A rumor from months ago hinted that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) may not only gain the ability to interface with technology around him – including individual pieces of armor for his latest and greatest suit – but he’d be able to control entirely separate suits with his mind, thus leading him to create a small army of Iron Men, so to speak. The Iron Man 3 prelude comic confirmed the idea, dubbing his reinforcements the “Iron Legion,” which can be seen in the latest Iron Man 3 poster to the left. A leaked list of armor descriptions on 4chan (from toys and some people who claim to have seen the film) lines up with many of the rumors, toy images and concept art that have leaked in recent weeks, so we’ve put together an unofficial Screen Rant guide to Iron Man 3‘s armor designs. Many of these armors can be seen in the second official Iron Man 3 trailer, releasing today. WARNING – MAJOR IRON MAN 3 SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!!!! MARK XI – STEALTH ARMOR v.01 A derivation of the MARK VI armor, TONY STARK configured it to have built-in stealth capabilities, which allow him to infiltrate the TEN RINGS’ hideouts unnoticed.
Slightly modified Mk.VI, with a dark blue color palette. Red eyes and Arc Reactor. MARK XXII – LAYERED PLATING ARMOR v.01 Experimenting with various forms of armor formation, TONY STARK designs this armor with the concept of retractable layers. This technology allows this armor to fold into a more compact form, making it more portable than the MARK V armor. Classic/Spandex Armor, v.01 has the horned face, v.02 has the rounded face with a different color palette (The image is clipped from the poster but we are unable to confirm at this time if it’s depicting the Mark XI.) MARK XV – STORED KINETIC INTEGRATED NETWORK (S.K.I.N) ARMOR Attempting to create a new form of malleable liquid metal that could be configured into other shapes, TONY STARK creates the S.K.I.N. ARMOR. Unfortunately, the alloy compound proved to be unstable, resulting in TONY STARK putting the project on hold. Looks like the comic SKIN Armor, but slimmer and more segmented. MARK XVIII – SPECIALIZED AQUATIC ARMOR v.01
Designed with the sole purpose of undersea exploration in mind, TONY STARK builds the SPECIALISED AQUATIC ARMOR. Able to withstand greater pressures than his standard armors, IRON MAN travels deep into the sea to recover rubble from MANDARIN’s attack.Resembles the comic Hydro Armor, but sans the glass fishbowl helmet. Image is from Iron Man movie concept art by Phil Saunders (2007). MARK XL – ASGARDIAN DESTROYER ARMOR Taking into account that Earth might face future threats from the ASGARDIANS, TONY STARK set about designing an armor to take down any invading ASGARDIANS. Using the DESTROYER’s blueprints stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D’,s HELICARRIER (in The Avengers), STARK creates the ASGARDIAN DESTROYER ARMOR. A mecha version of the Destroyer seen in Thor. Main image appears to be from a custom toy design and top left image is cut from the official Iron Man 3 poster. MARK XXXVI – HEAVY DUTY BRUTE ARMOR v.02 Designed for heavy duty tasks that his standard armors cannot handle, TONY STARK creates the HEAVY DUTY BRUTE ARMOR with sheer strength in mind.
Equipped with state of the art hydraulic systems powered by a modified ARC REACTOR. A.K.A the Hulkbuster Armor. Not explicitly termed as the Hulkbuster though, since that’s not the intended purpose. It’s prototype is the Mk. XXII / v.01, and is smaller and more humanoid. This armor enables IRON MAN to take on the strongest enemies. The Brute can be seen in the final scene of the new Iron Man 3 trailer and is clearly inspired by Stark’s meeting with Bruce Banner in The Avengers. MARK XLII – X01 – PARTICLE RADIATION CANNON ATTACHMENT Unable to deal with FIREPOWER’s fiery attacks, TONY STARK designs the PARTICLE RADIATION CANNON to absorb and channel TAGGERT’s heat against him A huge cannon that attaches to the Mk.XLII’s chest. Based on Bleeding Edge’s cannon. Image is from the comics but we don’t know what the cannon attachment looks like in the film. From the Iron Man 3 Assemblers toys, it does appear to be a large shoulder mounted weapon.
MARK XLII-R – RAPID EVACUATION SITUATION CONTROL UNILATERAL ENFORCER (R.E.S.C.U.E) A custom-modified variant of the MARK XLII, created by STARK to facilitate PEPPER’s rescue from A.I.M after their experiment. Feminine version of the Mk.XLII. From the LEGO toys (pictured top right) it appears that Pepper’s armor suit may be similar to the Mark XLVII armor we’ve seen in all the marketing to date. A shout out to the fan at Comic-Con who asked Shane Black and Jon Favreau if we’d ever see Gwyneth Paltrow suit up in the RESCUE armor. MARK XLV – HYPERVELOCITY AUTONOMOUS PERSONNEL PROTECTOR γ (H.A.P.P.γ) ARMOR Mourning his dear friend HAPPY HOGAN’s death, TONY STARK creates this armor in the image of his deceased friend. Equipped with its own A.I. programmed after HAPPY’s neuro patterns, H.A.P.P.γ assists IRON MAN in his battles. Looks like a hybrid of the comic Telepresence Armor, and the Mk.VII. Gets thrashed by Coldblood. The Telepresence Armor can be seen bottom left and the bottom right depicts the Mark VII from The Avengers.
The new armor first unveiled at Comic-Con 2012 features more gold than red, and is the first set of armor we see Tony Stark able to control with his mind. It’s one of the first, if not the first, example of Stark taking advantage of the Extremis technology. MARK XLVIII – HEART BREAKER v.01x Created using various parts and components from his damaged IRON ARMY suits, TONY STARK assembles a unique armor with high offensive capability. Armed with a larger ARC REACTOR with higher energy output, IRON MAN is ready to take on his most dangerous foe: THE MANDARIN. MARK XLVIIIs – SPACE ARMOR v.01 After experiencing the CHITAURI attack in THE AVENGERS, TONY STARK has been working on a suit capable of space travel. Crafted using a unique new metal alloy that absorbs his ARC REACTOR energy signature, IRON MAN travels into the far reaches of space to find the source of a coded SOS he receives. White/black/gold armor, which has the concept art leaked recently (as seen on the left)
MARK XLIX – HEART BREAKER v.02 Having his armor badly damaged in his battle with the MANDARIN, TONY STARK modifies and upgrades his HEART BREAKER ARMOR into its second version. Equipped with more ARC REACTORS to increase its output and offensive capability, this is the ULTIMATE IRON MAN. More cohesive version of the Heart Breaker armor. Color palette based off the initial Ultimate Iron Man armor. Image above is the Ultimate Iron Man design from the Ultimate Marvel Comics universe. MARK L – EXTREMIS ARMOR Perfecting the EXTREMIS technology at long last, TONY STARK is finally one with the IRON MAN ARMOR. The true Extremis Armor. Hybrid of the comics’ Bleeding Edge and Extremis Armors. The next-generation version of the Mark XLVII we’ve seen so far? MARK LI – ORIGINAL ARMOR [ REVISITED]HANSEN disabled all the EXTREMIS technology, TONY STARK is left unable to tap on his newer EXTREMIS-based suits for battle. Having no other options, STARK dons the REVISITED ARMOR to finish his fight with THE MANDARIN.
More techy, solid-looking version of the movie Mk.I. Based off the comics’ first armor. WAR MACHINE V2 – IRON PATRIOT In an effort to allow Rhodey (Don Cheadle) to stand out among the Iron Legion and inspired by the return of Captain America during the Battle of New York, the government-approved War Machine armor is redesigned as the Iron Patriot, featuring a should cannon and improved systems over the original Hammer-augmented War Machine from Iron Man 2. Rumor has it Tony Stark may find his way into space to meet the Guardians of the Galaxy by the end of the film, perhaps after the credits. If he does, expect the Godkiller armor to show up – his new armor from the Marvel NOW! Guardians of the Galaxy comic book series relaunch, where Iron Man is a member of the “Cosmic Avengers” team. The image depicts the Godkiller design from the comics alongside what may be a the live-action variant from the film, as clipped from the latest poster. Note the helmet colors and chest pattern similarities.