhuman.
More notably, however, it marked the reappearance of a fully integrated artificial intelligence in the suit, going by the name ‘Jocasta’. Commands could be given, advice could be taken from the suit itself; the films have been playing with this idea already, showing Tony in constant contact with JARVIS. While JARVIS offers advice and regulates Tony in the suit, however, Jocasta shared control.
The potential, here, is clear for the big screen. Imagine the problems arising from Stark increasingly relying on self-reliant AI in the suit, or even the possibility of the suit being compromised by a technological villain such as Ultron. It is in finding chinks in Stark’s armour, literally, that renders him vulnerable and offers a credible threat.
8. Evader Prototype
In the Bad Blood storyline, four suits were created by Iron Man with a radically altered design; golden plate with the traditional Iron Man ‘face’ absent, and an almost chainmail-like design over the joints and arms. These were the four “Evader” prototypes, so called for their ability to automatically sense and evade collisions. They were immediately stolen by Justin Hammer. All four of them. Remember what I mentioned about Stark’s poor track record in this regard…?
Stored on Hammer’s space station, Iron Man had to bring out the next item on this list to pursue them and bring Hammer to justice. The storyline ended up showcasing this next item a great deal more than the radically redesigned Evaders, which were eventually taken by S.H.I.E.L.D., and they were not really given the chance to shine. Still, they are a worthy reminder that not all of Stark’s tech follows the same general design and colour scheme.
7. Outer Atmospheric Armour
Introduced to the world in Iron Man’s mission to retrieve his stolen prototypes (see #8), the Atmospheric Armour is like the logical progression of the Space Armour, with a far more unique design. It is designed not for heavy combat, but for speed and subterfuge, and is a good deal lighter than his classic suits for the ease of making the ascent into space.
As a side-effect of this lightweight frame, however, the suit lacks the protection of some of the heavier-duty armours on this list. It would have trouble withstanding an assault by Stark’s own technology, which, unfortunately, seems to be what most of Iron Man’s foes tend to be equipped with.
6. Prometheum Armour
In the Heroes Reborn storyline, numerous Marvel heroes (and a few villains, such as Doom) were deposited in a kind of pocket universe; it gave the writers a chance to play around with their backstories, their designs, and their personalities. It also brought up the opportunity for a redesign of Iron Man’s armour, and the storyline spawned something truly memorable in this regard.
The Prometheum armour was a double-edged sword. Its initial test had caused the death of one of Stark’s co-collaborators, and he would never have donned it himself had his life not depended on it following a helicopter crash. Nevertheless, it did its job well; it is functionally very similar to his classic tech, but visually striking, the exhaust ports in the place of wings giving him a metallic, insectoid appearance not dissimilar to Goldbug or DC’s Firefly.
5. The “Plastic Ghost” Suit
The “Plastic Ghost” suit is perhaps the most highly specialised suit on this list, designed specifically to counter the Black Panther’s abilities. An Iron Man suit in the traditional design but constructed from plastic and polymer had been used against Magneto in the past, but another plastic suit – this time covered in reactive, holographic camouflage – was necessary to stop Black Panther’s vibranium claws.
I’ll be honest and admit that the Plastic Ghost earned its spot on this list on its appearance alone. Stark looked not only formidable, but slightly sinister in the get-up, a radical departure from his usual theme.
Eventually, in the pages of Black Panther, both Panther and Ultron found numerous methods of circumventing the camouflage and protection the Plastic Ghost offered, with Ultron even succeeding in sending self-destruct codes to Stark’s heart unit that keeps him alive. Thankfully, with a better trusting Black Panther now, he’s had no need to bring it back out of retirement.
4. Sentient Armour
The Sentient Armour came earlier than the S.K.I.N. suit, but I have listed it higher as it took the concept further. There were no computers or onboard AIs sharing control of the suit here; the suit itself was self-aware, sentient, making decisions all its own and developing a ‘personality’. Readers may have thought that Stark should have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, but if he had, he took no lessons from it.
In the comics, the suit eventually aimed to replace its creator altogether, perhaps a logical conclusion of the programming; after all, Stark had effectively rendered himself far less necessary to the equation. It gave the writers a chance to show Stark relying on his own wits and survival skills, unarmoured, forced to defend himself against what had been his greatest strength– I can’t help but think that this idea is also ripe for film, though admittedly, it would be retreading old sci-fi ground.
3. Hydro Armour
Bear with me.
In the Futurama episode “The Deep South“, the crew are pulled deep under the sea in the Planet Express ship. Professor Farnsworth exclaims, “Good lord! That’s over 5000 atmospheres of pressure!” When Fry asks how many atmospheres the ship can withstand, Farnsworth replies, “It was built for space travel, so I’d say anywhere between zero and one”.
This is the essence of why Tony Stark requires the bulky, heavy Deep Sea or “Hydro” armour. We see him head into space quite frequently; most recently in The Avengers, of course, and that was without the aid of any kind of specialised space suit. And, as Farnsworth helpfully points out, heading deep into the sea requires completely different technology, if we’re going to be in any way scientific about this. When one of your greatest allies is the King of Atlantis, you require these kinds of things.
2. Hulkbuster!
The Hulkbuster armour is another suit that went through several versions, eventually resulting in something resembling a tank on legs, but the original version- depicted above- is the most iconic. Quite simply put, the Hulkbuster suit makes Iron Man look like the Juggernaut.
The purpose of the Hulkbuster suit is self-explanatory; it is designed to go toe-to-toe with the Avenger’s most powerful (but least emotionally stable) member. The necessity for this should be clear after The Avengers, which saw Loki succeed in goading Mark Gruffalo‘s Hulk into a destructive rampage aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, damn near taking down the entire team in the process. If the Hulkbuster suit were to make an appearance on the big screen, it would undoubtedly be in a film focusing on the entire team.
In truth, Stark seems to operate a policy similar to Batman’s in the Tower of Babel storyline, keeping methods of taking down his fellow heroes at the ready, should the need arise. He developed not only a Hulkbuster suit, but a Phoenixbuster and even a Godbuster model, should the need arise to deal with fellow Avenger Thor. The Civil War storyline also saw him bring out tech specifically designed to neutralise Captain America. Its a wonder the other Avengers haven’t taken offence.
1. Stealth Armour
The Stealth suit represents a colossal gamble on Iron Man’s part: stocked with anti-detection equipment, radar-blocking technology, mufflers and a vent cooling system designed to prevent detection by thermal scan, the suit has no room for weaponry.
No rockets, no homing missiles, none of his iconic repulsor-blasts common to almost every other Iron Man suit. When Stark chose to first don the Stealth suit to evade East German detection in Escape from Heaven’s Hand, he was trusting entirely in stealth and misdirection. After all, we can imagine that the fragile state of diplomacy between West and East Germany would not have been well served by an all-guns-blazing approach from an American icon like Iron Man.
This, I feel, is the suit of armour that offers the greatest potential for exploration, both in comics and film. Rather than being highly specialised, like the Hydro and Atmospheric armours, the Stealth suit offers a fresh approach applicable to many of the Avengers’ threats. Rather than confronting Dr. Doom in a shining suit of metal and gold, like last time and the time before, why not worm your way into Latveria in the Stealth get-up? If Thanos succeeds in establishing a foothold on Earth in The Avengers 2, how better to know your enemy, and present the audience with a fresh and tense new side to the action?
The Iron Man films have been incredible, but there are other sides to Stark’s skillset, and I’m convinced the Stealth suit is the greatest opportunity to show them.
So! Do I have my priorities all wrong? Did I miss off your favourite suit? Sound off below!
