Tony Stark’sIron Manis known for his incredibly advanced armor, while the unkillableWolverineis famous for his adamantium-coated claws. But when the two are pitted against each other in Marvel lore, whose metal wins out? Can Wolverine slice and dice Tony’s armor, or has the ‘ultimate futurist’ developed a suit that even adamantium can’t cut?
The answer is less obvious than it seems, especially given the surprising rarity with which Tony and Logan have found themselves physically at odds. The two don’t fight often, but when they do, they don’t hold back.
The short answer is that Wolverine is certainly capable of cutting Iron Man’sregulararmor, butTony Starkhascreated at least two suits that Logan wouldn’t be able to damage, each for a surprisingly different reason.
Iron Man’s anti-adamantium Argonaut armor would melt Wolverine’s metal on contact.
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Wolverine candefinitelycut the majority of suits Iron Man uses in his day-to-day heroism.In essentially every regular fight the two have ever engaged in, Wolverine has managed to damage Tony’s suit with his claws. This happened most startlingly inHunt for Wolverine: The Adamantium Agenda, by Tom Taylor and R.B. Silva. In the comic,Wolverine is severely injured, and Iron Man goes over to check on him. Still healing and feral with rage, Wolverine stabs Iron Man through the helmet, with his claws emerging from the top in a definitive kill-shot. Thankfully, Tony turned out to be operating the suit remotely, sparing his life.
Wolverine has pulled similar trick in various alt-universe stories, and his damage to Iron Man’s suits in their rare main-continuity fights confirms that as strong as Tony’s armor is, it can’t fend off adamantium. However, that’s true of hisregularsuits, and Tony does have some armors that Wolverine definitively can’t cut.
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Iron Man Has Suits That Wolverine Can’t Cut
The Mysterium Armor Even Bent Adamantium
During the Krakoan Era, Iron Man helped the X-Men against their enemies in Orchis, and was gifted a large amount ofthe mystic metal Mysterium, which the X-Men had mined from the White Hot Room (the home of the Phoenix Force.) Meanwhile, Orchis killed Wolverine and harvested his adamantium, using it to create a new model of Sentinel known as Sentinel Zero. When the two clashed in Gerry Duggan, Creees Lee and Walden Wong’sInvincible Iron Man #15,the Sentinel Zero’s claws actuallybentwhen it tried to stab Iron Man, and the hero went on to crush its adamantium-coated skull.
Mysterium is so powerful, even Captain Marvel’s maximum strength couldn’t bend it. It’s also resistant to magic and precognitive gifts, including Spider-Man’s spider-sense.
Another suit Wolverine couldn’t cut isIron Man’s Argonaut suit.This armor was made of Antarctic Vibranium, which destabilizes and essentially ‘melts’ adamantium in the vicinity.Thankfully, Wolverine never had to face this armor, but Tony did use it to destroy a full adamantium suit he’d created, unleashes total destruction against the armor (inIron Man #12, by Daniel Knauf, Charles Knauf and Patrick Zircher.) The Argonaut suit isn’t sohardthat adamantium can’t cut it, but would rather destabilize any adamantium before Wolverine could land a blow.
It’s worth noting that in the case of both Mysterium and Antarctic Vibranium,Iron Man has created suits out of semi-naturally-occuring metals which were already immune to adamantium, rather than creating these substances or doing anything to imbue them with this property. So yes,Iron Mandoeshave several suits thatWolverinecan’t cut, but that’s essentially down to Tony being smart and rich enough to acquire incredibly rare materials, and the vast majority of his suits can still be cut to ribbons by Logan’s claws.
Iron Man
TheIron Manfranchise is a cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), marking the beginning of the interconnected superhero films that have become a global phenomenon. The franchise follows Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor, who creates a suit of armor to become Iron Man. His journey from a self-centered playboy to a self-sacrificing hero plays a pivotal role throughout the MCU’s Infinity Saga.
Wolverine
The human mutant Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan) was born James Howlett, blessed with a superhuman healing factor, senses, and physiology. Subjecting himself to experimentation to augment his skeleton and claws with adamantium, Logan is as deadly as he is reckless, impulsive, and short-tempered. Making him the X-Men’s wildest and deadliest member, and one of Marvel Comics' biggest stars. He’s played in Fox and Marvel’s movie franchises by Hugh Jackman.
