Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is a hero who prepares for everything. One of the most obvious examples of his preparedness is the suits of armor he has designed to take down certain Marvel heroes in case they went rogue, such as the Hulkbuster. However, since Tony spends most of his time fighting villains, most of his suits are designed to target specific super-criminals and monsters. Some suits rely on exploiting specific weaknesses of villains, while others are built to overpower any obstacle. But no matter the suit Tony dons, the villains of Marvel Comics should never underestimate the power and intellect of the Invincible Iron Man.
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Tony’s armors rank among the most powerful tools in the Marvel Universe. Yet, he often needs to customize them to combat specific evil forces that threaten the planet.
1) The Model 2 Armor
The very first time Tony upgraded his Iron Man suit was when he needed to defeat the dastardly villain Mr. Doll. Tony’s original suit, the Model 1, was bulky and cumbersome, requiring a lot of energy to maintain due to its weight. This weakness was exploited by Mr. Doll, who used voodoo dolls to bend Tony’s body to his will. After narrowly escaping, Tony created a new, leaner, and lighter suit that didn’t put as much of a strain on his body. This increased Tony’s flexibility, making it easier for him to resist Mr. Doll’s body-controlling voodoo dolls. By having more control over his body, Tony had the strength needed to employ a gizmo that turned Mr. Doll’s own dolls against him by making them look like the villain. This suit not only helped Tony defeat Mr. Doll but also became the blueprint for all future armors.
2) The Model 48 “Cold Iron Armor”
For the Model 48 armor, Tony finally lived up to the name “Iron” Man. One of the most fearsome villains across the Nine Realms is Malekith the Accursed, along with his legions of Dark Elves. In case they ever invaded Earth, Tony worked with the hero Dark Angel, a master of science and magic, to create a suit that could repel the Elvish villains. Iron is lethal to Dark Elves, so Tony and Dark Angel crafted an outer layer of pure iron, enchanted with a variety of spells that made it immune to magic. When Tony deployed the armor against Malekith and his army, he tore through the mystical legion with ease.
3) The Model 73 “Sentinel Buster Armor”
Among the strongest and deadliest robots in Marvel Comics, the Sentinels were built for the sole purpose of wiping out mutantkind. The Sentinels grew even more powerful once the evil Feilong took over Stark Industries and repurposed Tony’s technology to build an army of upgraded Sentinels. When the new Sentinels attacked the X-Men, Tony donned the towering Model 73 “Sentinel Buster Armor.” This suit allowed Tony to crush Sentinels effortlessly, while also incinerating scores of them with a single blast from his unibeam. However, the sheer number of Sentinels eventually managed to overpower Tony, destroying his new suit.
4) The Model 38 “Phoenix-Killer Armor”
The Phoenix Force is a cosmic entity that causes mass-extinction events on planets to pave the way for new life. So naturally, Tony made a suit to kill it. When the Phoenix Force was heading straight towards Earth, Tony launched into space to confront it, equipped in his Model 38 armor. Firing the suit’s main disruptor beam at full power, Tony caused the Phoenix force to break apart. Unfortunately, instead of dying, the Phoenix Force split into five pieces that travelled to Earth and possessed Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus, and Magik. Dubbing themselves the Phoenix Five, the five heroes fell under the Phoenix’s corrupting influence and proceeded to take over the planet. It was far from Tony’s finest hour.
5) The Model 11 “War Machine Armor”
Tony built the iconic War Machine Armor to combat The Masters of Silence, a group of bushido assassins that use high-tech weapons and armor. The assassins were sent to kill Tony, whom the evil billionaire Justin Hammer framed for a nuclear meltdown. However, the War Machine armor proved to be too much for them. After their defeat, the assassins discovered that Tony was innocent and teamed up with him to take down Justin Hammer. The War Machine armor is equipped with a shoulder-mounted Gatling gun and rocket launcher, as well as chain guns, a flamethrower, and plasma blades. Tony’s friend James Rhodes eventually donned the armor, becoming the superhero War Machine.
6) The Model 57 “Fin Fang Foombuster Armor”
One of Iron Man’s most powerful recurring foes is the giant alien dragon Fin Fang Foom, who has tried on multiple occasions to take over the world. To combat this reptilian kaiju, Tony created the 20-story-tall mecha armor called the “Fin Fang Foombuster.” This gigantic set of armor is one of the largest in Tony’s entire arsenal. It’s armed with repulsor cannons and electrical charges. Although Fin Fang Foom was able to overpower Tony’s new armor, Tony still managed to defeat him by deploying a swarm of microscopic drones to defeat the dragon from the inside.
7) The Model 37 “Iron Destroyer Armor”
In the “Fear Itself” event, several Marvel supervillains, empowered by Asgardian weapons, went on a rampage. To combat these magically charged villains, Odin gave Tony access to the Forges of Nidavellir, the foundry where Thor’s hammer Mjolnir was constructed. Tony combined his pre-existing Model 37 armor with the mystical metal Uru, the same metal as Mjolnir. The newly created “Iron Destroyer” gave Tony the power he needed to aid in the conflict against the enchanted supervillains. However, once the battle was won, Odin took back all the Uru within Tony’s suit, since he intended it only for temporary use.
8) The Model 65 “Ultronbuster Armor”
The mad artificial intelligence Ultron is one of the most powerful villains the Avengers have ever faced. Ultron became even stronger when he merged with his creator, Hank Pym. Tony attempted to create a suit that could counter the mechanical villain, but the results had unintended and horrifying consequences. When he fought Ultron Pym in the new suit, the villain fired a laser that caused Tony to merge with his armor, becoming a distorted amalgamation of flesh and metal. Tony had to upgrade his armor’s systems continually to stay alive. Eventually, with the help of nanites, Tony was able to expel all the pieces of armor from his body, returning himself back to normal.
9) The Model 29 “Extremis Armor”
After Tony is nearly killed fighting the supervillain Mallen, who has taken a super soldier serum called Extremis, Tony decides to fight fire with fire. Tony injected himself with a modified Extremis serum, which instantly healed all his injuries. The serum also integrated Tony’s armor into a second set of skin, which was stored inside his bones. This gave Tony the power to form a suit of armor around his body at any time with just a thought. The suit is also incredibly durable, as it can survive blows from the Sentry and even Odin. With this new suit that blurred the line between man and machine, Tony was able to defeat the super-terrorist, Mallen.
10) The Model 61 “Godkiller Armor MK II”
The Celestials are a race of god-like aliens with the power to warp reality and destroy planets with ease. Naturally, Tony decided to create a suit of armor in case any Celestials attacked Earth. Inspired by the original Godkiller Armor created by the alien race known as the Aspirants, Tony made his own version of the gigantic suit and stored it on Mars. Standing approximately five miles tall and powered by eight nuclear reactors, Tony’s Godkiller Armor was deployed to combat an invading army of Dark Celestials. The suit gave Tony the power to fight the invaders for a limited time before the overwhelming number of Dark Celestials destroyed it. That’s four billion dollars down the drain.
11) The Model 63 “Godbuster Armor”
When Tony created the virtual universe called the eScape, the only limits were a person’s imagination. However, two evil god-like AIs known as the Controller and Motherboard hijacked the eScape and took complete control of it. To fight these digital deities, Tony created a suit in the eScape capable of matching their universal power. The Model 63 “Godbuster Armor” is one of Tony’s most powerful suits – so powerful that he was able to destroy the two AIs along with the entire eScape with a single blast. Tony then built a version of the suit in the real world, but he quickly destroyed it and all records of its existence, realizing that no one, not even he, should ever wield such a powerful weapon.
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