Former Mythbusters star Adam Savage made comic book fiction into reality by building his own Iron Man suit that can actually fly. Created by the legendary Stan Lee together with Larry Lieber, Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the Marvel superhero Iron Man first appeared in comics in 1963. The alter ego of inventor Tony Stark, Iron Man would make the leap to the big screen in 2008, in an origin film that would set the tone for the entire MCU.
Little did anyone know at the time what a huge movie the original Iron Man would turn out to be. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, the film would not only prove to be a huge hit at the box office, it would also kick off the entire Marvel movie phenomenon that reached its climax earlier this year with Avengers: Endgame. The most recent Avengers film marked the 10th on-screen appearance for Iron Man, and also proved to be his last, as the character met his fate while helping his fellow superheroes reverse the damage done by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. It was a truly fitting farewell for the character that originally established the MCU, and helped the franchise become the biggest in the world.
Iron Man may be gone from movie screens forever (barring any future reboots), but the legacy of the character definitely continues to inspire creators all over the world. One person drawing inspiration from Tony Stark is former Mythbuster Adam Savage, who recently took on the challenge of creating a real life Iron Man suit – or as close to one as it’s possible to get with today’s technology. Amazingly, Savage and his friends were able to use 3D printing technology and other innovations to build an Iron Man suit that actually flies. See what they did in the video below (via CNET):
Savage of course is a special effects artist and overall geek in addition to being a Mythbuster, and one of his side gigs is building incredibly detailed replicas of famous movie props. It’s safe to say Savage outdid himself in the replica department by building an entire suit of Mark II Iron Man armor, then going the extra mile by attaching a jetpack and hand thrusters that mimic the action of Tony Stark’s movie flying suit. Of course, the replica isn’t capable of rocketing all over at breakneck speeds like Iron Man’s suit, nor does it come equipped with a fancy HUD or arrays of weapons, but it is actually able to fly for a short distance. One problem with the real life Iron Man suit according to man who piloted it? The dramatically curved shape of the lower leg pieces, which may look good on screen but, it turns out, are not good for comfort.
Clearly, humanity is still a long way from building an Iron Man suit that can do all the stuff Tony Stark’s can do, but thanks to Savage, the technology has moved a little bit closer to being real.
Source: CNET
