Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Invincible Iron Man #16!Meet the Mysterium Man, as superstar Marvel artist Pepe Larraz introduces the Iron Man Mark 72 armor. Tony Stark has spent his last year or so down on his luck, and has only had access to a battered classic suit and his stripped back stealth armor. In that time, the Stark Sentinels have arrived and Tony has been challenged to step up as an ally to mutantkind. As the Fall of X comes to a crescendo, the time has come to don the Mark 72.
In late December, the first look at Iron Man’s mysterium armor was released with the cover and solicit info about Invincible Iron Man #16 by Gerry Duggan, Juan Frigeri, Bryan Valenza, VC’s Joe Caramagna, and Darren Shan. Cover artist Kael Ngu provided a detailed look at the Mark 72, and now Pepe Larraz has released an in-depth thread on Twitter/X documenting his design process for the new armor shortly after.
Via his Substack, Gerry Duggan explained that Larraz is the architect of the new look due to their solid working relationship and because he’s the first artist who would be drawing Tony’s newest suit for the upcoming Blood Hunt event.
“His Most Dangerous Armor Yet”: Iron Man’s New Suit is Unbeatable (& His Coolest Ever)
As Iron Man’s new armor is finally revealed, Tony Stark is immune to magic, stronger than Captain Marvel, and connected to the heart of reality.
Iron Man’s New Armor Is Tony’s Version of a Custom Luxury Sports Car
Slick, futuristic, and with an otherworldly edge, the Mark 72 is a breathtaking new look. The majority of the Mark 72 is sleek black mysterium plating, accented with red and gold elements to evoke continuity between this suit and armors past. Larraz’ detailed design thread is a wealth of info, including what he considers to be the essential pieces of Iron Man armors: a defined chest with an arc reactor and a strong leg silhouette. Speaking to Tony Stark’s appreciation of luxury craftsmanship, Larraz took heavy aesthetic inspiration from high-end custom sports cars without going full Transformer.
Iron Man’s latest suit pushes the character’s design forward, but how the mysterium armor impacts his abilities remains unclear. Mined via mutant circuit from the interdimensional space near the White Hot Room, mysterium is the latest addition to the ranks of Marvel’s powerful fictional metals like vibranium, adamantium, and promethium. Where each of these metals is the premier element for sonic tech, sharpness and durability, or demonic weaponry, mysterium’s nature is cosmic and has distinctly anti-magical capabilities. The mystical has always been a particular weakness for Stark, so this aspect alone makes the Mark 72 quite a serious upgrade.
Mysterium Armor May Not Be Enough For Iron Man To Take On Orchis
Tony Stark’s legacy as an inventor and engineer has been perverted by the international anti-mutant fascist organization Orchis. In the wake of the third Hellfire Gala, Orchis is now shifting into their endgame towards mutantkind before moving on to target any super-powered humans. One new armor alone is not enough to take on such a global threat, which is why the bulk of the Mmsterium shared with Iron Man has been devoted to space vessels to bring the mutants of Arakko to fight for their Earth siblings. It should be enough, but only time will tell.
Sources: Pepe Larraz, Gerry Duggan,
