War Machine Armor: Mark IV

The Mark IV War Machine Armor was the fourth armor used by James Rhodes. It was created sometime after the Avengers Civil War, as a replacement to the War Machine Armor: Mark III, which was damaged by Vision during the Clash of the Avengers.

History

Creation

The armor was built by Tony Stark sometime after the Avengers Civil War. As a result of the injuries James Rhodes had suffered during the conflict, the Mark IV armor was significantly more armored around the torso and lower back than its predecessor so as to allow its pilot to walk and better protect both the Arc Reactor and Rhodes himself.^[1]

Battle of Wakanda

When the Black Order sent by Thanos had arrived at Wakanda with an army, James Rhodes donned his armor and served as a frontline aerial soldier performing bombing raids on the Outriders and unleashing his artillery on the troop transports. Bolstered by the arrival of Thor, the Earth forces began beating back the invaders and slay the Black Order.

The concurrent Battle of Titan, however, had gone poorly with Thanos managing to claim the Time Stone and soon arriving to claim the last stone. War Machine unleashed his weapons at the warlord only to have his projectiles vaporized by the energy field of the Space Stone before the same stone created powerful compression forces around the armor, grounding it.^[1]

Ambush on Thanos

Several weeks after the Snap, James Rhodes traveled with his fellow Avengers, Rocket, Nebula, and Carol Danvers to the Garden in an attempt to retrieve the Infinity Stones and kill the Mad Titan. He used the armor to restrain a weakened Thanos by holding his right arm, allowing Thor to cut off his left arm and get the Gauntlet.^[2]

Capabilities

• Superhuman Durability: The War Machine Armor Mark IV gives its user enhanced durability, which appears to have been further enhanced from its predecessor as a response to the near-crippling injuries its pilot suffered when that armor fell to Earth due to a friendly fire accident. During the Battle of Wakanda, the Mark IV armor was durable enough to withstand the tremendous force of Cull Obsidian's hammer, melee attacks from the Outriders, and a crash landing with no damage to the pilot. Its durability was best exemplified, however, when it remained operational following being subjected to the power of the Space Stone.
• Superhuman Strength: The armor amplifies the pilot's strength to superhuman levels.
• Flight: Standard since the Iron Man Armor: Mark II, the Mark IV War Machine armor possesses advanced flight capabilities capable of outpacing both the EXO-7 Falcon and the Wakandan hover boats.
• Built-In Walking Aid: Allows for the semi-paralyzed James Rhodes to walk.

Weapons

• Repulsors: The War Machine Armor MK IV has repulsors in the palms.
• Unibeam: A more powerful version of the hand repulsors mounted on the chest.
• Bomb Dispensers: The War Machine Armor MK IV has two bomb dispensers in the back of the armor.

• Machine Guns: The War Machine Armor MK IV also has multiple machine guns in the armor's gauntlets, and one in the back.
• Missile Launchers: The War Machine Armor MK IV has multiple missile launchers in the armor's back and chest.

Trivia

• The War Machine MK IV Armor bears an insignia of the United States Air Force on the legs of the armor.
• Similar to the models before it, the Mark IV has its numerical designation painted onto the right arm.
• This is the first War Machine armor to appear unchanged in two separate movies.

References

The Marvel Cinematic Universe wiki has a collection of images and media related to War Machine Armor: Mark IV.