These days, it’s hard to find a hero as iconic as Iron Man. Though Tony Stark may have sat on Marvel Comics’ B-team for years, the recent success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought the shell-head back into the spotlight. While the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist is definitely one of the best parts of any good Iron Man story, Tony Stark wouldn’t be a hero without his armor.
With over five decades of comics and nearly ten years of movies, it should come as no surprise that Tony Stark’s arsenal of armor clocks in at well over 100 different suits: everything from standard sets to specialized climate variants to magic-enhanced suits of armor have popped up over the years.
That being said, not all suits are created equal, and some have stood the test of time better than others - Mr. Stark has some incredibly powerful armor at his disposal, and here are the absolute best of the best:
16. Mark I
The original Iron Man armor might not be all that advanced compared to most of Tony Stark’s newer suits, but at the time, it was still one of the most advanced pieces of technology ever invented. Not only that, but Stark was able to build the Mark I while captured in Afghanistan and trying to keep a piece of shrapnel from piercing his heart. To say that he was working under pressure is a bit of an understatement.
The Mark I is no slouch when it comes to power, either: in the comics, the suit was able to fly (whereas the film version never quite did) and featured such weapons as a high-powered flamethrower, tear gas grenades and a primitive version of the iconic Unibeam. Even if the Mark I can’t stand toe-to-toe with the more recent incarnations of Iron Man, it remains the most important weapon that Tony Stark has ever created.
15. Mark III
The red-and-gold color palette. The iconic mask. The repulsor ray hand-cannons. All of these tropes - which are now an intrinsic part of Iron Man’s character - began with the Mark III armor.
When it was decided that the clunky, overly-cumbersome Mark II armor would be getting an upgrade, the suit was dropped in favor of something that was faster, more agile and easier to use. As a result, the Mark III would go on to become one of the most iconic Iron Man suits ever created - and, for the past several decades, the armor has served as the jumping-off point for almost every suit that followed.
Most impressively, the repulsor rays that have come to define Iron Man’s arsenal made their debut with the Mark III. Every time a new suit debuts, the repulsor rays are the one thing that fans can always count on seeing - and that started all the way back in 1965.
14. Mark VIII: Silver Centurion
After nearly twenty years of red and gold armor, Marvel Comics decided that Tony Stark was long overdue for a costume change. Enter the ‘Silver Centurion’ Armor: with the vibrant gold hues replaced by colder, sleeker shades of silver, the new version of Tony Stark’s classic armor helped usher in a new era of Iron Man stories.
The most notable of these stories was ‘Armor Wars’, in which Tony Stark discovers that his Iron Man technology made its way into the hands of his deadliest antagonists. The plot served not only as a basis for the 2010 film Iron Man 2, but did a fantastic job of showing off what the Silver Centurion suit could do.
Compared to most of Stark’s other suits, the Silver Centurion was chock-full of weapons: enhanced repulsor rays, a new Unibeam, several different laser weapons, a tractor beam and even an energy blade were all stored in the updated armor. Calling the Silver Centurion a walking armory is definitely an understatement.
13. Mark V (Iron Man 2)
Back in the earliest days of Iron Man comics, readers were supposed to believe that Tony Stark was able to fold up his armor and stash it away in a briefcase. Granted, this was back in the 1960s, when cheesy science fiction was the norm... but that didn’t make it any less ridiculous.
Then, in 2010, Marvel Studios took the idea of ‘Iron Man in a briefcase’ and turned it into something amazing.
Say what you will about Iron Man 2, but the Mark V’s debut appearance is easily one of the best parts of the movie. It may not have all of the different weapon systems or defensive measures of Tony’s other, fully-featured armors, but the Mark V ensured that Iron Man wasn’t tied down to a single location. Plus, with that shiny silver finish, Iron Man 2 gave fans a better Silver Centurion reference than any other film in the franchise.
12. Mark XVI: Sentient Armor
Iron Man, like any good superhero, has a long line of villains all desperately trying to knock him out of the game for good. However, whereas most supervillains are external forces, Iron Man has had the rare privilege of creating one of his greatest villains.
Movie fans may immediately think of Ultron from the last Avengers movie, but the deranged, emotionally unstable A.I. never really lived up to his potential. Not only that, but Ultron wasn’t even the first of Tony Stark’s projects with daddy issues: when the Mark XVI armor gained sentience, it became completely obsessed with its pilot. In fact, the Mark XVI became so infatuated with Stark that it eventually confessed its love for him... while trying to murder him.
True, the story wasn’t handled in the best fashion, and the flip-flop ending felt forced - but few villains have ever come so close to truly destroying both Iron Man and Tony Stark at once.
11. Mark XL: Shotgun (Iron Man 3)
The Iron Man armor has always been known for its various weapons systems. The respuslor rays are easily the most recognizable, and there’s the extremely powerful chest-mounted laser beam known as the Unibeam, along with some more traditional armaments - but, when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the original suit was never really designed as a purely offensive machine.
That’s where the Mark XL armor comes in. Despite only appearing for a few moments during the finale of Iron Man 3, the ‘Shotgun’ Armor is notable for its use of rapid-fire repulsor rays - something that’s never been seen in any of Tony Stark’s other suits. Better yet, the Shotgun Armor is the perfect quick-response weapon, with a top speed in excess of Mach 5 to match its excessive firepower.
Sadly, the Shotgun Armor never really got much time in the limelight, and was ripped apart during the battle with Aldrich Killian before fans could see what the suit could really do.
10. Mark XLIII: Stealth Suit v.3
For all of his technological skill, few would ever consider Tony Stark to be a subtle individual. The Iron Man suits reflect this perfectly: there’s a whole lot of style, without much in the way of subtlety.
That being said, there are situations that require a more delicate, thoughtful touch - when it comes to being Iron Man, there are some fights that just can’t be won with sheer brute force.
Tony Stark has developed a number of stealthy suits over the years, but the third iteration is easily the most powerful out of the lot. Not only was the armor built with numerous cloaking systems, it also provided its wearer with holographic disguises, reflective armor and several non-lethal weapons systems. Much like the other stealth-based suits, the Mark XLIII doesn’t feature much in the way of traditional weaponry, and its repulsors are noticeably weaker than normal - but the Stealth Suit v.3 is hard to beat when it comes to keeping things quiet.
9. Mark XXIX: Extremis
Many people think that Iron Man is ‘just some guy in a suit’...but anyone who reads the comics knows that the Mark XXIX armor, otherwise known as ‘Extremis’ is where things really started to get complicated.
Long story short, Tony Stark was forced to use an experimental version of a virus called Extremis in order to save his own life. In a stroke of good luck, Extremis also helped Stark further connect with his armor on a neurological level, amplifying the suit’s capabilities further than ever before. After fighting off the villainous Mallen, Stark was able to build a suit with the Extremis abilities in mind, making the Mark XXIX the most powerful set of armor by far (at the time, at least).
As if that wasn’t enough, some versions of the armor included abilities such as cloaking, omni-directional repuslor rays and even time travel - because, in the world of comics, there’s no such thing as 'jumping the shark’.
8. Mark XLI: Bones (Iron Man 3)
Looking back, most of the Iron Man suits seen throughout the comics have been modular in some way, shape or form. It may be as simple as attaching a new weapon to a gauntlet, or something as complex an entire suit fitting into a larger shell - on the other hand, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the modular nature of Tony Stark’s various armors have been somewhat downplayed.
Except for the Mark XVI, that is: code-named ‘Bones’, the suit was designed with modular attachments in mind. Pieces from other suits can easily attach to the Mark XVI as needed, giving it more flexibility than just about any other set of armor, seemingly without sacrificing weaponry or overall power - sadly, the suit was relegated to a short cameo in Iron Man 3. Much like the Shotgun armor, fans never really got a good look at what the Mark XLI was capable of.
7. Mark XXXVII: Bleeding Edge
For many, the idea of a bulky suit fitting into a briefcase sounds silly. Even the idea of an huge mechanical rig can be a bit hard to swallow...but what if the suit assembled itself from thousands of microscopic robots?
As unrealistic as a set of armor made of nanomachines might seem, the ‘Bleeding Edge’ armor is arguably one of the best suits that Tony Stark has ever worn. Not only does it bring the benefits of an improved Extremis to the table, the nanotechnology that powers it basically ensures that Iron Man is ready to fight whenever, wherever: the suit itself is stored within Stark’s own body, then forms into armor with a single mental command.
The Bleeding Edge armor also happens to be one of Stark’s most popular suits, becoming the hero’s default look for several years, as well as the main inspiration for Tony’s suit in Iron Man 3. Considering how quickly Iron Man can switch out suits, three years for a single set of armor is saying something.