Iron Man Mark 85 Guide

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The Mark 85, also referred to as Mark LXXXV, is one of the numerous Tony Stark’s armors. This was the final 85th suit that he wore during the Battle of Earth and Time Heist. The armor has several cool, new features and uses sophisticated nanotechnology for extra durability.

You could also see this armor in Avengers: Endgame. Given that Thanos destroyed his previous suit, Mark L, Iron Man had to create this new piece as soon as possible. Aside from being more durable and having new features, Mark 85 performs better in combat compared to its predecessors.

The thing I really like about this armor is its enhanced lasers and energy shields. The suit design is also fantastic, reminding me of real muscles. In this guide, I will talk about the armor’s features and its comic book appearances.

Key Info Up Front

Iron Man Mark 85 armor is Tony Stark’s most sophisticated piece of equipment. It has numerous weapons such as nano-canons, nano shields, foot clamps, nano-katar, micro-missiles, etc., and you can see it during Time Heist and Battle of Earth.

I liked watching this suit in action. Although it is an artificial creation and not a superhero power per se, it can still take down some of the strongest characters in the Marvel universe. This reminds us that even an ordinary man can make a difference with the right kind of tools.

General Information

Mark 85 Suit Design
Image from Wiki Fandom

Mark 85 is one of Iron Man’s numerous armors. He created this suit after Thanos destroyed his previous equipment. As it usually goes with Mark armors, this new iteration is far more powerful than its predecessors and with extra features. Its durability is on the next level, which makes sense given that Tony used reformable nanoparticles.

He made this suit during the post-Snap period. However, this wasn’t the only version of the outfit made during this time. Tony Stark made a total of 34 other armors in the five years between Snap and Time Heist. Just as he was getting ready to go into Time Heist, he left a message for Morgan Stark and Pepper Potts, just in case he doesn’t return.

This particular armor has a unique feature that separates it from all other suits. Tony Stark made it so he could use Infinity Stones, which ultimately cost him his life.

Mark 85 Visual Design

The armor features red and gold sections, having golden tights, shoulders, and face and red arms, torso, feet, and neck. Tony used gold-titanium particles, and it includes augmented reality glasses. In several places, you might also notice a silver exoskeleton that serves as a connector for other parts of the suit.

Mark 85 has a total of 15 RTs (repulsor transmitters). These parts connect his hands to his chest reactor allowing Iron Man to use his repulsor weapons. As for the helmet, Tony Stark can remove the face plate at any time. There is also a display inside the helmet that helps the superhero target the bad guys and provides other valuable information.

Mark 85 Appearances in Movies

Time Heist

Iron Man Time Heist
Image from Wiki Fandom

You can see the armor for the first time during the Battle of New York, which occurred in 2012. Tony Stark went back in time wearing this suit; his main task was to locate Avengers‘ past selves who were inside the Stark Tower at the moment. You can notice how quickly Mark 85 can deploy around the superhero in these scenes.

He managed to get Ant-Man close to Tesseract, which was inside a reinforced suitcase held by a past version of Tony Stark. Ant-Man manages to disconnect past Tony’s Arc Reactor, causing him to fall down onto the ground, thus releasing the case from his grasp.

The suitcase starts rolling on the ground, and after a few tumbles, Tesseract falls from it, close to Loki’s feet. He uses the cube to escape his predicament. Eventually, Iron Man and Captain America manage to get back the Tesseract and Pym Particles by visiting Camp Lehigh in the 1970s.

While they are in the camp’s storage, we see another cool armor feature. Mark 85 has a small blowtorch on its fingertip, which Tony Stark uses to destroy the containment around Tesseract.

Blip

Iron Man Suit Shield
Image from Wiki Fandom

Upon retrieving the Infinity Stones, a team of Rocket Raccoon, Bruce Banner, and Tony Stark create a Nano Gauntlet meant to store these precious objects. The new gauntlet is very similar to Infinity Gauntlet and should allow one of the superheroes to wield the power of the Stones.

The protagonists have to make a decision as to who will wear the Gauntlet. Thor offers himself up, but the others refuse. Given that the Snap produces gamma radiation, the best person to handle it was the Hulk. They plan to resurrect everyone who died due to Thanos’ Snap without changing anything else from the past.

During this scene, Tony Stark creates an energy shield that would protect himself and Hawkeye from the energy burst. The surrounding superheroes also take preventive measures. Somehow, Hulk manages to persevere and uses the Snap, despite all the pain that the Infinity Stones were causing.

As Hulk is lying on the ground, with his right arm heavily damaged, Iron Man administers a medical spray. Hawkeye receives a call from Laura, signifying that all the victims are resurrected.

Attack on the Avengers Compound

Thor, Steve and Tony

The victory was short-lasting. Soon, Iron Man and other protagonists find out that an alternate reality Thanos is hot on their heels. His forces swarm the superhero’s compound, forcing them to fight in smaller groups. In these scenes, we can whiteness the resiliency of Mark 85. As Sanctuary II demolishes the facility, destroying War Machine’s armor, the Iron Man’s suit takes no damage.

Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man are grouped together. They saw Thanos just as old Nebula from 2014 was trying to deliver him the Infinity Stones. The superheroes spring into action, trying to stop the antagonist before he can use the devastating power.

During this battle, we can see the full potential of Mark 85. He activates energy blades prior to engaging Thanos. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see how these blades would work in a melee fight as Iron Man stayed in the back for most of the fight.

Later on, Thor provides support by charging his repulsor blasts with lighting. Thanos manages to fend off this attack with his weapon. Tony Stark makes the mistake of coming too close to the Mad Titan, who grabs him and uses him as a shield against flying Mjolnir. The superhero gets struck with the hammer and is out of commission for the rest of the fight.

Battle of Earth

Iron Man Confronts Thanos
Image from Wiki Fandom

Despite all the wounds suffered at the hands of Thanos, Iron Man gets back to his feet. He sees the arrival of Asgardians, Wakandans, Guardians of the Galaxy, and all other resurrected allies. In the subsequent engagement, Iron Man takes out numerous opponents and, at one point, he fights alongside Pepper Potts, who came in her own armor.

At the start of the battle, Iron Man was using micro-lasers and repulsor fire. Out of nowhere, Cull Obsidian strikes him in the back. Just as the villain was looking to finish Tony Stark, the superhero uses auto-energy blasters to briefly fend him off. Spiderman comes to his teammate’s rescue entangling the villain’s right arm and pulling him to the ground, after which Giant-Man stomps him.

In a desperate move, Thanos decides to rein fire on both enemies and allies with his Sanctuary II. Carol Danvers stops the attack by destroying the warship. The villain goes for the Nano Gauntlet, and a team of Thor, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Captain America tries to stop him.

Iron Man’s Death

Iron Man with Infinity Stones

Thanos gets the Gauntlet and manages to insert all the Infinity Stones. Iron Man charges at him and tries to remove the Nano Gauntlet. Thanos punches Tony and, after that, swats him away. The villain attempts to utilize the Infinity Stones. After unsuccessfully snapping his fingers, he realizes that Tony Stark managed to steal the stones during their previous engagement.

Iron Man assimilates all the Stones on his hand and uses the Mark 85 technology to activate them. By snapping his fingers, he destroys the enemy forces, including Thanos. Alas, the power also kills him in the process. During the funeral, Tony’s allies played the message found in Mark 85’s helmet for everyone in attendance.

Mark 85 Capabilities and Features

Although I always thought that Tony Stark is a very intriguing character, the thing I like the most about this hero is his outfit. Unlike most comic book protagonists, who have enormous strength, speed, durability, and various superhuman powers, Tony’s intellect and financial resources are the reason why he is so powerful.

When it comes to Mark 85, this is the most advanced piece of armor the character has ever made. It is superior to Mark 50 in every possible way. The suit utilizes advanced nanotechnology and can be used in just about any situation.

The thing that makes Mark 85 and Mark 50 very different is the design. Mark 50 looks very muscular, following the contours of a well-built male body. On the other hand, Mark 85 combines a muscular appearance with mechanical parts. You can notice separate plates and hardware around boots, gauntlets, mask, and torso, which enhance both offensive and defensive capabilities.

Tony Stark made this suit specifically to combat Thanos. After his defeat on Titan, the superhero realizes that he needs something sturdier to withstand Mad Titan’s physical strikes.

Deployment

Iron Man Suiting Up
Image from Wiki Fandom

The thing that makes this armor memorable is its deployment. It can be disintegrated and reapplied within seconds. The suit is placed inside of a heart-shaped reactor, which Tony can also detach at any time. The superhero can wear regular clothes when applying the suit.

When Tony Stark uses the suit, it creates armor plates with minor openings. The mechanism is very similar to that of Mark 47, which also had quickly forming pieces. It takes approximately 2.6 seconds for the full application of the suit.

Armor

While this isn’t the only Mark armor that relies on nanoparticles, it has the most sophisticated systems. Among others, the armor creates energy fields around it. The smart gold-titanium nanoparticles provide incredible durability, flexibility, power, and adaptability to the suit.

Segmentation

A massive improvement between Mark 50 and Mark 85 comes in the form of segmentation. The previous armor, Mark 50, has a one-piece design, while Mark 85 uses separate pieces. The particles come straight from the Arc Reactor, forming a protective suit around the wearer’s body.

Once all these pieces are in place, they will strengthen around the operator’s body. Keep in mind that the suit doesn’t have to form entirely. It also has a limited deployment feature allowing a person to use just a part of the armor (to use it on the hands or head, for example).

Neurological Control Interface

To control the armor, Tony Stark relies on Neurological Control Interface inside Arc Reactor as well as the armor layer closest to the wearer’s body. The user gains access to all the features by using his thoughts without having to rely on artificial intelligence or the internet.

Features

Iron Man Armor Features
Image from Wiki Fandom

The armor has a plethora of features that can come in handy depending on the situation:

High Durability

Tony Stark made this armor to withstand Thanos’s hits. Even when the Avenger’s base crumbled, the suit had no dents or scratches on it. Besides absorbing physical attacks, it can also take bullets, explosions, and energy weapons.

Extreme Power

While you might think that the armor provides strength by itself, this isn’t exactly correct. It only amplifies the strength of its user. That way, the armor can become stronger depending on the individual wearing it. With Mark suits, Tony Stark can go toe-to-toe against anyone, including Hulk and Thanos.

Sealing System

If you read the comics, you know that Iron Man can travel to outer space and fight in the water. The reason why he can do this is that his suits provide an airtight seal. Mark 85 works in a similar manner giving the superhero an ample supply of air.

Protective Layer

Aside from physical and energy attacks, the suit makes its wearer impregnable to mind control. You cannot penetrate its interior with shrinking abilities or phasing. In other words, you cannot disrupt it from within. The only way to eliminate Iron Man is to completely destroy the armor itself or to somehow incapacitate the wielder with a powerful strike to the head that circumvents the suit’s defense.

Easy to Use

Mark 85 is the easiest Mark armor to deploy. It appears from within the Arc Reactor, which is portable, making the armor itself portable. It takes 2.6 seconds for the whole suit to appear, and even when someone destroys sections of the suit from the outside, the nanoparticles quickly seal the area.

Flexible Deployment

Besides having fast deployment, Mark 85 also has very flexible deployment. You can apply it to different body parts selectively. Not only that, but the suit can shoot some of its particles outward for defensive, offensive, or utility purposes.

Surface Enhancements

As previously mentioned, Iron Man used energy blades when battling Thanos. The wearer can also use the armor to create various types of shields and energy weapons. In the same fight against Thanos, Iron Man and Thor combined their powers to strike the villain with lightning refocuser.

Interacting with External Objects

During his death scene, Tony Stark managed to merge Infinity Stones with his Mark 85 suit. In fact, he planned this move from the start. Aside from the Infinity Stones, the superhero can use Mark 85 to manipulate other outside objects.

Weapons and Tools

Flight Thrusters

Mark 85 allows its wearer to fly at a hyper speed. With its thrusters, it propels Tony Stark through the air giving him a tactical advantage over the opponents. The superhero uses this feature almost all the time during his flights. Comic book experts think that the suit can achieve speed at or higher than Mach 10.

Repulsors

Repulsor Beams
Image from Wiki Fandom

Repulsors are the most common Iron Man weapons that were present throughout different comic book eras. In terms of their power, you can compare them to nano repulsor cannons that come with Mark 50 armor. Like many other Mark 85 features, its repulsors are much more potent than those of its predecessors. Tony Stark can charge them instantly while on the ground, and they have a much bigger width. The reason why they’re so amazing is that they have a better distribution of power. Repulsors form in the back of the armor and use a lot of power, which is why they need an external energy source to be efficient.

Lightning Refocuser

Lightning refocuser works in conjunction with repulsors. It allows the superhero to absorb large quantities of external power and use this energy for its beams. We can see lightning refoucuser during the scene with Thor when he charged it with his Mjolnir. It looks like a propeller with six blades.

Micro-Lasers

As the name implies, these are smaller lasers compared to repulsors. The superhero commonly uses them for various utility purposes, not necessarily for fighting opponents. Although this wasn’t implied during the movies, there is a good chance that micro-lasers on Mark 85 are stronger than those on Mark 50.

Unibeam

Unibeam is a powerful laser that comes from a repulsor transmitter on the chest. It has two forms: standard repulsor (plasma beam) and energy variant (blue beam). No matter the type, it is much more potent than the standard repulsors. Based on the movies, it seems that blue beam is more commonly used for powering up equipment than it is used against opponents.

Medical Sulture Spray

Medical Sulture Spray
Image from Wiki Fandom

After using Nano Gauntlet, Hulk had a severe injury to his right arm. Tony Stark came to his aid, spraying the wounded area with white medical sulture spray. The spray comes out of the armor’s fingertips, and you can use it to close wounds and hasten regenerative processes.

Various Tools and Weapons

Aside from the standard lasers, the armor can create numerous tools and weapons. A lot of them are seen throughout the movie, such as the energy shield, energy blades, nano-katar, blade-like lightning refocuser, fingertip blowtorch, etc. I especially like this feature as it makes the character much more flexible and unpredictable.

Zero Cannons

Mark 85, like Mark 50, has zero cannons located on the back of the gauntlets. They use liquid nitrogen as their energy source and pack quite a punch.

Micro-Missiles

The superhero can also shoot micro-missiles from his back, gauntlets, and shoulders. Seemingly, missiles from Mark 85 are very similar in power to those made by Mark 50. Tony Stark can also use this system to launch explosive warheads.

Helmet Display

Iron Man Helmet Display
Image from Wiki Fandom

Similar to other suits, Mark 85 has a Heads Up Display or HUD. It allows the superhero to look through the walls, analyze opponents, and communicate with other team members and the computer. The helmet also provides hologram recording, which Tony Stark used to leave a message to his daughter and wife before his death.

Mark 85 Trivia

As it usually goes with Marvel movies, there are a few Easter Eggs and cool references pertaining to Mark 85:

The 1976 Issue Reference

The writers used the number 85 for Mark to reference Iron Man issue 85 from 1976. In this comic book, we see Model IV armor for the first time.

Numerous Upgrades

Between two movie armors, Mark 50 and Mark 85, Tony Stark has made a total of 34 other armors that weren’t showcased in the movies. Each one of them added something new to the suit, making it stronger and stronger. In fact, the writers probably added all these suits to show viewers a technological leap between mark 50 and Mark 85.

Not Built to Last

During an interview with Robert Downer Jr., the actor had the opportunity to analyze Mark 85. He said that “The last suit he has isn’t even designed for him to survive using it.”

A Change in Colors

Most Iron Man suits combine red and gold colors. Mark 85 is slightly different, resembling an armor made by Steve Ditko (referred to as “Ditko Armor”). This suit was the first one with a now-standard red/gold scheme having red gauntlets, boots, and torso, with gold biceps and quadriceps. Unlike some other armors that try to be as realistic as possible, following the normal shape of a male body, Ditko Armor combined “robot” and “human” parts (red sections looked armored, while gold parts looked like male muscles).

A New Creator

Another interesting tidbit about this armor is the fact it was made by a different person. While the majority of Iron Man suits were made by a team of Josh Nizzi and Phil Saunders, this one was a brainchild of Ryan Meinerding.

FAQs

Question: Is Mark 85 the best Iron Man suit?

Answer: Mark 85 is the best Iron Man suit in almost every sense of the word. It is the superhero’s final armor, made from technologically-superior nanoparticles. It is incredibly durable, and whenever there is a dent or a hole in the suit, it quickly restores itself to the previous state.
Mark 85 has numerous incredible features and can synthesize new weapons and tools. However, the thing that separates it from all other Iron Man’s armors is its ability to withstand Thanos’ physical strikes and to assimilate Infinity Stones.

Question: Which is better, Mark 50 or Mark 85?

Answer: Mark 85 is much better than Mark 50. It has basically the same features as its predecessor, with some of them being much more advanced. First and foremost, this is a portable armor that forms around the wearer in just a few seconds. It is much more resilient and can reform itself after being damaged.
Still, Mark 85 has a few drawbacks compared to Mark 50. For example, although its repulsors are much more powerful, they also use a lot of energy.

Question: What is Iron Man’s strongest mark suit?

Answer: Iron Man’s best suit is Mark 85. This piece of equipment is also his final suit, allowing the superhero to overcome Thanos. He used Mark 85 to activate the Infinity Stones, which also took Tony Stark’s life in the process.
The armor allows the superhero to fly and use laser beams. Mark 85 is very durable and portable, with lots of added features compared to its predecessor. You can also use it for swimming underwater and flying to outer space.

Question: Is Tony’s suit made of Vibranium?

Answer: According to Marvel lore, vibranium is the most powerful, most durable substance known to man. However, even though Mark suits are very resilient, Tony Stark never used vibranium to make them.
One of the main issues with vibranium is that it’s very rare, making it extremely expensive. Although Tony Stark had personal relationships with the Wakandan people and could easily get ahold of the substance, it didn’t make financial sense. In other words, he would have to use this precious metal all the time, thus wasting his personal resources and the limited natural resource.

Conclusion

Mark 85 is Iron Man’s best and last suit of armor. He used it during Endgame in his fights against Thanos. Mark 85 has numerous incredible features, including laser beams, self-sustained air, feet propulsion that allows flight, various energy weapons, and gadgets.

Among various things, Tony Stark used Mark 85 to leave a goodbye message to his wife and daughter. The superhero made this suit expecting to die during his clash against Thanos.

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