After building his very first set of armor in a cave with a box of scraps,Iron Manhas forged hundreds of new sets of armor. And while Tony Stark’s longest-running goal is to perfect his primary armor, he has had to build new sets to take on, survive, and defeat specific opponents.
From Hulkbusters to Godkillers, Iron Man has created multiple suits of armor to combat specifically dangerous enemies. While not every suit is as effective as Stark may hope for, they most often serve to deal some major damage that can change the tide of any major battle. When faced with a super-strong villain or fellow superhero, only Iron Man has what it takes to see a problem of apocalyptic proportions… and solve it bycreating a ‘Buster’ suit of Iron Man armor built to fight just one enemy.
1Hulk-Buster
First Debuted In:Iron Man #304 (1968)
His first, and most iconic, iteration of specific armor sets designed to take down a particular foe,the Hulk-Busterbecame a popularly known name, especially for new fans after the MCU’sAvengers: Age of Ultronfilm. Interestingly, the original Hulk-Buster wasn’t technically its own suit. Instead, the anti-Hulk machine is a collection ofvarious replaceable modulesthat are attached to his Model 13 Iron Man armor.
Beefing up his traditional arsenal, the Hulk-Buster possesses multiple new weapons. Its primary strength comes from the magno-hydraulic musculature which enhances each hit todeliver close to 200 tons worth of force.The suit also possesses a sensor designed to track gamma radiation and impact-resistant plating.
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2Anti-Black Panther Armor
First Debuted In:Black Panther #44 (2002)
The Model 21 Iron Man armor was designed by a future version of Tony Stark who had been mind-controlled to turn against the Black Panther. Unlikely almost every other suit,the Anti-Black Panther Armorisn’t built from a metal base. Instead, the plastic-formed armor uses a mixture of ceramics, a polymer weave, and “bio-neutral gel-pack” circuits.
By doing this, Stark created a suit that theBlack Panther’s claws wouldn’t be able to cutthrough. Additionally, a cheap cloaking device was installed that was no more defensible than a movie projector screen. Forgoing his traditional set of mechanized weapons, Iron Man instead installed an adaptive combat guidance AI to the armor. This allowed Stark’s armor to collect data from his fight with T’Challa andcontrol Tony’s bodily movementsto better combat the skills and weaknesses of the Wakandan King. These general weaknesses aren’t completely unexpected, asmost of Iron Man’s stealth suits sacrifice fighting powerfor decreased noise and more fluid bodily movements.
3Thor-Buster
First Debuted In:Iron Man #64 (2003)
After Doctor Doom orchestrated a secret conflict between Sokovia and Asgard,Thor was caught up in Doom’s schemes, quickly becoming the villain of the story. Using a norn stone that Thor had gifted him only days prior, Tony Stark used the Asgardian relic to imbue his Model 22 Iron Man armorwith the power of Asgardian magic.Originially intended to be used as a renewable energy source, the stone instead pushed a whole new level of power through Tony’s arc reactor.
His new suit took visual inspiration from the Asgardian Destroyer armor, delivering a clear message to the God of Thunder. Despite the added boost of power Iron Man was given by the norn stone, Thor still proved too powerful to defeat. Fortunately,Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America discovered Doom’s underhanded plot, making the Thor-Buster an obsolete and unneeded unit.
4Phoenix-Buster
First Debuted In:Avengers vs. X-Men #5 (2012)
During the 2012 crossover event which sawEarth’s Mightiest and the X-Men turn against each otherafter word that the Phoenix Force was rapidly approaching the Earth. While some mutants believed thatthe Phoenix Force would bless themwith good fortune, the Avengers believed it was coming to raze the planet. In response, Iron Man and Ant-Man created the Model 38 to fend off the impending cosmic force.
Looking and functioning like the Knightmare Frames featured inCode Geass, the Phoenix-Buster is a mech-like armor designed for rapid space travel and cosmic disruption. Instead of killing the Phoenix Force, itfractured the cosmic being into five equal piecesthat each bonded with members of the X-Men. Like many other variants of Iron Man’s specifically designed armor sets, the Phoenix-Buster proved ultimately useless in stopping the impending threat it was designed to defeat. However, the armor itself still looks stunningly powerful, an aesthetic thatTony Stark would return toa couple of times in the future.
5Anti-Squirrel Girl Armor
First Debuted In:Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe! #1 (2016)
This adorably unique armor set was designed by Tony Stark after his original armor failed to combatSquirrel Girl’s evil clone, Allene. Allene proved to be a formidable threat after luring the rest of the Avengers into a trap, incapacitating the entire team. Using their weapons as her own, the suit took a heavy beating from theunsuspecting clone with squirrel-like abilities.
Practically a complete copy of the MCU’s Hulk-Buster armor, the Model 53 Iron Man armor’s only major deviation from the traditional Hulk-Busters. This version hasa cute squirrel facethat is painted on the head’s central visor. Naturally, however, this armor proved fruitless against the insane strength that both Doreen and Allene possess.
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6Fin Fang Foom-Buster
First Debuted In:Tony Stark: Iron Man #1 (2018)
One of Iron Man’s most interesting suits of armor, the Model 57 Iron Man armor is a massive model standing hundreds of feet tall. Rather than being a singular model, the Model 57 is actually multiple weaponized vehicles that transform and form into a single unit. Practically, this armor set is Marvel’s next best thing to a Megazord, takingdirect inspiration from other Sentai-style mech television shows.
Unfortunately for Stark,the Model 57 barely held its ownagainst the shapeshifting alien Fing Fang Foom. While Iron Man attempted touse the armor to push Fing Fang Foomunder the sea, the creature landed multiple critical blows. Iron Man was forced to eject from the mech and return to his previous model of armor.
7Ultron-Buster
First Debuted In:Tony Stark: Iron Man #16 (2019)
Coming from the same series that brought readers the Fing Fang Foom-Buster, the Model 65 Iron Man armor was designed to defeat one of the Avengers’ greatest enemies well before it was ever needed. Knowing that each time the Avengers put Ultron down he would find a way to return in the future, Iron Man felt it necessary todesign a weapons system capable of defeating the synthetic enemybefore the conflict even began. Ultron, at the time, had launched a plot tointegrate heroes' bodies into Ultron drones, effectively creating puppet Avengers.
During his mission to save the Wasp and Jocasta, Stark accidentally entered a machine designed to fuse an organic and an inorganic entity. This resulted in Iron Man slowly and gruesomely being fused with his armor. Fortunately, despite having to out-program Ultron’s influence, Iron Man successfully expelled the killer android’s infection,removing the 97% of his armor that had already been incorporatedinto Tony Stark’s flesh.
8Dragon-Slayer Armor
First Debuted In:Miles Morales: Spider-Man #7 (2023)
This unrevealed model of armor was designed as a reaction against the Symbiote Dragon that hadassimilated with the Extremis virus.The newly created Extrembiote Dragon was a terrifying force of draconic malleable flesh and peak Iron Man technology. Carnage later consumed the Extrembiote Dragon, creating an utterly terrifying creature of madness and lethal destruction.
The newly created Dragon-Slayer Armorleans heavily on an aesthetic somewhere between Medieval Knight and the Green Goblin. On top of the traditional Iron Man armor augmentations, the Dragon-Slayer Armor is armed with fire and sonic weapons and anoutrageously overpowered EMP. By flying directly into the Extremiote Carnage, Iron Man unleashed his EMP, completely obliterating the Extermbiote and freeing those who were technologically enthralled byCarnage’s unique internet powers.
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9Sentinel-Buster Armor
First Debuted inInvincible Iron Man #15 (2024)
The Model 73 Iron Man armor is possibly the strongest set of armor that Earth-616 Tony Stark has ever created. After the human supremacist billionaire businessman Feilong took control of Stark Unlimited, he immediately began pouring resources into the creation of Stark Sentinels. Thesemodels of Sentinels were catastrophically powerful, causing Stark to move underground alongside the mutant resistance.
The full set of armor was a team effort between Tony Stark, Ironheart, Forge, and the Dwarves of Nidavellir. Forged from a mysterious “miracle metal” that is equally durable and resistant to magic,the Sentinel-Buster Armoris specifically designed to be resistant to any major threat. As expected for a machine this size, it can only be used sparingly. The power the Model 73 requirescan’t sustain its use for any longer than a few hours.More importantly, this is one of the few suits that Iron Man can’t pilot remotely. to fight for his new X-Men allies, Tony Stark would have to put himself in front of an army of advanced Sentinels.
10Galactus-Buster
First Debuted In:Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011)
While this iteration of Iron Man’s armor is never seen in the comics, it’s far too interesting to not have it included. Unfortunately,this suit isn’t playable in the gamebut is seen in the exclusive Iron Man ending. As its name suggests, the Galactus-Buster was designed to take on the formless extradimensional Devourer of Worlds, Galactus.
Within the canon ofMarvel vs. Capcom, the Galactus-Buster is built after the game’s finale when Stark reflects onhow difficult it was to defeat Galactusthe first time. While players never get to see the suit in full function, what few images were provided in the Iron Man ending of the game, it does look quite small compared tothe traditional form Galactus normally takes. Alongside many of his specifically designed armor sets, this suit would most likely fail if used in Earth-616. Although, it would be amazing to see this concept translated into the comics regardless.
