Over the years, on both page and screen, Tony Stark has built some incredible suits of armor way ahead of their time. Every new suit brings with it something new, whether it be just a new design or a slew of new abilities.
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Two comic-inspired suits that got their time in the MCU limelight are the Mark XLII (42) and Mark L (50). With 42 making its debut inIron Man 3and 50 inAvengers: Infinity War,we've gotten plenty of live-action looks at what each suit is capable of, and both armors have pros that make one better than the other.
10 42: Easy Detachment
One of the most innovative things about the Mark 42 was the ease of actually getting the armor on. Instead of some elaborate process to have the armor put on him, Tony Stark perfected the process we saw at the end ofThe Avengersto easily envelop himself in his suit.
Well, just as easy as the Mark 42 could go on, the easier it was to get off. Towards the end ofIron Man 3,Stark shows that he's incorporated an ejection function into his suits, letting him detach from the armor in seconds. It may not seem like the most important function, but being able to get out of his armor so quickly definitely saved his life on a number of occasions.
9 50: Advanced Flight
After Rhodey's accident inCaptain America: Civil War,it was clear that Tony Stark needed to make some improvements to his suit's flight speed heading into Avengers: Infinity War.
Early into the film, he shows that's exactly what he's done when he tells F.R.I.D.A.Y. to give him some juice. The nanotech of the Mark 50 armor designates to his foot boosters, giving him way more flight speed and stabilization.
8 42: Nervous System Connection
Tony Stark's metaphorical connection to his suits has always been a major theme of his character. InIron Man 3, he took that connection to a new, and physical, level. By injecting inhibitor chips into his nervous system, he was able to physically control the Mark 42 armor simply with motion commands.
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The biggest advantage of the connection to his nervous system was that he could call his armor onto himself with basically a snap of his fingers. That function inspired plenty of his future suits, as he continuously tried to make suiting up a much easier process. However, the connection to his nervous system and the commands he used to direct the armor were pretty unique to the Mark 42 suit.
7 50: Easy Storage
It may be a simple thing, but the storage of the Mark 50 suit is by far one of its best aspects. The nanotechnology made the armor so much more compact and easy to get on and off, all fitting within the detachable chest piece that Stark wears inInfinity War.
In every suit before that, Tony was entirely separate from his armor, but with the Mark 50, he was able to carry it with him essentially everywhere he went.
6 42: Remote Control
An underrated aspect of the Mark 42 armor that Tony doesn't really utilize in any other suit is being able to remotely control it. He does so using a high-tech headset, at first using it just to fool Pepper, but eventually to save an entire flight crew falling out of the sky. He also used it much later in the MCUSpider-Man: Homecoming.
There are very few instances in which Tony would need to remotely control his armor, but it clearly is pretty useful in those occasional moments. At this point, it's a function of the past, but could still be pretty useful considering how much more advanced hisnewer suits are. It could've also been a way to continue on being Iron Man without actually putting himself at risk.
5 50: Self-Repair/Redesignation
The only reason Iron Man was able to last so long during his first encounter with Thanos is thanks to the Mark 50. As the Mad Titan continued to beat him down, his armor kept becoming weaker and weaker.
However, being able to designate the nanotechnology to create specific parts of his armor saved his life. For example, when his helmet was knocked off, he was quickly able to form a new one. He was able to do that until he simply ran out, leaving parts of his body exposed just so he could use the last of the nanoparticles to blast Thanos. It's by far one of the best functions of any suit he's ever created and again proved to be a lifesaver.
4 42: Individual Repulsor Systems
With the Mark 42 being able to split into individual pieces, each needed to be powered by its own repulsor system. That essentially made every single piece of the armor its own weapon.
It almost worked against him when the suit made its debut at the beginning ofIron Man 3, but the fast-moving armor pieces eventually became a way to take out enemies without even having the armor fully put together.
3 50: Weapon Creation
Just as Iron Man could use the nanoparticles of the Mark 50 armor to recreate parts of his suit, he could also use it to create weapons that had never been a part of any other Iron Man suit.
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Some of those weapons included huge repulsor canons, individual and miniature missiles, and even massive blades that essentially gave him swords for hands. Up to the point ofAvengers: Infinity War, no suit was even close to having the range of weapons that thenanotech of the Mark 50 armor could create.
2 42: Calling It To Others
Despite his massive ego, Tony Stark slowly became more comfortable with sharing his armor. That carried over intoIron Man 3, as he could call the Mark 42 armor onto other people using his motion commands.
Several scenes in that film also showed just how useful that function could be. He first used it to catch Pepper Potts in the attack on his mansion, and later to entrap Aldrich Killian and destroy him. Again, that function kind of faded away with the Mark 42, but it was one of the most unique aspects of any Iron Man suit that also proved to be extremely multi-purposeful.
1 50: Neurological Control
With the Mark 50 armor essentially came a much more advanced version of the nervous system connection of the Mark 42 suit. Instead of simply being able to control his armor with hand commands, the armor was neurologically controlled.
That neurological connection made the Mark 50 probably the most intuitive suit out of Tony Stark's entire arsenal. It also allowed him to control the functions of his suit all by himself after F.R.I.D.A.Y. disconnected, and he was left to his own devices. Even though his suits are much more useful with an A.I. assistant, this neurological interface gave Tony Stark complete control over his armor and its abilities, whether that was on Earth, a spaceship, or even another planet.
NEXT: Iron Man: The 10 Weirdest Things His Armor Can Do
