The Mark 45 armor is the forty-fifth Iron Man suit developed by Tony Stark that, before making its Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, went through a number of incarnations before reaching its recognizable final design. Marvel Studios Film and Concept Designer Phil Saunders posted one of his own early designs of Mark 45.
The armor made its film debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron and was used by Stark in the battle for Sokovia against his rogue creation, Ultron. Saunders' design envisions a sleeker fit that wouldn't be implemented until later Avengers films.
"Going for much softer forms with this one," Saunders wrote. "Something we didn't really implement until the Mk50."
Stark's Mark 45 suit was featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron, while the Mark 50 armor was seen in Avengers: Infinity War. Ultimately, Saunders' more flexible model would be utilized in Infinity War to showcase Stark's sleek nanotechnology.
Fans remember the Mark 45 as the first suit to utilize Stark's secondary Artificial Intelligence assistant known as Friday, as well as being the first to feature a hexagon-shaped Chest Repulsor Ray.
This is far from Saunders' first revealing of an alternate armor design from Ultron, as the artist has posted a number of others, including a much different approach to the Hulkbuster armor.
Directed by Joss Whedon, Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, James Spader and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is currently available on Digital HD, DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.