In the world of comics, Tony Stark is known as one of the most well-prepared heroes to suit up and battle bad guys. When you look at the “genius” labels in comics, you’re spoiled for choice with names like Black Panther and Reed Richards. Iron Man has made his way up the ranks after Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as Ultimate Marvel’s take on the character. You could argue that Iron Man is as important to the Avengers as Batman is to the Justice League, and they likely have the largest collection of suits, too. Iron Man’s suits also represent his contingency for dealing with any number of heroes and villains, while Batman isn’t limited to creating suits, but also many gadgets and tricks.
Where Batman would use a Kryptonite ring to battle Superman if he went evil, Stark would build an entire suit out of Kryptonite. He might even create tools for other heroes to do the same, which came in handy during the Fear Itself crossover when he crafted special weapons for other heroes at the Asgardian forge. Iron Man’s long history of creating armor for specific needs also includes special armor to battle other heroes and villains. Some have been great and memorable, even entering iconic territory in a few cases. Others have been sillier, but still important. And a few are far outside the canon, but hard to ignore, nonetheless.
Scroll down to look at the variety of suits Tony Stark has built to combat other Marvel Heroes over the years. There could be some surprises, but If there are any we missed, let us know in the comments.
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A treat created in the ’90s to combat the Incredible Hulk, the first Hulkbuster was actually part of Iron Man’s modular armor. Pieces could be switched out or traded depending on the mission at hand, which in 1994 was a battle with Professor Hulk. They battled over a Stane International plant that had produced gamma bombs and was being dismantled.
Hulkbuster armor got its next test during the World War Hulk storyline. This time, the Hulk was enraged and in World Breaker mode, meaning Stark didn’t stand much of a chance. It took the Sentry to stop Hulk, in the end.
The most famous instance of the Hulkbuster armor has to be in Avengers: Age of Ultron, when the Hulk is enraged while under the spell of the Scarlet Witch. The Mark XLIV armor combines the modular origins of the armor with the film’s type of armor. As pieces of the suit are destroyed or broken, replacements are thrown in thanks to the “Veronica” drop pod. Stark wins this fight, leaving Age of Ultron with one of its better moments as Iron Man crashes Hulk through a skyscraper.
Iron Man and Thor once came to blows after some interference by Doctor Doom, and Stark was willing to go to great lengths to match both his ally and enemy in strength. Using armor based on the Asgardian Destroyer armor and powered by a crystal given to the billionaire by Thor, he faces the Thunder God.
The pair battle, but Thor seems more hurt and betrayed by Iron Man. Stark had used the gift he had received to create a weapon. He then destroyed the suit’s reactor and was only stopped after Captain America broke them from fighting.
This armor maintains the yellow and red look that became a trademark of Iron Man, but it borrows a lot from the Destroyer. The result is an imposing battle tank of sorts.
The Godkiller Armor actually isn’t one of Stark’s creations initially. The original armor was created by the Aspirants to battle Celestials during the Celestial War and kept in a Dyson Sphere for ages. This original armor ended up genetically engineered for Howard Stark’s unborn son years later, with the hope being it could be a deterrent. The problem is that this son wasn’t Tony Stark, but his long-lost brother Arno. This means Tony couldn’t pilot the suit since it’s tied to his brother’s DNA. Think Evangelion but with superheroes.
So, years later, Stark would have to make his own. The MK I Godkiller armor looks more like a Celestial does in the Marvel Universe. It is otherworldly and doesn’t truly have the Iron Man feel. His later MK II version maintains the size, since this is meant to battle gods in space, but retains the Iron Man look. It also gave way to arguably his strongest armor, the Godbuster Armor, which would later end up in Arno’s possession and inspire his first suit.
Now this is a prime example of Tony Stark creating a solution to a problem, only to end up making that problem worse. In the MCU, he created Ultron and helped split The Avengers. In Marvel Comics, he builds a giant armor to kill the Phoenix Force in Avengers vs. X-Men. Instead of killing it, he breaks it into five beings that become the Phoenix Five: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus, and Magik.
This is technically counted as a victory for Iron Man, facing the Phoenix Force head-on. He managed to blast and break the being, but didn’t expect it to possess five other mutants during their Moon showdown. It also goes down as one of Stark’s most powerful armors.
Appearing in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe, the Squirrelbuster might do well to spend a little more time in the yard, chasing the wildlife and training. While this is essentially the Hulkbuster suit with a squirrel head in place of the yellow face plate, it works.
Stark required this armor after his normal armor failed against the evil Squirrel Girl clone Allene, and it seemed very necessary. Another version of this armor appears in LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, piloted by Squirrel Girl herself and featuring a few extra attachments.
Iron Man armor model 54 was created for the final battle against Captain Marvel in Civil War II. It takes a lot from the design of War Machine and bumps up the power, but it wasn’t enough to fully handle Carol Danvers. Iron Man manages to hold his own at first, but the armor starts to fail and Marvel starts dismantling it until Stark is injured and left in a coma. He was holding his own until that happened, though.
Stark gets a little revenge in a What If? story detailing what would happen if Captain Marvel had lost the fight and landed in a coma. Brian Michael Bendis also hinted that the armor has a unique power source that wasn’t revealed at the time. It likely never will, sadly, with Bendis working at DC Comics.
Iron Man and Black Panther butted heads a bit during Christopher Priest’s run on Marvel Knights Black Panther, leading inventor to create another new suit to counter the vibranium used by Wakanda’s protector. Yes, this was an impostor Tony Stark from the future who knocked out the real version and stole his plastic suit, but that’s nothing new for comics.
The armor might remind fans a bit of Ultron, which should hint that this is not your everyday Iron Man. It’s far more sinister looking, and it’s able to withstand Panther’s vibranium claws. Iron Man is eventually defeated, but demonstrates that Stark has contingency plans just in case he needs to use them.
Galactus has been a hero many times in the Marvel Universe, in between his role as a galactic villain that eats planets. Just go pick up some of his adventures in Ultimates 2 or his time with Thor as a herald for good examples. But in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Galactus is a baddie and his defeat at the end inspires Tony to invent a new suit in case he ever returns. There aren’t many other details since it only appears during Iron Man’s ending in the classic game.
It also made an appearance as part of the Armor Wars series that sprouted out of Secret Wars in 2015. The first appearance came on the cover of the mini-series, showing a yellow and red Iron Man suit shaped like Galactus and blasting the Statue of Liberty. It doesn’t get a chance to shine in the series, but it was a perfect tease for the event that took out all the stops to craft Battleworld.
Much like the Galactus armor, Iron Man’s Godzilla Buster is a one-off from a special cover honoring the giant lizard from Toho International. The line of variant covers was created to celebrate the release of a new Godzilla comic and an omnibus collecting older series featuring the titan at Marvel.
The general idea here is similar to his Fin Fang Foom Buster armor, but for the heroic monster. His Godzilla armor looks more like something from Pacific Rim, which really makes me wish they made that proposed Pacific Rim/Godzilla crossover.
The final armor is a bit of a fluke, it seems, but it did allow Iron Man to take control of one of Knull’s Symbiote Dragons in King in Black. It’s the closing example for this list, not because he created it to battle a hero, but more because he’s using it to save Venom’s life. Combining the symbiote dragon’s DNA with the Extremis virus, Iron Man manages to subdue the dragon, remove it from Knull’s control. He failed to save Eddie Brock at first, but his son Dylan Brock was there to ensure the job was done.
Once he finally figured out the armor, though, Iron Man was able to take control of Knull’s symbiote Celestials and ride the dragon. In a later event, the suit would be adjusted into a more recognizable Iron Man suit and used in a battle with Carnage. He fails after Carnage takes over the suit, breaks Stark’s arms and ribs, and then turns into an armored symbiote dragon.
Did we miss any special armor that Iron Man used to battle his fellow heroes? Have an issue with any of the choices above? Head to the comments and weigh in.
In the world of comics, Tony Stark is known as one of the most well-prepared heroes to suit up and battle bad guys. When you look at the “genius” labels in comics, you’re spoiled for choice with names like Black Panther and Reed Richards. Iron Man has made his way up the ranks after Robert Read More