| For other uses, see Hulkbuster (disambiguation) |
- "We just gotta load up Tony's old Hulkbuster armor."
- ―Happy Hogan[src]
The Iron Man Armor: Mark XLIV, better known as Hulkbuster, was Tony Stark's forty-fourth Iron Man suit, made with the help of Bruce Banner. Created solely for the purpose of restraining Hulk, it is a modular suit that Stark donned while already in another armor, such as the Mark XLIII. It was launched from an orbital tracking platform known as Veronica. It was used by Stark to fight Hulk in Johannesburg.
History[]
Duel of Johannesburg[]
Iron Man dons the Hulkbuster Armor
When Wanda Maximoff manipulated Doctor Bruce Banner into turning into Hulk, Tony Stark had no other choice but to deploy the system as all of the other Avengers with the exception of Hawkeye were incapacitated. The armor was deployed from Veronica and came split into two separate parts. The first part was a metal containment shell which helped to confine Hulk for a brief period of time.
The enraged Hulk had soon managed to break himself free. Ordering the South African police to stand down from the fight, Iron Man tried to get through to Bruce Banner by telling him that Wanda Maximoff was had disrupted his mind with utter rage, telling him that Banner was stronger and smarter than her. However, the mention of Banner's name only seemed to enrage Hulk even further. When all of Iron Man's attempts to calm Hulk had failed, the two began to fight. Hulk launched a car at Iron Man, knocking him back, so Iron Man responded by flying to Hulk and dragging him face first through the concrete. When Hulk damaged the armor, Stark called for extra parts and used its many capabilities to try to knock Hulk down. With Hulk charging at him, Iron Man kept him at bay with his gauntlet beam while his arm was repaired.
Hulk charged forward and the pair smashed their fists into each other, causing a shockwave through Johannesburg. Pinning Hulk to the ground, Iron Man began repeatedly punching him in the face and begging him to go to sleep and finish their fight; however, Hulk's rage only continued to build. Iron Man attempted to trap his arm with the armor and fly him out of the city in order to protect the people, with Hulk still fighting back.
As Iron Man attempted to fly Hulk out of the city, he continued to fight back and forced Iron Man to crash land on the side of a large building. As Hulk furiously tried to rip him apart, Iron Man pushed him against a wall and tried spraying gas in his face, although this tactic had almost no effect. As they continued fighting, Iron Man was aware that behind him an elevator filled with people were standing just a few feet away from the battle as they attempted to escape.
Iron Man saves a group of innocent civilians
When he was kicked back with incredible force, Iron Man crashed into the elevator filled with innocent people, forcing him to catch it before it hit the ground as he ordered everyone to get out while they still could. Iron Man then proceeded to use the elevator as a weapon as he slammed it down onto Hulk's head. Once Hulk was stunned, Iron Man hit him across the face, knocking out one of his teeth, an action which Iron Man then soon regretted.
The enraged Hulk then proceeded to smash Iron Man across the city, attempting to rip out the Arc Reactors powering the armor. Despite trying to get assistance from Veronica, Hulk proved to be too strong as he tore the armor apart. Eventually, Iron Man resorted to dropping Hulk through a building still going through construction; this massive impact seemingly calmed Hulk enough that Stark could knock him out with a final massive punch to the head.[2]
Moving Day[]
The armor was kept at Avengers Tower until one day in 2016, it was loaded onto a cargo plane headed to the Avengers Compound. However, the plane was hijacked by Vulture and subsequently crashed on Coney Island.[1]
Alternate Universe Versions[]
Used by the Army[]
In an alternate 2010, Stark Industries produced Hulkbuster armors and sold them to the United States Army. The Army deployed several Hulkbusters to Porto Verde to attack Bruce Banner, who turned into the Hulk and destroyed the armors. The armor was used to ambush Hulk in New York City many times, and was targeted by the Enclave, who wanted to steal the technology. The Enclave shot the armor with technology that froze it, leaving the soldiers helpless. However, Hulk arrived and stopped the Enclave, worried about the technology getting into even worse hands. One of the soldiers approached Hulk and asked for help holding the Enclave back while he tried to sabotage an F-POD. The soldier used his armor to hack the F-POD while fighting the Enclave's forces with the Hulk, but part of it was damaged, so Hulk had to destroy the F-POD himself.
Glenn Talbot supplied his troops with with Hulkbuster armors and had them use it to steal a cannon from Thaddeus Ross. One of the Hulkbusters participated in Talbot's plan to kidnap Betty Ross and fought the Hulk, who defeated him and used the armor to destroy the generators charging the electrical box which Betty was being held in. Betty stopped the fight by revealing her identity, prompting the Hulkbuster to leave to report to Thaddeus.
Talbot then donned a Hulkbuster armor himself, attacking the military as they tried to arrest him. Hulk arrived and started fighting Talbot, getting several punches in before Talbot set the detonation sequence and threatened to destroy the surrounding area to kill Banner. Hulk threw the armor into the air, allowing it to detonate without hurting anyone.[3]
Used by Justin Hammer[]
- "Hammer's taken control of the Hulkbuster. We need to gain control of the suit, now."
- ―Maria Hill to Darcy Lewis[src]
| This section needs a rewrite |
Upon taking control of Avengers Tower, Justin Hammer donned the Hulkbuster armor to battle Happy Hogan following his transformation into Freak. Darcy Lewis and Maria Hill tried to have W.E.R.N.E.R. deactivate the suit without success, but Freak overpowered it and began ripping it apart before the Avengers finally arrived. After learning that a bad guy was using his suit, Tony Stark deactivated the Hulkbuster armor with the press of a button on his Iron Man armor.[4]
| This section requires expansion |
Capabilities[]
Deployable automatic assembled parts are launched from Veronica for real-time customization of the Hulkbuster armor and versatile combat capability.
| This section requires expansion |
- Superhuman Strength: The suit was specifically designed to match the incredible superhuman strength of Hulk (should he ever need to be subdued), and is powered by over eleven Arc Reactors in order to grant the strength required for such a task. The suit was able to hit Hulk in the face hard enough to knock a tooth out, send Hulk flying two streets away with one punch, and ultimately succeeded in knocking Hulk out when the latter started to calm down after seeing the damage caused.
- Superhuman Durability: The armor was built to be much stronger than any previous suits, to take more extreme damage, such as Hulk's brutal attacks.
- Superhuman Speed: To be added
- Superhuman Stamina: To be added
- Superhuman Reflexes: To be added
- Flight: Like all other armors, the Mark XLIV has flight capabilities, although given its size, its speed and mobility are reduced.
The Mark XLIV Heads-Up Display
- Heads Up Display (HUD): Like all of his armors, the suit contains a heads up display within the helmet to allow Stark to analyze the environment.
- Self-Contained Life-Support System and Environmental Protection: To be added
- Armor Summoning: To be added
Iron Man with a new left arm
- Veronica Replacement Parts: Should the Hulkbuster armor sustain heavy damage, Veronica hovering above the armor will respond to the authorized user's command by sending spare parts to replace the ones that were damaged. For instance, when Hulk drove a pole into the Hulkbuster's left arm and severely damaged it, upon the command of Stark, Veronica releases several armor parts that would form an alternate left arm for the armor to battle Hulk.
- Repulsors: The armor has the ability to shoot repulsor beams strong enough to hold down Hulk, if only for a while.
- Missiles: The XLIV is able to launch small missiles which Stark used to increase damage to Hulk after dropping him into the building under construction.
Iron Man suits up in the Hulkbuster Armor
- Autonomic Prehensile Propulsion Technology: Using an independent propulsion system, each section can fly to the user from a drop pod hovering around the combat zone and automatically assemble into the Hulkbuster Armor. Despite being composed of individual parts, the XLIV is still able to sustain quite a few blows from Hulk, unlike the XLII.
- Grappling Hook: It is used to hold Hulk down long enough to use the Repulsor Beams on Hulk.
- Hydraulic Rams: An addition to both arms of the armor, make them capable of delivering powerful blows, and use the fists as a jackhammer.
- Sleeping Gas: The suit had a set of sleeping gas canisters outfitted in its arm which Stark tried to use on Hulk.
- Arm Restraint: The XLIV suit's forearm is able to expand over its fist like a sleeve, which was used to trap Hulk's arm after he grabbed the suit's fist.
Alternate Versions[]
| Origin | Status | Creators | Owners | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma Enhanced Happy Hogan | Inactive | Tony Stark | Avengers | Justin Hammer |
| Enclave Attacks | Destroyed | Stark Industries | Stark Industries | Glenn Talbot † |
Appearances[]
| Appearances for the Iron Man Armor: Mark XLVI |
|---|
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In chronological order:
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References[]
External Links[]
| Armors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Man | |||
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| Iron Monger | |||
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| Mark I • Mark II • Mark III • Mark IV • Mark V • Mark VI | |||
| Whiplash | |||
| Mark I • Mark II | |||
| Spider-Man | |||
| Spider-Man Suit • Iron Spider Armor | |||
| Rescue | |||
| Mark XLIX Iron Man Armor | |||
| Ironheart | |||
| Mark I • Mark II • Mark III | |||
| HYDRA Stomper | |||
| Mark I • Mark II | |||