Iron Man is the most celebrated character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and a significant contributing factor to his identity is his suit. Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr, adorns this red suit with gold detailing, but a question often remains, how many iron man suits Tony Stark has made, even if he hasn’t worn all of them? Continue reading to find out the number and details about these iron man suits. 

How Many Suits Did Iron Man Build?

It can be tough to keep track of the number of suits built by Tony Stark, but it has been estimated that he creates around 93 suits out of which a total of 85 suits were for Iron Man. It is also important to mention that this number does not only include Iron Man’s armor; instead, it takes into account the suits that Tony Stark built for War Machine for James Rhodes, the Iron Spider suit for Peter Parker, and the Rescue Armor for Pepper Pott that she wore in Avengers Endgame. 

Versions of the Iron Man Armor

The journey of Iron Man’s Armour is a long one that began in the First Iron Man movie that came in 2008 and ended (Spoiler Alert!) when his character died in Avengers Endgame, which came out in 2019. The detailed description and names of all Iron Man armor are discussed below:

Mark Ⅰ (Iron Man)

The first ever suit created by Tony Stark was while he was in captivity of the Ten Rings, and this suit was designed and built with the help of Yinsen. The primary purpose of designing and building the suit at this time was for Tony to escape, and due to limited resources available, the suit wasn’t the best feature longevity-wise. It was built using scraps of metal and the first-ever Arc reactor to power it for only 15 minutes.

This suit was destroyed upon Tony’s escape from the Ten Rings in Afghanistan.

Mark Ⅱ (Iron Man)

This suit was created by Tony Stark to replicate Mark Ⅰ but was modified in ways such as it had better repulsors and thrusters. This improved its flight capabilities, and the suit was designed to be aerodynamic. It was styled to look better than the first one.

This suit only appeared once, with icing problems for higher altitudes. Thus, after a test flight, Tony decided that the armor wasn’t fit for Iron Man’s suit and needed more advanced.

Mark Ⅲ (Iron Man)

Mark Ⅲ is the first suit in the Iron Man armor to feature the gold and red color scheme; the reason behind this is that Tony Stark fixed the earlier mentioned icing problem by changing the suit to gold-titanium alloy. Apart from this, there were additional features of advanced weapons such as shoulder-mounted machine guns and wrist missiles. 

This was the first definitive suit in the series of suits built by Tony Stark for Iron Man.

Mark Ⅳ (Iron Man 2)

This suit has no significant updates or new features compared to Mark Ⅲ. The only reason this suit is featured in the Iron Man movies is that Mark Ⅲ was destroyed in battle at the end of the first movie. The only defining difference in this suit is that the helmet can be removed manually.

This suit was seen to be used by Tony to enter Stark Expo in Iron Man 2.

Mark Ⅴ (Iron Man 2)

The Mark Ⅴ was the first portable suit that Tony Stark built for Iron Man. This suit came in the form of a suitcase and was easy to access; this meant that Tony Stark could carry his Iron Man suit around with him and be ready to fight within his armor in seconds without worrying about his robotic arms to get him suited. 

Mark Ⅵ (Iron Man 2)

In this Iron Man suit, the arc reactors’ look and shape upgraded from circular to triangular; the arc reactor also had higher energy output, enabling Tony Stark to have a grenade launcher, lasers that could slice through metal in each arm, and a missile launcher.

Mark Ⅶ (The Avengers)

This suit made an appearance in the Avengers battle that took place in New York and was able to assemble entirely on its own through bracelets that Tony Stark wore. This version of the Iron Man armor returns to the original circular version of the arc reactor and could also be automatically deployed.

Mark XⅬⅡ (Iron Man 3)

This Iron Man armor suit was built by Tony Stark, keeping in mind the battle of New York and armor pieces that can be controlled remotely through the chips in Starks body.  The color scheme of this suit is predominantly golden and can be controlled and operated externally.

Mark ⅩⅬⅢ (Avengers Age of Ultron)

Iron Man adorned this suit during the Avengers attack that took place on the HYDRA research base; it is very similar to Mark ⅩⅬⅡ. But an added feature is that even when Tony Stark is out of the suit, the sentry mode still protects him. It also features a Veronice mode allowing Tony to take on the Hulk.

Mark ⅩⅬⅤ (Avengers Age of Ultron)

This is the first suit not to feature Jarvis; instead, the system is managed and run by AI called Firday. Apart from that, it has a hexagonal arc reactor surrounded by a shinier and tougher suit armor.

Mark ⅩⅬⅥ (Captain America: Civil War)

The Mark XLV was worn by Tony Stark when the Avengers clashed at the airport and in Siberia, where the Hydra base was. This suit features a pentagon-shaped arc reactor with hybrid nanotechnology. This suit was ultimately destroyed by Steve Roger’s shield that made contact with the arc reactor and consequently depowered the suit. 

Mark ⅩⅬⅦ (Spiderman: Homecoming)

This suit was used by Tony Stark in Spiderman Homecoming to help assist Spiderman in his confrontation with the Vulture on a lake and later helped repair the ferry. And like Mark XLII, Tony Stark can also control it remotely.

Mark Ⅼ (Avengers: Infinity War)

This suit is also known as the “Bleeding Edge Armor,” which can assemble around Tony Starks arc reactor with the help of nanotechnology. Not only that, but it can also regenerate if in case it is damaged. It also has the ability to travel into deep space with the help of Rocket thrusters, and its helmet features in Avengers Endgame, when we see Tony Starks, recorded goodbye message.

Mark ⅬⅩⅩⅩⅤ (Avengers: Endgame)

This suit is very similar to Mark L, but a few added-on features that make it distinguishable are its ability to hold Infinity stones in the form of an Infinity Gauntlet. It also has a slightly heavier design with shoulder guards and is the most advanced Iron Man suit that Tony Stark ever built. 

In Short

Tony Stark designed and built many suits, and quite a few of them only seldom appeared on screen, while the others weren’t mentioned much. Each suit was designed to overcome the last ones’ shortcomings and included better features, ammunition, and protection. It is safe to say that amongst all Iron Man armor, the best of them was Mark ⅬⅩⅩⅩⅤ as it was the most advanced version of the Iron Man armor. 

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