In Invincible Iron Man #25 (2010), Tony creates a new armor in the aftermath of the "Stark: Disassembled" storyline.[8] Created by writer Matt Fraction and artist Ryan Meinerding, this new armor is sleeker in appearance, and is featured in the 2010 crossover storyline, the "Heroic Age".[9]
Disputing the Bleeding Edge as an upgrade to Extremis, Tony Stark commented, "Nah - this is what comes next." As such the new armor is a part of Tony Stark's now-posthuman biology - it is stored inside Tony's body in its entirety, "manifesting" itself when mentally commanded.[10]
The neurokinetic user-controlled morphologic nanoparticle bundles that form the suit reside in Stark's body, and form a fibrous wetweb of iron and platinum,[11] that can be commanded to form any type of structure upon Stark's skin, such as large boxing gloves,[12] or weapons, including large guns extending from his arms[11] or a light saber-like energy sword with which Iron Man was actually able to harm one of the Worthy during the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline.[13] The nano-machines can even mimic the appearance of clothes, and then dissociate to transform into the Iron Man armor whenever Stark wishes.[14] The suit adds less than twenty-five pounds to Stark's body mass, and can stop a howitzer shell.[11]
The armor and Stark's own transhuman body are powered by the high-yield arc reactor mounted in his chest.[10] The high output of the arc reactor has greatly augmented Stark's intelligence and provided him superhuman-level multitasking and learning capabilities. Unlike earlier armors, this new armor does not appear to rely on motors and servos for motion. Instead, the nano-machines create a secondary artificial musculature over Stark's body, upon which additional rigid structures are assembled. This also enables the armor to self-repair and be almost invulnerable, as the armor is capable of transforming and healing itself as long as the power output from the arc reactor is not interrupted or terminated; when the armor was briefly apparently destroyed in a fight with an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch who was one of Apocalypse's Horsemen, it was restored to normal after only a matter of seconds (although it was still out of action long enough for Stark to need rescuing by Spider-Man to stop himself hitting the ground as he fell).[15]
The suit's repulsors, which are located around the knuckles, chest, back and legs of the armor, as well as in the traditional palms, now function also as cameras, or "eyeballs", which afford Stark a 360-degree panoramic view around himself.[11]