Every MCU Character Who Wore Iron Man Armor In The Infinity Saga

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become an entertainment behemoth that effortlessly weaves science and magic together into one non-stop parade of fun. If there's one thing that's been at the center of the otherworldly wonder since day one, though, it has to be Tony Stark's tech. Technically grounded in science, Stark has consistently pumped out a variety of sci-fi-esque technologies that constantly push far beyond real-world boundaries. From powering Stark Tower with an arc reactor to covering the New Avengers Facility with a menagerie of automated bells and whistles, Stark is always dazzling audiences with ridiculously expensive, flashy pieces of tech.

Of course, Stark's signature scientific accomplishment isn't a building or a concept — it's his Iron Man armor, which makes some fairly dramatic changes over the course of the Infinity Saga. It begins with the clunky, hastily cobbled-together Mark I and ends with the extravagant, nano-tech-powered Mark LXXXV just 15 years later. Throughout that decade and a half, Stark is hardly the only person to wear his ever-evolving super equipment. We've gone through the entire Infinity Saga in order to track down each and every time someone put on a piece of Stark's armor, and it turns that there's actually quite a laundry list of heroes (and a few villains, to boot) who don the red and gold at one point or another.

Here they are, starting with those who actually wore Stark's personal suit and then moving on to others who wore any Stark-created iteration of the Iron Man tech.

Of course, a list like this has to begin with the man himself. Tony Stark is the mastermind behind the Iron Man armor, and in many ways, he's the driving force behind the MCU itself. Tony has personally developed every one of his suits and has obviously worn them often. In fact, he's so connected to his iron outerwear that one of his key developments as a hero is specifically disassociating his identity from his suits — a fact that's clearly apparent when he tells Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming that, "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it."

Nevertheless, Stark's suits end up being a premiere piece of the Avenger's arsenal. They outshine the copied tech of Obadiah Stane and Ivan Vanko, and they ultimately prove strong enough to house and channel the power of all six Infinity Stones. From start to finish, Tony's armor is by his side — or more accurately, on his side — helping him cut wires left and right and, eventually, even lay down on one.

Interestingly, one of the few people who've also worn Tony's personal armor is Aldrich Killian. The main Iron Man 3 villain and inventor of Extremis, Killian's fiery frame dons the Iron Man armor at the very end of the third film in Tony Stark's titular trilogy. As Killian's Extremis soldiers take on Stark's iron army by the docks, the battle eventually winds its way down to a duel between the protagonist and the hero — which, doesn't it always?

With Killian's combustible corpse proving to be more than a match for Stark's armor in a fair fight, the Starkster pulls a quick one by sending his detachable armor to pin Killian down. With just seconds to spare before the villain melts his way through the suit, Stark politely asks J.A.R.V.I.S. to "do me a favor and blow Mark 42." Of course, the explosion doesn't officially finish off the villain — Pepper Potts does a few moments later, in kickass fashion, we might add. Still, the quick event does mean Killian makes the shortlist of MCU individuals who actually wear Stark's personal armor, however briefly.

What's that, you say? Stephen Strange once wore Iron Man's armor? Well, kind of. See, in Avengers: Infinity War, the pair of New York City-based heroes meet up for the first time, only to find themselves hurtling through space mere moments later on Ebony Maw's flying donut bound for Titan. With Spidey in tow, Stark eventually manages to defeat the child of Thanos, freeing Strange from the villain's tortuous needles in the process. The trio then goes on to join up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and confront Thanos on his home planet later on in the film.

So where does Strange slipping into the Iron Man armor come into all of this? Well, it doesn't. Not in the final product. However, concept art for the movie that was released later on revealed the rather shocking image of "Iron Strange," i.e. the Sorcerer Supreme in Tony Stark's armor. The description indicates that the idea was for Stark to send his armor to protect Strange from the Maw's torture device, freeing him up to fight the villain in a less painful manner.

We're not even talking about a single piece of concept art here, either. They actually filmed the scene, it just never got into the movie. Maybe the logistics of getting the suit onto Strange without further pushing in the needles in the process just didn't work out. Either way, since it was officially filmed, we're going to count Strange as one of two MCU heroes who officially wore Stark's personal armor throughout the course of the Infinity Saga.

The villain Aldrich Killian wears Tony's armor for a brief stint in the third Iron Man film, and the hero Stephen Strange unofficially dons the suit in a deleted scene for Infinity War, but the only hero who actually wears Tony's personal armor on the silver screen is Pepper Potts. Tony sends his Mark 42 armor to protect his significant other when his seaside mansion is unexpectedly attacked by armored helicopters in Iron Man 3. The destructive scene is only dwarfed in explosiveness by the attack on the Avengers HQ in Avengers: Endgame. Once in the armor, Potts tries to shield Stark and then quickly gets Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) out of harm's way, all before Tony signals his armor to come flying back to him so he can face the choppers head-on.

Of course, that isn't the only time Pepper wears Stark's tech. She's one of the very few who actually get their own personalized suit, as well. In Endgame, we see Potts show up to the climactic final battle in the Rescue armor, which she proceeds to wield like a pro. This makes Potts one of only two people on this list to both wear Stark's personal armor and her own suit — a right that she earns in spades after years of dealing with Tony's eccentric personality behind closed doors.

Next up, we have Stark's best bud, James "Rhodey" Rhodes. Rhodey has been by the Starkster's side since Iron Man — albeit with a quick actor swap along the way — and he's had a chance to spend more time in Iron Man armor than practically anyone else besides Stark himself. Initially billed as the Iron Patriot, Rhodey eventually settles down into his superhero persona as War Machine, donning Stark's tech time and again as he faces threats like Aldrich Killian, Whiplash, Thanos, and even other Avengers.

Now, at first glance, it seems like Rhodey should be counted as someone who's only worn spinoff variations of Stark's personal armor, since he's generally seen wearing a beefy Iron Man suit that was specifically developed for his own use. However, diehard fans will quickly recall that Rhodey's original run-in with Stark's tech isn't in his own suit at all but rather the Mark II. Desperate to calm his drunk friend down, Rhodey's first use of the Iron Man armor comes when he steals the Mark II suit to beat down his best friend at Tony's birthday party. Of course, not long after that, he's given his own suit, and the rest is history.

The least important person to ever don Iron Man armor has to be Eric Savin. The Aldrich Killian henchman plays a fairly important role throughout Iron Man 3, but realistically, he's little more than a plot device — a plot device that wears Iron Man armor. Savin suits up in the Iron Patriot armor after it's literally cooked off of Rhodey's body by Killian's red hot hands. Disguised as Rhodes, Savin then joins President Mathew Ellis at the last minute as he boards Air Force One.

Once on board, Savin sabotages the flight, using a combination of the armor and his own Extremis abilities to easily overpower everyone on board. Once he's captured the president, he takes off the armor and swaps into a much less impressive airline uniform to complete his mission. Interestingly, although he's little more than an MCU footnote, the entire sequence does let us see Savin actively using Stark's equipment in active combat more than any other villain on the list.

The name Matthew Ellis likely doesn't jog the memory of many casual MCU fans, and no wonder. The fella has very little impact on the greater cinematic universe during his lone outing in Iron Man 3 with the one glaring exception that, well, he's the president of the United States of America. When you're the POTUS, you're going to be the center of attention one way or another — which is precisely why, towards the end of the movie, we see a kidnapped President Ellis suspended over a container terminal, waiting to be executed on live television. Oh, and did we mention that he's wearing Iron Man armor?

That's right. The POTUS is one of the few MCU characters who get to wear Stark's tech — although if given a second chance, he likely wouldn't wish to repeat the ordeal. President Ellis finds himself thrust into the Iron Patriot armor when Eric Savin captures him on Air Force One. From there, he's delivered right to the feet of Aldrich Killian, who puts him back in the suit in order to kill him in the very armor that the president thought would be used to protect him. Of course, Ellis isn't actually assassinated. Stark and Rhodey show up in time to orchestrate a daring rescue mission, and eventually, Rhodey saves the president, reclaims his suit, and spirits the unarmored world leader to safety.

Peter Parker and Tony Stark share a special bond in the MCU. With Uncle Ben absent by the time Parker's story begins, Stark steps into the mentor/father figure role and helps to groom the fledgling genius and instruct him in the superhero ways. All of this special attention from the Tony Stark naturally means Parker ends up getting access to quite a bit of Tony's tech. He gets his silky Spidey suit early on, and he's gifted the E.D.I.T.H. sunglasses in Far From Home. However, one of the best Stark gifts of them all has to be his Iron Spider suit.

Parker first gets the gift when he hitches a ride with Doctor Strange and Ebony Maw onto the flying donut above the Big Apple. As the spaceship takes off and the air begins to get thin, Stark unlocks package "17:A" from the Avengers HQ. The shiny little bundle hurtles through the air and then opens up, catching the crime-stopper from Queens just as he loses his grip and enveloping him in his new suit. Parker continues to sport the armor in Endgame, and while he leaves it behind on his field trip to Europe, we're hoping we'll continue to see this arachnid-inspired manifestation of the Iron Man armor for years to come.

Bruce Banner is a fairly timid fellow. Sure, the knowledge that, if push comes to shove, he can't really get hurt (thanks to the other guy) is a bit of a confidence booster, but overall, he's far more brains than brawn. Hence, there's the need for Banner to hop into some Iron Man armor in Infinity War. Earlier in the film, Hulk is beaten up by Thanos and quickly withdraws, leaving Banner to run the show for a bit. Throughout the rest of the movie, Hulk refuses to return, sick of being used as a wild card to bail the Avengers — and especially Bruce — out of their endless problems.

This leaves Banner to try to do his level best to help on his own. Throughout the planning and brainstorming that follows, he does just that, but when Thanos' forces arrive outside of Wakanda and everyone rushes to the defense, Banner finds himself looking for a way to make a bit of a splashier difference than simply using his thoughts and words. Without Hulk, his battlefield prowess is admittedly pretty lame, but he solves the problem by borrowing a suit of Iron Man armor. And it's not just any suit ... it's the Hulkbuster suit. This behemoth bit of hardware is built to take on Banner's alter ego, and as such, it gives the scientist a thunderous effect on the battlefield — that is, until Thanos arrives and literally tosses him into a cliff.

Throughout Tony Stark's journey, one of the few things that eludes him is the comfort and security of a family. And then, presto! He gets a family just when everyone else in existence loses theirs. In the five years that pass after the Snappening wipes out half of the universe, Tony marries Pepper Potts, and they have a daughter, Morgan H. Stark. While Morgan's future in the MCU remains to be seen, in her brief spell on the silver screen during Avengers: Endgame, she manages to become one of the few MCU personalities who actually gets to wear a bit of the Iron Man armor.

The first time we meet Morgan, Tony wanders out to her play tent, calling his daughter for lunch. Once there, Morgan confronts him, ordering him to, "Define 'lunch,' or be disintegrated." As she does so, she emerges from the tent, wearing none other than the unfinished Rescue armor helmet. Tony removes it lovingly, telling her that she shouldn't be wearing it since it's part of a special anniversary gift he's making for her mom. Nevertheless, the quick glimpse of Morgan in the helmet officially ticks the box of "wearing Iron Man armor," gaining her a spot on the list. The question is, is that the last time she puts on her father's tech, or is there more in store for the young Miss Stark down the road?

Before we get too far into this one, let's make one thing clear. The Hulk doesn't need Iron Man armor. Stark and Banner's tussle in Johannesburg during Avengers: Age of Ultron is enough to show that. However, it doesn't change the fact that the Banner/Hulk hybrid known as Professor Hulk actually does end up wearing a bit of Tony Stark's armor during Avengers: Endgame. He doesn't do this for protection or safety, though. On the contrary, the entire ordeal leaves his arm fried to a crisp.

Nevertheless, as Endgame moves into its third act and the heroes return through time bearing the six Infinity Stones, Professor Hulk offers his gamma radiation-filled body as sacrifice to undo the Snap from five years earlier. He puts on Stark's Infinity Gauntlet — which is built out of Stark's Iron Man tech, we might add — and reverses the Snap, just before Thanos ambushes the compound. It's not a whole suit, nor does he wear it for a long time, but the brief "second snap" is enough to qualify Professor Hulk as yet another hero to wear the Iron Man armor.

When most people think "Iron Man armor," they don't automatically think "genocidal warlord," but here, we have the Mad Titan himself. As Avengers: Endgame draws to a close, Thanos brings his entire 2014 army through the time machine, right into Upstate New York in the year of our Lord 2023. Upon his arrival, he blasts the Avengers HQ to kingdom come and descends like a cloud to take on the heroes and capture their Stark-powered Infinity Gauntlet knockoff for himself. As the situation develops, he even declares that this time, rather than eliminating half of all living things, he'll just wipe everything out and start over.

At the most dangerous point in the entire battle, Thanos gets his hands on Stark's gauntlet and puts it on, only being stopped from snapping his metal-clad fingers by the timely arrival of Captain Marvel. After that, Stark nabs the Infinity Stones and uses his own suit to snap the Mad Titan's army into dust. Much like Professor Hulk, Thanos' brief stint wearing the tech allows him to just squeak into the mix as one of the few characters who've had the opportunity to wear Stark's Iron Man tech in one way or another.