Iron Man's Armor - Marvel Cinematic Universe Guide - IGN (2025)

Iron Man

Mark I Armor

The Mark I was originally made in a cave as a desperate attempt for Tony to escape the clutches of the "Ten Rings". He used the material from the weapons in the cave, and hid the plans for the suit in several documents that would only reveal the true plans when flattened out together.

The suit's main weapon is a flamethrower on each hand, but it also features a rocket launcher on his left arm which has to be manually fired using his right arm.

The armor is strong enough to reflect bullets, but seems to be weak against missiles which were the only form of attack Tony actually went out of his way to avoid.

Mark II Armor

The Mark II is a solid silver-colored suit that has the same weaponry as the Mark III, but when used in a test run, the armor froze when it flew over 85,000 feet off the ground. After that, the Mark II was stored away and the test run was used to develop the next version of the suit.

Jarvis was uploaded into the suit in order to serve as a user interface for Tony to display how the suit is doing at all times and to be used as a voice command function for the weapons.

The Mark II was later taken by James Rhodes and upgraded to become the first War Machine Armor.

Mark III Armor

The Mark III uses the red and yellow design any Iron Man fan is familiar with. It is the same design at the Mark II with the main difference of using a gold titanium metal for the outer shell.

It uses the hands and feet as a propulsion system to keep it balanced in the air, but while on the ground, the thrusters on the hands can be used as projectile weapons. The suit can also use the arc reactor as a weapon as a powerful laser but it takes energy away from the hands to use.

On the shoulders, the suit has a small set of missiles which possess homing capabilities. Not very powerful, but effective in hostage situations.

On the legs, there are circular dials that contain flares which fire in every direction creating a smokescreen to confuse anyone attacking him.

Iron Man 2

Mark IV armor

The movie starts off with the new Mark IV Iron Man suit which appears significantly sleaker than the Mark III, with a slightly brighter color scheme. A main difference in terms of firepower is with a new high powered laser in the wrists of the suit. It is a one use weapon which seems to be able to pierce right through most substances with ease, but after it is used a cartridge on each hand is removed.

Mark V armor

The Mark V is the most portable Iron Man suit to date. When not in use the suit is in a suitcase form that is portable and can be used at anytime. When used the suitcase opens to reveal two ports for the arms. When Tony places his arms in the ports he places the suitcase on his chest and the suitcase expands and forms a suit around Tony.

This design seems to have a weaker armor than the normal design easily being pierced by Whiplash's original electro-whip. It has the same projectile weapons on his hands, but flight ability is unknown.

Mark VI Armor

The Mark VI armor was featured at the very end of the movie where it was designed to handle the increased power of the arc reactor with the new element. The design is very similar to the Mark IV, except for a new triangular unibeam and various silver accents. It also exihibits a new arm-mounted missile system, able to fire multiple rocket propelled grenades at once.

The armor also appears to have a larger shoulder mounted rocket, which he uses to threaten Loki in Germany.

The Avengers

Mark VII Armor

An experimental armor that Tony was forced to use against Loki after the severe damage to the Mark VI. This suit features a deployment mode where it flies on its own and locates Tony through the use of locator bracelets.

The Mark VII is far more weaponized than previous models, featuring upgraded wrist lasers, capable of firing multiple times rather than the 'one and done' lasers of the Mark VI. The suit also has missiles on the shoulders and legs which can target multiple enemies with ease.

Finally, the Mark VII has a set of repulsor jets on the back, allowing Iron Man to utilize his hand repulsors as weapons more easily in flight.

Iron Man 3

Between The Avengers and Iron Man 3,Tony Stark created some 40 new suits of armor. (He used the Mark VII armor in Avengers and is up to the Mark XLVII in Iron Man 3.)

Some of the new armors can be seen below.

Mark 17: Artillery Level RT Suit "Heartbreaker"

Mark 33: Enhanced Energy Suit "Silver Centurion"

Mark 35: Disaster Rescue Suit "Red Snapper"

Mark 38: Heavy Lifting Suit "Igor"

Mark 39: Sub Orbital Suit "Gemini"

Mark 40: Hyper Velocity Suit "Shotgun"

Mark 42: Prehensile Module Suit

The Mark 42 armor was a prehensile suit with independent flight-capable sections, which can be summoned by a subcutaneous implant. It could also be controlled removtely via remote uplink through Jarvis subsystems.

Mark 43

The Mark 43 armor is almost identical to the Mark 42 armor, with upgraded capabilities and more red than gold. It is sleeker and more maneuverable than previous models, and has a 'Sentry Mode' for remote defense.

The Mark 44 armor, a.k.a Hulkbuster, was designed by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner after they studied the Hulk's physical actions and strength levels in an effort to find a way to contain him and minimalize the damage caused by his rages. A satellite in low orbit is always around Banner and at a moment's notice, Tony Stark can deploy the Hulkbuster armor and stop the Hulk in his tracks.

The Hulkbuster contains upgraded repulsors, a powerful flight system, and various traps to contain the Hulk. There are also multiple arc reactors to power the suit.

Mark 45

The Mark 45 armor is the sleekest Iron Man armor to date, with a countoured chest plate and form-fitting arm plates. It was used in the Battle of Sokovia. It has a hexagonal plate over the arc reactor, unlike previous models with round and triangular openings. It utilized the AI system Friday rather than Jarvis, after the latter had been uploaded into the Vision. It also seems to be slightly inspired by Ultron, taking many cosmetic cues from the titular robot.

And while the Mark 45 may be the sleekest, its repulsors are powerful enough to sustain concetrated fire for a signifanct length of time against Ultron, something no other armor has exibited.