MMU Iron Man Armor count...

Okay, I’ve reviewed my MMU Blu-rays and have come up with the following. Feel free to correct me...

First, in Iron Man there was the suit Tony built in the cave. That’s Mark I. The Silver suit he test rides is Mark II. The Gold version is Mark III…

…and now we get into the first question mark: The Gold Mark III is never made. Tony looks at it and tells JARVIS to “throw a little hot-rod red in there”.

Does that make the Red and Gold version Mark III? Mark IV? Mark III-A?

Regardless, my understanding is that whatever version that is, that’s what he wears throughout the rest of the film.

Iron Man 2 shows us Tony’s Hall of Armor, which confirms that the Red and Gold from the first film is Mark III, and the suit he wore to the opening of the Stark Expo is Mark IV.

This makes the Silver and Red “suitcase” armor Tony uses to fight Whiplash/Ivan Vanko at Monte Carlo the Mark V.

Now, the suit Tony wears at his birthday party…the one he fights Rhodey in…should still be the Mark IV.

“Wait a minute…” you may be asking. ‘…what about War Machine?”

Well, that suit was upgraded by Justin Hammer based on the Mark II.

Now we face Question #2: Does a “Non-Tony Stark Approved” upgrade on an Iron Man armor count?

My answer – No, it doesn't.

Therefore, the suit we see at the end of IM2 with the new element is the Mark VI.

Which leaves The Avengers. The Mark VII is what we see at the beginning of the film, the one that comes apart as Tony walks into Stark Tower. The one he wears in the final battle - which follows him out the window and assembles around him mid-fall - is the last one we've seen thus far: the Mark VIII.

So, if the armor we've seen in the IM3 trailers is the Mark XLII, there's gotta be XXXIV (34) more elsewhere in the film.

*Whew...*