Iron Man’s Phoenix-Killer Armor Fought Marvel’s Strongest Power

Tony Stark has built some mightily impressive armors to combat some of the most dangerous forces in the Marvel Universe, but Iron Man’s Phoenix-Killer suit might be his most powerful ever. In the Avengers vs. X-Men event, the hero built a specific suit to take down the Phoenix Force – and it actually succeeded somewhat. However, the massive armor didn’t ultimately kill the Phoenix but instead split it from its host.

The Avengers vs. X-Men event saw the Phoenix Force, the incredible and often uncontrollable cosmic force, heading to Earth and choosing a new host in Hope Summers. While the Avengers wanted to stop the newly powered Phoenix in the Marvel Universe, the X-Men tried to protect Hope as best as they could. Ultimately, the Avengers and X-Men battled it out over the fate of the Phoenix. Wolverine ended up calling the Avengers for help in hopes of stopping Hope before the all-powerful Phoenix Force consumed her and caused more damage across the Cosmos. The superteams would battle on the moon, where Iron Man revealed one of his strongest suits of armor ever.

In Avengers vs. X-Men #5 by Matt Fraction, John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, Laura Martin and Chris Eliopoulos, Tony Stark and Hank Pym prepare for the inevitable arrival of the Phoenix as their fellow heroes duke it out on the moon. Iron Man launches his Phoenix-Killer armor – also known as the Phoenix Buster – a massive piece of technology specifically designed to deal with the powerful cosmic force. Iron Man confronts the Phoenix Force head-on, which makes his massive armor seem microscopic in comparison.

However, Iron Man doesn’t flinch when approaching the deadly Phoenix, as he launches a disruptor that successfully splits Hope Summers from the entity. Stark succeeds in separating the Phoenix from its host, which he had to consider a victory given the force’s near-immeasurable power.

Unfortunately, Stark didn’t kill the Phoenix. Instead, the entity split itself among five new hosts in Namor the Sub-Mariner, Emma Frost, Cyclops, Colossus, and Magik – as the new Phoenix Five would go on to create a whole other series of problems in their wake.

Iron Man’s Phoenix-Killer armor proved to be one of the most powerful and successful mega-suits that he’s ever built. It managed to take on the Phoenix Force one-on-one and come away victorious, even if splitting the entity led to the creation of the Phoenix Five. When the Phoenix Force eventually causes more problems again in future Marvel Comics stories, Iron Man should try using the suit again and maybe adding some upgrades to make it even stronger. It’s already shown to be more than capable against the otherworldly cosmic juggernaut.

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Liam McGuire
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Lead writer for Screen Rant’s comic team. [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @LiamRMcGuire for comic news and reporting.

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