Mark XXXIX - Starboost

"Sub-Orbital Suit designed for off-earth missions. Armor features integrated removable Booster Pack, specialized Maneuvering Thrusters, and heavy gauge Heat Shield."

- (Iron Man 3 - JARVIS: A Second Screen Experience) The Mark XXXIX's description in the JARVIS Application.

The Mark XXXIX (Mark 39), also known by its names as "Gemini" and "Starboost", is a Sub-Orbital Suit, and was one of several new Iron Man Armors created by Tony Stark as part of the Iron Legion. The armor was created sometime after the Battle of New York.

It was featured in Iron Man 3, and made its debut when Tony ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to initiate the "House Party Protocol" in which it was activated along with all the other suits to aid him in his fight against Aldrich Killian.

The suit earned its name "Starboost" for having the ability to travel into sub-orbital ranges and for venturing into space, as it is derived from its name. It was built with an armor that could stand the cold temperature and radiation in space and was built in with an oxygen tank to allow Tony to be able to breathe while he was in space.

Tony's motive for creating this suit can be seen at the end of The Avengers. As Tony goes through the portal with the atomic bomb that would destroy Manhattan, his suit powers down. Stark then falls through the portal and is saved by the Hulk.

Armor Design
The Mark XXXIX has a white, black and silver color scheme designed to suit space travel. This is the first and only armor to have a white color scheme. The suit is made of a special alloy that absorbs Tony's arc reactor signal. Attached to the back are removable secondary thrusters to get through the atmosphere.

It also has a unique Arc Reactor design, with three lines from each corner of the triangular reactor joining together in the middle. Additionally, the gold coloring of the face mask extends futher up the forehead than most armors, implying a larger field of vision equivalent to astronaut helmets.

Extreme Flight
The Mark XXXIX has the unique ability to fly at extremely high altitudes, and even reach into space. The armor is advanced enough to go out into the sub-orbit of Earth and the very vacuum of space itself.

Extreme Durability
The Mark XXXIX is extremely durable. The armor is capable of shielding the user from various temperatures, radiation, and it is also completely bullet-proof.

High Speed Flight
In order for it to break the pull of Earth's gravity, the Mark XXXIX has to be capable of flight many times faster than the speed of sound, making it one of the top 6 fastest suits in Tony's arsenal.

Thrusters
The Mark XXXIX has powerful Repulsor powered thrusters on it's back, used to propel itself through atmosphere.

Donning System
The Mark XXXIX, along with all the other newly built Mark suits, uses a more advanced technology that was based off on the Mark VII's technology, which is able to wrap itself around Tony's body, without the aid of robotic arms or any external mechanicals.

It can flexibly open itself to allow Tony to enter into the suit and automatically wrap itself around him, anywhere at anytime, much like the Mark XLII's technology and the other newly built Mark suits'.

Repulsors
The Mark XXXIX has standard Repulsor technology.

Unibeam
The Mark XXXIX has a trapezoid shaped Unibeam, powered by the new and improved Vibranium Arc Reactor Mark II.

Large Concussive Cannon
Based from the description in Iron Man 3 - The Official Game, the Mark XXXIX is equipped with a Large Concussive Cannon. It is possible that this cannon could be located in the forearm of one of the gauntlets.

The Iron Legion and Creation
Sometime after the Battle of New York, Tony Stark, who was haunted by his near death experience from the invasion, suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, becoming paranoid and obsessed with security.

Because of this, Stark began working on the Iron Legion, and overtime, created several Iron Man Armors, from the Mark VIII to the Mark XXXVIII, which were all built with various designs and purposes. After the Mark XXXVIII / Igor 's completion, Stark proceeded to working on his next armor, the Mark XXXIX.

Tony's motive for creating this suit can be seen at the end of The Avengers. As Tony goes through the portal with the atomic bomb that would destroy Manhattan, his suit powers off. Stark then falls through the portal and is saved by the Hulk.

Completion and Storage
After completing the armor, Stark stored it in the Hall of Armors Chamber beneath his Malibu House, where all the other previous Iron Man Armors he completed were stored in as well.

With Gemini's completion, Stark proceeded to work on a new type of suit that can travel at hyper-velocity speeds, creating the Mark XL.

Malibu Raid
When Tony's Malibu Mansion was raided, and later destroyed, the Mark XXXIX along with the rest of the Iron Legion were still stored safely within the Hall of Armors Chamber, as it was left undamaged during the attack. The chamber was still intact, completely sealed, and concealed from view.

This was part of Stark's plan, in which the Iron Legion was to be used later after he uncovered the truth behind the Mandarin and A.I.M.

Activation of the "House Party Protocol"
The Mark XXXIX was activated by J.A.R.V.I.S. along with all the other armors in the basement of Tony's Malibu Mansion, after Tony gave the order of the "House Party Protocol". It then flew towards the the Roxxon Oil Rig, together with all the other 40 armors.

When the Iron Legion arrived, the Mark XXXIX was one of the first seven armors to appear on the scene, together with the Mark XVII, Mark XXXV, Mark XV, Mark XXXIII, Mark XL and Mark XXVII. It surrounded the rig, along with all the other armors and waited for Tony's orders through J.A.R.V.I.S. As Tony finished up, he told J.A.R.V.I.S. to "Target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice." The Mark XXXIX then started targeting and attacking the Extremis Soldiers after. It fought off the soldiers during the battle with the help of the other armors.

During the middle of the battle, when Tony was ordering J.A.R.V.I.S. to give him an armor to use, the Mark XXXIX could be seen flying to a crate and deflecting a metal pole that was thrown at it. Right after, the Mark XXII was destroyed by another metal pole that was thrown at it, just as Tony was about to jump into the armor.

The Mark XXXIX then continued battling the Extremis Soldiers in the rig along with the help of the other armors.It was seen again when a pole was thrown at it. It dodged the pole firing a repulsor blast, knocking over a extremis soldier causing their body to break a cable moving the shipping container Pepper Potts was held in. The armor was presumed to have fought and killed several extremis soldiers during the fight, as it was one of the last 21 armors left standing and succeeded in eliminating the remaining extremis forces with the help of the other Iron Legion armors. The Mark XXXIX then resumes to flying around the oil rig in the aftermath of the battle.

"Clean Slate Protocol"
The Mark XXXIX was then detonated by J.A.R.V.I.S. for fireworks along with the other 20 armors, under the Tony's order of the "Clean Slate Protocol". This was to show Tony's devotion to his girlfriend, Pepper Potts. It was the 5th suit to detonate.

Iron Man 3 - The Official Game
In Iron Man 3 - The Official Game, the Mark XXXIX appears as a playable armor under the name of Starboost. It has a score multiplier of x5.5. In the game it's description says that it contains a Large Concussive Cannon. It is the second to the last armor in the Unibeam Blast section.

Marvel Heroes


In Marvel Heroes, an online MMO based in the Marvel comics world, a costume unlock for Iron Man is the Mark XXXIX design. In the game the armor is not called Mark XXXIX, but simply Starboost. Also in the game the hero Squirrel Girl can summon Iron Man in this armor to fight along side her.

Marvel's Avengers
In Marvel's Avengers, Tony Stark had been in the process of constructing the Starboost armor before the Avengers were decomissioned and Stark Industries was nationalized and its assets converted into Advanced Idea Mechanics. He managed to store the prototype aboard the Chimera prototype Helicarrier, and decided to use it in order to access an orbiting medical satellite that the Avengers believed to have incriminating evidence of AIM's illegal and unethical experiments on Inhumans. Unfortunately, the only engine that could propel the suit through the atmosphere was too large to properly integrate into the suit, and so Stark and the Avengers needed to work the Inhuman Resistance to steal a canister of Pym Particles held by AIM to shrink the engine enough for proper installation. Unfortunately, the engine didn't survive the trip through the atmosphere but the suit itself remained functional and became a cosmetic appearance for Iron Man for the rest of the game.

Trivia

 * The Mark XXXIX was one of the many suits that could be seen in the Iron Man 3 movie theatrical poster, along with the Marks XVI, XVII, XXIV, XXXIII, and XLI, with the Mark XLII being worn by Tony.


 * The Mark XXXIX was one of the six un-lockable armors available, as part of the "Iron Man 3 Unlock The Armors" promotional event for the film. It was released together with the Mark XVII, Mark XXXIII, Mark XXXV, Mark XXXVIII and Mark XL armors.


 * This armor also appeared in the confrontation with the Extremis Soldiers, it is briefly seen hovering at the left, when the Iron Legion arrives.


 * The Mark XXXIX is the first and only armor to feature a white color plating in it's armor design, along with some black and golden plates.


 * Despite the Mark XXXIX's high profile, it had only little screen-time in Iron Man 3.


 * This armor is also remarkably similar to the EVA Armor from the Halo game series.