Every Way Pepper Potts' Rescue Armor Was Different To Iron Man's

Pepper Potts' "Rescue" armor, as seen in Avengers: Endgame has some noted differences from the Iron Man armor from which it was developed - differences that both reflect the mindset of its creator, and its intended use. Officially dubbed the Mark XLIX armor, the Rescue armor clearly uses a different design from the nanotechnology Mark LXXXV armor worn by Tony Stark in the climax to Endgame - while the faceplate retracts, it does not initially seem to assemble from nothingness in the way that the later model does. Nevertheless, it would be imprecise to say that the Rescue armor is less advanced overall, as it possesses some features that are not mirrored in the later model.

Although evidently comparable in terms of speed and durability, the Rescue armor makes further use of drones under the control of the suit. Featuring both the standard repulsor array and drone projectors, the Rescue armor may be more powerful in terms of raw energy output - and externalizing these projectors seems to make these drones less cautious about their output, as they draw from an alternate power source to the rest of the suit. While there is no evidence that the Rescue armor has an onboard digital assistant in the style of JARVIS or FRIDAY, there is clearly some AI assistance in targeting and operation - while Potts is certainly capable in her own right, every implication is that she has not practiced with the armor, which doesn't seem to impede her.

While this armor was clearly made with Potts in mind - evidenced in an earlier scene where Tony discovers Morgan playing around with the helmet, and quips "your mom never wears anything I buy her" - it's clearly untested, almost unique in this way among the Iron Man suits. The various upgrades and special-purpose armors Tony builds are all extensively tested, leading to the theory that Iron Man designed Pepper's Rescue armor because of his cognizance of his own mortality. Thus, it makes sense that while it lacks some of the nanotech features, the armor is resiliently built and uses advanced systems without comparable mechanics in later models.

The Rescue Armor Doesn't Use a Nanotech Deployment

Although it is first seen in Endgame, the way that the Rescue armor is numbered suggests that construction may have begun slightly before the events of Avengers: Infinity War, as it immediately succeeds the second set of Hulkbuster armor. As the Hulkbuster 2.0 was deployed by Banner in the Battle of Wakanda, it stands to reason that the Rescue armor would at least already be under construction. The Mark L armor, 'Bleeding Edge,' utilizes a nanotech deployment and is the immediate successor to the Rescue armor. After Black Panther assisted with Iron Man's nanotechnology armor upgrades apparent in the Mark L armor, the technology appears in all subsequent models.

This suggests that while the nanotech deployment was available around the time that the Rescue armor was first being constructed (and during the inevitable subsequent tinkering), it wasn't considered a priority for this armor in particular. Since Potts apparently "never wears" what Stark buys her, and doesn't act as an active superhero prior to Avengers: Endgame, fast and versatile deployment isn't likely to have been as high a priority. Given that the Rescue armor seems as resilient as and destructive as later models of the armor, it appears that while some nanotech may increase its capabilities, prioritization was put on proven technologies instead of cutting or 'bleeding' edge - better protection, and easier to repair in case things go wrong.

The Rescue Armor Makes Greater Use Of Drone Targeting

When the female Avengers take the field in Endgame, the Rescue armor visibly targets opponents not directly in front of or pointed at by the hands or eyes of the armor. Where the majority of the standard Iron Man weaponry is extremely linear, the Rescue Armor is a threat in every direction, suggesting that it's making smart and sensible use of computer targeting. As a part-time superhero at most, Pepper Potts has a business to run and hasn't had much on-screen impetus to pursue technical training. It would therefore make sense for the Rescue armor to be as user-friendly as possible.

Iron Man armor that responds to thought and can move autonomously are both familiar sights, and further developments of existing technology. Iron Man 3, in addition to showing that Tony's unaided aim is fairly poor, introduced the Iron Legion, created by Tony Stark, which responded to both his mental requests and to VI targeting and assistance. While there's no footage of Pepper interacting with a virtual intelligence in the battle, there's no reason for Tony not to have amalgamated these technologies - the Mark XLII telepresence helmet, allowing the armor to respond to her mental control, and VI targeting and flight assist. This, combined with Pepper's considerable multitasking abilities, makes the repulsor drones considerably more useful to her than they would be to Tony, a character more famous for his task-focused tunnel vision.

The Rescue Armor Has Likely Been Tinkered With Along The Way

Although the Iron Man suits are mostly defined by discrete generations, each using innovations or technologies that Tony Stark acquired or devised, or serving specific purposes, the Rescue Armor appears to be more of a labor of love. An anniversary gift for Pepper, its comparatively early model number belies some of the technology that shows up within it. Tony Stark creates Iron Man suits for characters in his life that are important to him - having created a gift for Pepper, even one that she doesn't use, there's no persuasive reason for him to have stopped adding to it. As there aren't a lot of iterations of Iron Man armor seen between the Mark L and the Mark LXXXV shown on-screen, most of them presumed to have been developed during the blip, the precise nature of these developments are unclear.

What is clear is that the Rescue Armor comes out of the Battle of Earth more or less unscratched - suggesting an unprecedented resilience - and with an affinity for battlefield control that rivals the Mark LXXXV armor. Stark, a known tinkerer, copes with both fear and loss by creating armor systems, and the period of the blip gave him a family to fear for, and grief for both Peter Parker and Col. Rhodes, as well as many more of his friends and colleagues. With Iron Man's death foreshadowed throughout the movie, the Rescue armor - a last, valiant effort at keeping his family safe even if he could not do so himself - would make sense to be as up-to-date as possible, using systems like the repulsor drones that Stark had not fully integrated into his own armor.

Beyond the aesthetic, it's hard to break down the distinctions in terms of utility and power between the Rescue Armor and the Mark LXXXV - although they both seem to serve the moment, without more information on the time Pepper took to get acquainted with the armor, or putting them through the same trials, such comparisons are topical at best. Nevertheless, with a lot more focus on Stark technology coming in Armor Wars, it's entirely possible that Avengers: Endgame won't be the last that audiences see of the iconic blue Rescue Armor.

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