﻿Hey guys, I’m Kya, and when it comes to superhero fashion,
no one touches the debonair destruction of the Invincible Iron Man.
You've been called 'the da Vinci of our time.' What do you say to that?
Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint.
Between the comics, cartoons, and movies,
there are well over a hundred variants of Tony Stark’s trademark suit.
That’s way too much ground to cover in a ten-minute video,
so on this episode of ‘Yellow Spandex,’
we’re sticking to the 48 armors depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This is how you've been managing your downtime, huh?
Everyone needs a hobby.
Let’s see how the Golden Avenger evolved over Marvel’s decade of on-screen dominance,
and see
How Iron Man’s Armor Made a Mark on the MCU
In the comics, Iron Man’s suit was always made of metal,
but it was depicted as clinging to his muscles like skintight spandex.
At one point his helmet even had a nose for some reason.
As the medium evolved, artists incorporated a more high-tech aesthetic,
but bringing shellhead to the silver screen required a whole new level of realism.
Even with Professor Yinsen’s help,
The Mark 1 armor isn’t much to look at.
It’s a bulky grey mess of wires and welding, just like its comic book counterpart.
With its limited arsenal of flamethrowers and a single missile,
it still weighs over 1,500 pounds fully-loaded.
But also give them credit, they made it in a freaking cave.
WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!!!
I can't even fix my computer.
It’s great for deflecting small-arms fire,
and it can rocket-jump just fine,
even if it can’t quite stick the landing.
Still, he lived to build another day,
can't really say the same for Professor Yinsen.
Don't waste it. Don't waste your life...
And back in his high-tech lab with his expert assistants,
he created the chromed-out Mark 2.
It flew like a dream thanks to Stark’s patented repulsor technology,
but it had an icing problem at high altitudes.
Icing problem?
Obadiah Stane couldn’t work out the kinks,
but Stark solved the problem by switching the Mark 3 to a titanium-gold alloy,
accented with a little bit of hot rod red.
'Throw a little bit of hot rod red in there.
Yes, that should help you keep a low profile.
Based on Adi Granov’s 2005 Extremis armor,
the Mark 3 was the Iron Man of our dreams,
and it served as the blueprint for everything that came next,
starting with the sequel,
'Iron Man 2'
The Mark 4 armor is more or less the same as its predecessor,
which is probably why Tony feels comfortable enough to dance around wasted in it.
The Mark 6 is pretty similar, too,
just with a diamond-shaped Arc Reactor to house Stark’s new element.
Congratulations, sir.
'Iron Man 2’s' real innovation is the Mark 5 Emergency Suit, a.k.a. The Football,
named after the briefcase that holds nuclear launch codes IRL.
The Mark 5 is an homage to the comics,
where Tony’s standard costume was small enough to carry in a suitcase.
But in the MCU at least,
being compact comes at a cost.
The Emergency Suit is significantly weaker than it’s full-sized counterparts,
with barely enough power to shut down Mickey Rourke.
Over the next few films,
Stark experimented with quick-deployment methods that didn’t sacrifice stopping power,
starting with
'The Avengers'
Avengers, assemble!
The Mark 7 was a big change for Tony’s design philosophy.
Instead of cramming a shrimpy suit into a briefcase and chaining it to Happy Hogan’s wrist,
he found a way to bring the armor to him.
It was stored in a pod that tracked Tony via two special bracelets,
and once they were scanned, the suit wrapped itself around him like a comfy red blanket.
It was still in a prototype phase during the Chitauri invasion,
but Tony put it to the ultimate stress test, and it passed with flying colors.
Literally, he was even able to survive the vacuum of space.
The Mark 7 was a major step up,
and just like the classic Mark 3, it became a base that Tony built on for future iterations,
like the many, many armors we’re introduced to in
'Iron Man 3'
Tony has a unique method of dealing with his PTSD from the alien attack.
Sir, may I remind you that you've been awake for 72 hours?
Focus up, ladies. Good evening and welcome to the birthing suite.
Instead of going to therapy, or getting an adorable little service dog,
he locks himself in his lab, pumps out dozens of new armors,
then pretty much does nothing with them.
That's stupid, isn't it?
At least, until the Mandarin tries to kill the President.
Then he activates the ‘House Party Protocol’ and summons the Iron Legion to his aid.
What are you waiting for? It's Christmas.
Take 'em to church.
Now, there are over 30 armors in this scene,
it’s dark as hell,
and most of them are only onscreen for a frame or two,
but there are definitely some standouts.
Like the Mark 33, based on the Silver Centurion from the comics,
Mark 40, the Shotgun armor,
Marks 17 and 35, or as Tony calls them,
Heartbreaker and Red Snapper.
And of course, Mark 38, a.k.a. Igor.
Tony’s main suit throughout the film is the Mark 42,
a glitzy gold number that’s the apple of its daddy’s eye.
The prodigal son returns.
Ultron is jellly.
Every single piece is fully capable of flight,
and thanks to chips implanted in his arms,
Tony can summon them from anywhere in the world,
at least in theory.
Here it comes! 3... 4...
Shut up!
5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
Told ya.
Sadly, 42 doesn’t survive past the prototype phase.
It self destructs around Aldrich Killian,
and the rest of the Iron Legion gets wiped out by the ‘clean slate’ protocol.
Tony has finally realized he’s more than just a man in a can,
and destroys billions of dollars worth of tech with a single sentence.
Screw it, it's Christmas.
So that’s it, the end of Iron Man, right?
Bring on Riri!
Well, not so fast, true believers,
because Tony was back on his bullshit by the time
'Age of Ultron'
rolled around.
The Mark 43 is basically a perfected version of it’s predecessor,
with a more traditional candy-apple color scheme.
Nothing to write home about,
but this suit’s got a secret.
For threats too big and green to tackle with typical armor,
Tony can call ‘Veronica,’
an orbiting satellite that upgrades his outfit to the Mark 44,
better known as the Hulkbuster,
the only armor tough enough to KO the green goliath.
I'm sorry...
Well, Tony had to drop a skyscraper on him first, but still,
it’s some hardcore hardware.
I don’t know why he even bothered switching to the Mark 45,
although his operating system JARVIS gaining sentience and a brand new body might have something to do with it.
Imagine if your Windows 95 was like 'I'm outta here. I'm going to Amsterdam to kind of explore myself.
I'm trying to discover myself, Tony, leave me alone.
With his girl FRIDAY installed in the firmware,
Good evening, boss,
Tony’s new armor helped stop Ultron and save Sokovia,
but battling his best friend required another upgrade for
'Civil War'
During his clash with Cap, Tony debuted the Mark 46.
based on his Bleeding Edge comic costume.
This baby’s got backup arc reactors,
a state-of-the-art fire extinguishing system,
and a fully retractable helmet, which means Robert Downey Junior can wear even less of his costume on set.
But for all its bells and whistles, the tag team of Cap and Bucky still made Tony tap out.
There’s only one more stop, and suit, on the road to Infinity War:
Tony’s silver armor in
'Spider-Man Homecoming'
The color scheme is a tribute to Tony’s Ultimate incarnation,
but it stopped short of the mecha-inspired design.
It’s pretty much a repainted version of 46,
which makes sense.
This was Spidey’s show,
and Tony wasn’t tryna steal the spotlight with some flashy new armor,
hell, he’s barely inside it for most of the movie.
It's never too early to start thinking about college. I got some pull at MIT. End call.
I don't need to go to college. Mr. Stark!
Mr. Stark is no longer connected.
That’s not gonna be the case this summer,
where Tony takes center stage in the fight against Thanos in
Infinity War
Tony truly topped himself for the conflict that’s haunted him for the last six years.
For one thing, there’s a brand new Hulkbuster to combat the cosmic menace,
but the real star of the show is the Mark 48.
Based on Wakandan nanotechnology,
48 can shift and reconfigure itself for whatever the wearer needs,
from a set of repulsor wings,
to a bigass rocket booster,
and even a Mega Man-style arm cannon.
It’s the most advanced armor we’ve seen yet,
and if Thanos gets his way, it might be Tony’s funeral suit too.
I hope they remember you.
Still, even if this is Tony’s swan song,
there are plenty of new heroes to step in and fill his rocket-powered shoes.
Because if the MCU has taught us anything,
it’s that clothes don’t make the Iron Man.
Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?
Genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist.