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Tony Stark adorning his Mark III armor was one of the highlights of the first Iron Man movie from 2008. Every subsequent armor iteration included additional features and capabilities, and was introduced with a really fantastic suit-up scene. This also includes the legendary Mark 50, the first to utilize nanotechnology, and Mark 85, which was the most advanced armor Tony has ever made in the MCU.

Even cooler is the Armor Model 37, also known as the Bleeding Edge from the comics, which relied upon nanomachines stored in the hollow areas of Tony’s bones, allowing the suit to be summoned and formed around Tony almost instantly. However, while Stark developed his suits using vast resources and experience at his disposal, Riri Williams, a teenage prodigy from the upcoming Ironheart miniseries, had to make her own armor by reverse-engineering Stark’s and combining it with the materials she sourced herself, showcasing her ingenuity and determination.

We already saw Riri’s first armor in action in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she used the armor to outmaneuver the CIA and take out a surveillance drone that was following Okoye and Shuri. Unfortunately, the armor was severely damaged when she was attacked by the Talokanil, prompting her to create a newer and more advanced model towards the end of the movie. But even her initial armor in the movies seemed different than the one from the comic books, which actually resembled Stark’s tech, with notable differences in performance and features.

The comic book version of Riri Williams actually reverse-engineered the technology of Tony Stark’s Model 41 armor, which focused on sustainability in the harsh environment of space. The armor was designed to recycle everything its user’s body needs, making it perfectly capable of sustaining a person for several weeks. She used the armor’s design and some of its parts for the basis of her prototype Ironheart Armor, combining it with the materials stolen from her college campus. When the campus security became aware of her activities, Riri took the prototype and fled.

The initial design of her armor was quite rudimentary. Despite her having an IQ that rivaled that of Tony Stark, Riri lacked the resources, engineering experience, and the help of the world’s most advanced AI that Tony had at his disposal. The first version of her armor featured a communication system and a HUD, but it lacked any offensive capabilities and had poor defensive capabilities. Sure, it allowed Riri to fly around and it granted her enhanced strengths, but it lacked AI integration, which made the suit hard to use and handle properly.

With that said, Riri did use this exact version to intercept a couple of inmates escaping from the New Mexico State Penitentiary by crashing into their escape vehicle, which further compromised her armor integrity. Hearing about her efforts, Tony Stark reached out to Riri and helped her rebuild her armor and integrate AI and more advanced weaponry, and Riri used this exact version to carry on Iron Man’s legacy after Tony fell into a coma.

Riri would subsequently replace the crude suit with a much more advanced version. This new version was built with the help of an AI version of Tony Stark (since the real Tony was in a coma), who actually integrated with the new armor, providing her with significant computational power, as well as radar and sensory information in the heat of battle. Of course, both the offensive and defensive capabilities of this new armor have been significantly enhanced.

The subsequent version, Model 3, was even more advanced, especially in terms of durability and aerodynamics. The new design made the suit lighter, faster, and more powerful, and it is accompanied by a new AI assistant, N.A.T.A.L.I.E., who resembles Riri’s late friend. Some of its enhancements are derived from Wakandan technology, such as vibranium integration, which provided the aforementioned durability and some of the armor’s more advanced capabilities.

Admittedly, Riri Williams and Tony Stark’s respective armors don’t actually differ much, at least initially, as the former was built upon the foundations laid by the latter. However, as time went on, those differences grew. Stark’s armors are built with a strong military and weapons background, and for specific scenarios. Riri’s armor, though based on Stark’s Model 41, was created independently, without military influence, using scavenged parts, materials, and pure ingenuity. It reflected Riri’s desire to protect instead of symbolizing a billionaire’s redemption arc.

Later versions of Riri’s Ironheart armor deviated significantly from Stark’s original design; it was sleeker, more compact, and it showcased cutting-edge energy efficiency and flight capabilities, which were built with fewer resources but maximum innovation. And therein lies the true difference between the two armors: while one represents personal redemption, the other represents a young, Black female genius on a path to redefine what a superhero can be.

The new Disney+ Ironheart series premieres June 24th.

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