This Totally Forgotten Iron Man Armor Put a Retro Sci-Fi Spin on Tony Stark's Design

Summary Iron Man's original Ultimate Universe armor features ear antennae, giving it a classic Sci-Fi look reminiscent of '60s Lost in Space.

Artist Mike Allred pays homage to retro Sci-Fi designs by incorporating ear antennae in Iron Man's suit, inspired by old school science fiction.

Allred's nostalgic touch extends to other superheroes like Batman in Superman: Space Age, showcasing a love for '50s/'60s era Sci-Fi aesthetics.

Tony Stark has had no shortage of increasingly impressive and wildly unique Iron Man suits, especially when considering alternate versions of Iron Man that exist in entirely separate realities. Indeed, one of the most notable standouts in that regard is the stark difference between Iron Man’s original suit and that of the Ultimate Universe, which gave Iron Man’s helmet an elongated, almost horse-like appearance. However, that wasn’t the only suit to appear in the Ultimate Universe that differed from Tony’s classic armor, as an earlier, all but forgotten model put a retro Sci-Fi spin on the design.

In Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #4 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Allred, readers are introduced to the Tony Stark of the newly-established Ultimate Universe. This comic takes place before The Ultimates solidified the canon of every ‘Avenger’ in the Ultimate Universe (Iron Man included), meaning a lot of what appears in this earlier draft of the alt-Marvel continuity is reworked/retold to some extent later down the line. However, it’s still firmly an ‘Ultimate Marvel’ title, making everything that happens in it a piece of Tony Stark’s Marvel Comics history - including and especially his suit.

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The Iron Man armor featured in this comic is more or less identical to Tony’s iconic look, though artist Mike Allred gave the entire thing an undeniably classic Sci-Fi overhaul. The major difference is the ear antennae, which totally alters Iron Man’s normal aesthetic - especially when compared to his other Ultimate Universe armor. Iron Man in the Ultimates looks like a heavy-metal machine man from a technologically advanced future, whereas this suit has the feel of a sleek android that would be featured in a ‘50s/’60s Sci-Fi show, complete with the antennae that were a notable staple of that era.

Iron Man’s Original Ultimate Universe Armor is Pulled Straight Out of Lost in Space

While the inclusion of the antennae may seem like a subtle change to the classic suit, that seemingly innocuous addition made the entire armor feel like it was pulled straight out of the classic ‘60s Sci-Fi series, Lost in Space. The space suit worn by John Robinson in Lost in Space features almost identical ear antennae to Tony Stark’s, which proves how prominent this one small feature truly was during the age of old school science fiction.

By giving Iron Man ear antennae, Mike Allred was honoring the work of science fiction costume and character-design artists who came before them. Lost in Space is perhaps the most famous example of ear antennae being shown on ‘futuristic’ suits in the ‘50s/’60s era of Sci-Fi, but it was far from the only one. While that design was all but lost to time with more modern takes on what a technological future could bring, it lives on in Iron Man’s original Ultimate Universe suit, which effectively brought that classic design to the 21st Century.

Iron Man Isn’t the Only Superhero to Get a Retro Sci-Fi Makeover by Artist Mike Allred

Superman: Spage Age #1 by Mark Russell and Mike Allred

Mike Allred was also the artist for Superman: Space Age, which was an Elseworlds story that threw the DC Universe back in time to the late ‘40s, early ‘50s, as every major character in DC’s continuity was reimagined to have lived during that era of human history - including Batman. Bruce Wayne designed a ‘bat-suit’ that he meant to sell to the U.S. military. Wayne was denied the contract, but decided to keep the bat-suit design for himself to become a superhero, and that design had the retro Sci-Fi ear antennae, just like Iron Man’s suit.

It seems as though artist Mike Allred is a bit nostalgic for the more retro Sci-Fi designs of the 1950s/’60s, as they’ve incorporated the ear antennae design into the costumes of multiple superheroes. And while Batman’s alternate costume does solidify Allred’s affinity for this particular aesthetic, it doesn’t compare to the all-around classic Sci-Fi appearance of Iron Man’s original Ultimate Universe armor, as the ear antennae put a retro spin on Tony Stark’s design the likes of which have never been featured on an Iron Man suit before (or since).