Over the years, Spider-Man has switched up his costumes multiple times, and he's alternated between a number of different looks for different purposes. At various times, the hero has come up against villains threats that are just too much for his natural skillset, so he's been forced to design entirely new suits that can help him bring down even the most difficult of foes.
In Avengers: Infinity War and Marvel's Spider-Man video game, the web-slinger regularly turned to Spider-Armor costumes that gave him a little more protection than the average Spider-suit. And now, we're taking a closer look at why he started the comic book Spider-Armors that inspired those multimedia costumes and what exactly happened to them in the Marvel Universe.
SPIDER-ARMOR MK 1
An uptick in gang violence across New York forced a desperate Spider-Man to think outside the box to keep up with all the villains. In the end, Peter decided on an armored suit, known as the Spider-Armor MK I in Terry Kavanagh and Alex Saviuk's Web of Spider-Man #100.
The suit has a black and silver color scheme and is fitted with additional layers of a pseudo-metallic armor for the web-swinger. The armor provides him plenty of protection from the New Enforcers -- the villains it was created to protect him from -- by proving impervious to fire, electricity, and bullets. However, the suit does come with a minor setback: the additional weight of the armor slows Spider-Man down, reducing his speed and agility. However, the villain Thermite used his control over both fire and ice to melt parts of the suit and then freeze them solid, which forced Spider-Man to break the armor to escape the sudden frozen trap.
IRON SPIDER-ARMOR
After the events of "The Other," Tony Stark constructed a new suit of armor for his fellow Avenger, Spider-Man in 2006's The Amazing Spider-Man #506, by J. Michael Straczynski and Ron Garney. The suit has a bulletproof design, came with multiple retractable robotic legs, and even utilized an Iron Man inspired-look.
Outside of wearing it in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Infinity War, Peter wore the suit for a brief period of time while he was with the Avengers, before returning to his traditional suit after turning away from Iron Man during the events of the Marvel Universe Civil War. The armor ended up in Tony's possession and placed into storage for safe-keeping. Notably, other characters have used the suit as well: Mary-Jane Watson briefly used the suit to help defeat Regent, and Aaron Davis ended up using the suit in his work as a thief. Copies of the suit were also later used to outfit the Scarlet Spiders, who became members of the Initiative.
SPIDER-ARMOR MK II
After losing his Spider-Sense fighting Alistair Smythe, Spider-Man was forced to compensate by training in martial-arts with Shang-Chi and finding a way to deal with his how his newfound inability to naturally dodge oncoming gunfire. To make up for that, Spider-Man constructed a new bulletproof armor, the Spider-Armor MK II in Dan Slott and Marcos Martin's Amazing Spider-Man #656.
The suit comes with enhanced durability and is outfitted with built-in web-shooters. The web-shooters are specifically capable of firing off magnetic webbing, which can block radio frequencies upon contact. Unlike the previous Spider-Armor, this version is also made of a somewhat lighter material, meaning his natural speed and agility aren't constrained at all. Spider-Man has rarely used the suit, which was destroyed alongside Horizon Labs (before being rebuilt) and kept in storage.
SPIDER-ARMOR MK III
The Spider-Armor MK III was introduced during Dan Slott and Stefano Casellini's "Ends of the Earth" in The Amazing Spider-Man #682. When a dying Doctor Octopus assembled the Sinister Six to cause untold destruction, Spider-Man took charge of the Avengers and revealed armor that was specifically designed to contend with his most frequent foes.
The armor is outfitted with jet packs to allow for flight and is durable enough to take a hit from Thor. The suit also has a range of unique gadgets, such as an audio system which can pinpoint specific heartbeats like Daredevil, a holographic visor that can see through holograms, a helmet that disrupts technologies from afar, the ability to redirect electricity and it even comes with a gadget belt full of tailored-made gear for his enemies. The armor (which has a primarily red color scheme) has reappeared sporadically, although it has also been destroyed and rebuilt.
SPIDER-ARMOR MK IV
The Spider-Armor MK IV was one of the upgrades Peter incorporated into his life after becoming a more tech and science-based hero in 2015's Amazing Spider-Man #1, by Dan Slott and Alex Ross.
Similar in design to his traditional costume, the suit is made of a lightweight and durable metal that makes the costume shimmer. The suit comes with a host of different upgrades that give Spider-Man a wide range of new offensive, defensive and tracking capabilities. It's strong enough to survive hits from Hercules, can absorb and rechannel many most forms of energy, comes equipped with Webware that can create holograms or camouflage the suit, and a host of other attributes that make it perhaps the most powerful costume Spider-Man has ever constructed. However, the suit ended up destroyed after being overloaded with a massive EMP blast, courtesy of the Superior Octopus.