Best known for his slew of armor options and continually pushing the envelope on technology,Iron Manhas no shortage of technical upgrades to utilize and expand upon. The100th Anniversary Special – Guardians of the Galaxy #1featured one of his most impressive suits to date. Unfortunately, this particular model hasn’t been seen again, which is surprising and highly disappointing given how much potential it could have for Marvel in several mediums.
100th Anniversary Special – Guardians of the Galaxy #1has the creative team of Andy Lanning, Ron Marz, Gustavo Duarte, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Sabino. It pits the titular hero team against Silver Galactus, with help from an Iron Man variant from the future (Earth-14971). In true Tony Stark fashion, the armor improves upon nanotechnology, widening the suit’s capabilities significantly. While several Marvel Comics and even the MCU have toyed with Iron Man’s use of nanotechnology – such as with the Mark L armor – this armor takes things a step further.
Iron Man’s Best Suit was Crucial in Taking Down a Celestial
Released in 2014, this issue shows Iron Man’s armor splitting off into independent nanobots, swarming together to create the suit. This individualization allows for a wide variety of functionality, instead of being a singular, bulky unit like Stark’s classic suit. This iteration of Iron Man expands on the suit’s capabilities, explaining that the suit functions through “Tony Stark’s consciousness downloaded to nanite form.” Referred to as “Iron Manites”, the nanobots can be given independent tasks apart from the suit. Breaking it apart creates a new offense and recon technique that allows the Marvel hero to get far closer to his enemies with a lowered chance of detection.
Related:20 Best Iron Man Stories in Marvel History
This Guardians of the Galaxy special shows Iron Man using the Iron Manites to begin recon in Silver Galactus' neural system, getting a closer look at the celestial and how to begin defeating it. Iron Man frequently blends and explores new technology with his suits, such as his use of Extremis inIron Man (2004) #1-9and symbiote bondingwith the Endo-Sym suit, also introduced in 2014. Iron Man’s experiments with symbiotes and his suits made a return in recent comics, but the nanobot division armor hasn’t seen a similar revival.
Breaking it apart creates a new offense and recon technique that allows the Marvel hero to get far closer to his enemies with a lowered chance of detection.
Lately, Iron Man has been dealing with fallout from the theft of Stark Unlimited, leaving him with his hands pretty full with domestic matters on Earth. He has also had no shortage of impressive and improved armor, such ashis recent mysterium armor. Nonetheless, some nanobite allies could prove useful in his continued fight against Roxxon, AIM, and Justine Hammer. He has no shortage of foes and challenges to contend with. Sending off a few Iron Manites could giveIron Mana major advantage, keeping ahead of his enemies using stealth, bringing back one of his best armor capabilities.
Iron Man
Anthony “Tony” Edward Stark, AKA Iron Man, is a Marvel Comics superhero who has enjoyed several years of the spotlight and has become a mainstay in several Marvel media franchises. After suffering a critical injury, Tony creates a specialized armored suit powered by an arc reactor, which keeps him alive. Egotistical but good-hearted, Tony utilizes his super intellect and inventions to fight to protect humanity from various threats, eventually becoming a founding member of the Avengers. In 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was kicked off with the film Iron Man, which starred Robert Downey Jr. as the superhero.
