The Many Suits of Iron Man!

The suit completes the man. Barney of HIMYM would have lived and died by this statement.  But it is someone else I am talking of today, well, Iron Man, of course. Tony Stark charms with his wit, swagger and his love to create things, but only when he dons on his suit aka armour, does he emerge as a larger personality, something worth loving and yet something worth fearing. As we inch closer to the release of Iron Man 3, here's a look back at the famous suits worn by Iron Man in the previous movies. The pictorial representations are either from the movies or comics, whichever looks good!

Mark I (left) : It is from here where it all began. Built by Stark in captivity in Afghanistan, Mark I is crude and more like a prototype rather than a real suit. But it was effective and did its job, and gave Stark something to work with.

Mark II (right): Once back home, Stark improved the Mark I armour, making it sleeker and way more cooler. The Mark II works with remote assistance from JARVIS but it faced issues with icing at high altitudes, something that played a big part in the climax of the first film. 

  

Mark III (left): From here began the well-known look of an Iron Man armour, the red/gold coloured armour made from a gold-titanium alloy that solved the icing problems seen for Mark II. It was the last armour worn by Iron Man in the first film. 

Mark IV (right): Mark IV makes its debut in Iron Man 2 as Iron Man demonstrates it when he flies into the Stark Expo. Not much different from Mark III in the first glance, it has a manually removable helmet (Stark eating donuts, remember!) and is the armour worn during the party which ends in a fight with James Rhodes who wears the Mark II. 

Mark V (left): This one has the coolest opening, if ever a suit can! It jumps from Tony Stark's suitcase and assembles itself on his body, as Stark prepares to battle with Whiplash. Wicked! 

Mark VI (right): Mark VI is distinguishable for the triangle shaped plate above the arc reactor, different from the typically circular covering. It is the suit worn by Stark in the final battle scene of Iron Man 2 and displays a range of laser weapons and missile launchers. Mark VI continues its journey in The Avengers and is used by Stark underwater as well. It bears the brunt of Thor's lightning and the attack by Loki's troops on SHIELD's aircraft carrier.

Mark VII (above): Mark VII matches Mark V in its coolness quotient as it detects Stark using laser and automatically assembles itself while Stark is in flight (rather falling, when Loki throws him out of the window). Mark VII brings back the circular plate on the chest, and is the final armour worn by Stark as he defends Manhattan in the climax of The Avengers. It carries a tinge of silver along with the typical red and gold colours. 

Iron Man 3 is going to bring forth its own range of armours worn by Tony Stark, improvements over Mark VII. Going by the trailers, Stark would be able to summon the suit without any button clicks, which would be the biggest technology jump yet as far as Stark's suits are concerned. We have indeed come a long way from the rudimentary looking Mark I. And maybe there is still a long way to go. Let's continue to be dazzled!