Tony Stark's Superior Iron Man armor gets a heroic redesign in a new cosplay from creator MIKE_Dziennik_Druku_3D. The ultra-powerful suit is back in fans' minds, as some speculate the glowing figure in trailers for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is a variant Tony in this iconic comic suit. But whether or not that's the case, Iron Man fans can check out a live-action version of the armor in this jaw-dropping fan construction.
Following the AXIS event, Tony's moral core was turned on its head, swapping his desire to better the world with a need to control it. Tony developed a liquid, smart-metal suit based on symbiote biology - his endo-sym armor - and set about marketing his body-altering Extremis tech to those who could pay for the privilege. After clashing with Daredevil, Iron Man was eventually confronted by Captain America. The Superior Iron Man died in combat with his old ally, only restored to life and reverted to his heroic self following the events of 2015's Secret Wars, in which the Marvel Multiverse was destroyed and then recreated. In a literal sense, the 'Superior' endo-sym armor is the suit that the Tony Stark fans had known up until that point died in.
Now, cosplayer @mike_dd3d has redesigned the suit, calling it, "My version of Superior Iron Man." The new design adds gold detailing to Tony's white and turquoise endo-sym armor, but keeps the face-bearing helmet, which acted as a sign of his dangerous arrogance. In both photographs shared to Instagram and a video shared to TikTok, @mike_dd3d's design seems to evoke a friendlier Tony, perhaps suggesting a version of the hero who has revisited his endo-sym design without the callousness forced on him by AXIS' magical corruption. LEDs in the chest and the full-helmet's eyes act as an appropriate finishing touch, and again add to the sense of a heroic version of the Superior Iron Man - not least because the comic lights were actually designed to change color to reflect Tony's mood, glowing red when Iron Man unleashed his dark side.
The Superior Iron Man suit was a perfect critique of Tony's worst qualities, as he became motivated by money and fame, ditching his morals and unleashing powers he'd always been able to access but never approved of, such as mind control tech. Created by Tom Taylor and Yıldıray Çınar, the original suit perfectly captures the aesthetic of a fake hero who cares more about looking good than doing good. Strangely, adding gold to the design lessens this effect, and @mike_dd3d's redesign brings the suit closer to Tony's classic armors.
However the Superior Iron Man's endo-sym armor ends up being used (or not used) in the MCU, it remains an emblem of one of Tony's darkest comic transformations. However, this awesome fan redesign may prompt fans to reassess the look and see some heroic potential, perhaps paving the way for the suit to return in an Iron Man story with a less cataclysmic ending.