When Iron Man debuted, it was the story of one man who created a suit of weaponized armor out of scraps in a cave and came out as a superhero. This was Tony Stark, and while he has been Iron Man throughout his entire existence, he has changed things up and upped his power level when needed. He also isn’t the only person who has really thrived as Iron Man, as one of the more powerful versions of the character was an amalgam, and another was Tony’s brother, in a suit of armor that makes most of what Tony wore look weaker in comparison.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Over the years, there hasn’t been a more powerful armored hero or villain than Iron Man, and here are the seven most powerful versions of the Marvel character, ranked.
7) Extremis-Enhanced Iron Man
The movie Iron Man 3 told the story of Tony Stark and his Extremis armor, and that all came from the groundbreaking Iron Man Vol. 4 storyline from 2005-2006 by Warren Ellis and Adi Granov. This was an armor that was designed using the Extremis virus, a techno-organic super-soldier serum that rewrites the subject’s DNA. Tony injected a modified version into himself after being critically wounded fighting Mallen. This healed his damaged heart, gave him a healing factor, and increased his baseline strength. It is also deployable on command, as the armor lives in the hollows of his bones. He can also control it with his mind, making it the easiest to usel, and giving Iron Man an immense power-up.
6) Thorbuster Armor
The Thorbuster Armor first appeared in Iron Man Vol. 3 #64 by Mike Grell and Alan Davis. Stark built it to fight Thor during the “Reigning” era, when Thor wielded the Odin-Force. Tony built it to look like the Asgardian machine known as the Destroyer. This battle started when the Slokovian government executed the members of an entire religion formed to worship Thor, and he set out to avenge them. The United States government sends in Iron Man to stop Thor, and Iron Man created the armor out of an Asgardian device Thor had gifted him. The Asgardian crystal lets the armor absorb and manipulate Asgardian energies, effectively channeling Odin-Force-type power.
5) Superior Iron Man (Endo-Sym Armor)
Superior Iron Man was Tony Stark as an evil villain during the “AXIS” (2014) event series. Even in the end, when the reversals ended, Tony remained inverted, and he headlined his own series by Tom Taylor and Yildiray Cinar. In this series, Tony was as evil as one can get as he introduced Extremis 3.0 as a downloadable app that perfects health and appearance, but it was addictive, and he raised the prices once he got the public addicted to it. His suit is the Endo-Sym Armor, a symbiote-based liquid “smart-metal” armor that stays liquid until psionic command bonds it to the body. He took down Havok in one shot. It has Venom-like tendrils, and it scales up to Hulkbuster form in strength.
4) Bleeding Edge Armor (Model 37)
Iron Man first appeared in his Bleeding Edge Armor in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 2 #25 (2010) by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca. This armor uses nanites that are stored in the marrow of Tony’s bones and bleed out onto his body on mental command, so the armor is always with him. That makes it similar to Extremis, but it is also the first tech that is run entirely on repulsor technology. This allows it to self-repair on the spot, making Iron Man almost unstoppable. It can also form just about any weapon that Tony imagines, making it one of the most versatile armors he created.
3) Iron Destroyer
The Iron Destroyer armor is what Tony Stark called his Uru Armor. This debuted during the “Fear Itself” event series, and it is the armor that his Bleeding Edge armor turned into when Odin allowed him access to the Forges of Nidavellir. What makes this such a powerful armor is that it enchanted the already powerful Bleeding Edge armor with Asgardian Uru metal using Asgardian magic. Based on the design of the Destroyer, Odin gave the armor his divine will, and it made this version of Iron Man almost indestructible. It was only a one-shot deal, though, as Odin removed the enchantment after Cul Borson’s defeat.
2) Iron Man 2020 (Arno Stark)
Arno Stark had two outings as Iron Man 2020, but the more powerful of the two, by far, came in the 2020 miniseries Iron Man 2020 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, and Pete Woods. Set amid a robot-rights rebellion, Tony’s brother Arno partners with Sunset Bain (Baintronics) and takes up the Iron Man mantle after Tony’s presumed death. However, he soon decides the only way to unite humans and robots is to assimilate all humans using mind control with his Iron Man suit. Tony Stark made his return here, and he soon came to realize that Arno was virtually unbeatable, and he had to trick Arno into living in a false virtual reality world where it looked like he had won just to stop him.
1) Iron Hammer (Stark Odinson)
The most powerful version of Iron Man in Marvel Comics came in Infinity Wars: Iron Hammer #1–2 (2018), by Al Ewing and Ramón Rosanas, during “Infinity Warps” with Iron Hammer. This was an amalgam of Iron Man and Thor named Stark Odinson. His origin saw Stark Odinson kidnapped by Ice Giants and forced to build an armory. He turned their forges against them and emerged as the armored Asgardian Iron Hammer. His powers combine the Asgardians’ might with Iron Man’s armor, and he even has the power to open the BIFROST (a tech version of the Bifrost).
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Ufotable -
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
