Arc Reactor (2024)

The Arc Reactor is a power source designed by Howard Stark, Anton Vanko and Obadiah Stane^[1] to replicate the Tesseract's energy. After the Tesseract's energy had been harnessed by HYDRA during World War II, Stark studied the Tesseract attempting to do the same. Limited by the technology at his disposal, Stark and Vanko used his research on the Tesseract to create the Arc Reactor. Intended to be the first stage of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., the Arc Reactor remained generally inactive until Tony Stark was able to miniaturize it and power his Iron Man armors.

History[]

Early Design[]

In the aftermath of World War II, Howard Stark studied the Tesseract and wished to harness its energy, having developed the idea of providing a limitless power source that could provide clean, renewable energy for the future of mankind.^[3] By 1947, Howard Stark made blueprints for a Palladium core that he could use for his reactor. When Whitney Frost ambushed Jason Wilkes at Howard Stark's Estate she saw Stark's Palladium core blueprints and was impressed by the idea, calling Stark a certifiable genius.^[4]

Creation[]

Unable to harness its power, Howard used his research on the Tesseract to create the first Arc Reactor, which Howard began to develop alongside Anton Vanko and Obadiah Stane.^[1] However, Howard considered the reactor to be simply "a first step" to a much bigger project.

While Howard saw the Arc Reactor as a way to create a new, cleaner method to replace nuclear power, Anton only saw it as an idea he could sell to get rich. Due to this, Howard accused him of espionage and had him deported back to Russia, an event that later motivated his son, Ivan Vanko, to use the Arc Reactor technology to seek revenge on Tony Stark for his family ruining their lives.

Eventually, a large Arc Reactor for industrial energy production was created to power Stark Industries Headquarters in Los Angeles. Howard developed a theoretical new element which would be the key to completing the perfect Arc Reactor based on the Tesseract. However, he was unable to synthesize it due to being limited by the technology available at the time, and the Arc Reactor project soon hit a standstill.^[3] Knowing he wouldn't be able to truly harness the power of the Tesseract or create the perfect Arc Reactor in his lifespan, Howard left a blueprint of his theoretical new element hidden within a model of the 1974 Stark Expo along with a recorded message to his son with clues about the Stark Expo model's true nature hoping he would rediscover it and finish his work. The message along with his original research were left at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody so they could one day give them to Tony while the Stark Expo model was left at Stark Industries.

In the years after Howard's death, the Arc Reactor project became a non-priority to the company as it was steered towards mainly producing weapons, with the then acting CEO, Obadiah Stane, dismissing the clean energy project as a "publicity stunt".^[5]

Miniaturization[]

Kidnapping of Tony Stark[]

During the Ten Rings attack and capture of Tony Stark in 2008, a bomb exploded near Stark, causing shrapnel to enter his body near his heart, threatening his life. Dr. Ho Yinsen removed most of the shrapnel but some were too close to his heart so he created a way to stop the shrapnel by using a powerful electromagnet and a car battery. However, Stark knew that the weak car battery wouldn't keep him alive for long. Thus, he adapted the design of the large Arc Reactor that powered his factory and created a miniaturized version that could fit in his hand and fit into his chest.

Through the miniaturized Arc Reactor, Stark decided to create a suit of armor with his chest piece as its power source in order to escape from the Ten Rings captivity with Yinsen's help. After creating the suit, Stark escaped but Yinsen was killed by the Ten Rings. Despite the loss of a good friend, Stark was able to escape from the Ten Rings and was rescued by the United States military, which was led by his best friend James Rhodes.^[5]

Perfecting the Reactor[]

Once Stark got back to America, he suggested that Stark Industries should focus on the Arc Reactor once again, which Obadiah Stane remained skeptical about until he saw the miniature reactor. Stark used his A.I. system, J.A.R.V.I.S., to create a much more powerful version of the miniaturized Arc Reactor to keep him alive.

After creating his second Arc Reactor, Stark had his closest friend Pepper Potts help him remove his first one then put the new one into his chest, which she did successfully. Stark then gave his first Arc Reactor to Potts. Meanwhile, Stane continuously pressured Stark to let him patent the miniature Arc Reactor so he could pitch it to investors in order to keep the company afloat, but Tony refused to.

Stark decided to make a new suit of armor, which he would later dub them as Iron Man suit, as he used his modified Arc Reactor to independently power it. Once the suit was made, Stark decided to take it out for a test flight around the Los Angeles area. Stark was successful in his test flight until he arrived back home as he had J.A.R.V.I.S. powered his suit down, which caused him to crash all the way down to his workshop at his house.

While recovering from his test flight, Stark opened the present Potts left for him while he was building his second suit as she box framed his first Arc Reactor, which touched him. Stark then decided to make a third suit as he had J.A.R.V.I.S. paint it red and gold. After it was finished and saw the Ten Rings on the news, Stark used his Arc Reactor to make a blast of energy as he shot around his workshop.^[5]

Battle of Gulmira[]

Once he put his armor on, Stark with his Arc Reactor flew all the way to Gulmira to battle the Ten Rings. Stark was able to stop the Ten Rings and left Gulmira but not before the United State Military attempted to kill him. However, Stark was able to talk to Rhodes and convinced him to help him get the United States Miltary to stand down.^[5]

Obadiah Stane's Project[]

Miniaturization Attempts[]

After seeing Stark on the news of battling the Ten Rings, Stane commissioned William Ginter Riva and other Stark Industries scientists to duplicate the miniature version of the Arc Reactor so he could power his own suit. Also, Stane stole the first suit of armor that Stark made from the Ten Rings, after they recovered it after his escape, as part of his project. Unfortunately, Potts found out what Stane was up to and discovered that he was the one who organized Stark's kidnapping at Afghanistan.

However, the Stark Industries scientists could not replicate the Arc Reactor, believing the technology was not yet possible. Stane admonished that Stark was able to do it himself in a cave using even less resources. Realizing that none of scientists at Stark Industries was Tony, Stane stole the Arc Reactor from Stark's chest to power his Iron Monger Armor. Stark was able to get to his first Arc Reactor before he died of a heart attack and put his third armor on to confront Stane and save Potts from getting killed.^[5]

Duel of Los Angeles[]

During the fight against Iron Monger, Stark and Pepper Potts destroyed Stane's suit, which killed him in the process, after overloading the Arc Reactor powering the Stark Industries facility, discharging a massive amount of electricity through the suit and electrocuting Stane, who then fell into the exploding reactor. Sometime after the battle, Stark saw on the paper that people were calling him Iron Man because of his Arc Reactor and suits. Although he thought about covering up his involvement, Stark decided to confess to everyone that he is Iron Man.^[5]

Recreated by Ivan Vanko[]

Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko and his father, Anton Vanko, a former business partner of Stark's father, saw Tony's confession on Television. Vanko used his father's schematics to produce a replicated version of the miniaturized Arc Reactor, although the replica was lower in energy output.^[3]

Palladium Core Poisoning[]

Several months later, after revealing that he was Iron Man, Stark made a fourth suit and a third Arc Reactor for it. However, Stark found out that the Palladium cores from the Arc Reactor were poisoning him as they burned through them, which was accelerated by him using his Iron Man armor. Also, Stark had built backup Arc Reactors in his three suits that he already made so they were able to function without his personal one in his chest.^[3]

Duel of Monaco[]

During a race Stark was in, he encounter Ivan Vanko, who goes by Whiplash, and fought with him in equal battle because of their suits and Arc Reactor. Despite this, Stark was able to defeat Whiplash and arrested him for his actions.^[3]

Improved Design[]

For the Hammer Drones, Vanko improved the design, which he also used for his Mark II which he planned to use for his battle against Iron Man.^[3]

New Element Arc Reactor[]

Curing Palladium Poisoning[]

Tony attempted to fix this completely by finding a possible substitute for Palladium without success. After finding out about this, Nick Fury gave Tony his father's original research regarding the new element which would complete the reactor. With it, and after finding the blueprints within the Stark Expo model, Tony was able to synthesize the element. This created the "perfected" version of the Arc Reactor Howard originally envisioned, and along with saving Tony's life.^[3]

Battle at Stark Expo[]

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Powering Stark Tower[]

Eventually, Tony Stark decided to continue his father's ideals to use the Arc Reactor to provide clean energy for the world. In order to capitalize on this ideal, Tony Stark created a redesigned Industrial Arc Reactor to power the newly built Stark Tower in New York City. The tower was completely removed from the city's power grid and ran entirely from the Arc Reactor in order to make Stark Tower a "beacon of clean energy" and show the world the capability of Arc Reactor technology on a large scale. Even though it was only a prototype, the building was capable of maintaining itself for an entire year.^[6]

Loki's Invasion[]

Erik Selvig later used Stark Tower's Arc Reactor to power the Tesseract Accelerator and activate the Tesseract's full power and open a wormhole to the Sanctuary. Although J.A.R.V.I.S. shut down the Arc Reactor, it was already too late as Selvig's device had become self-sustaining.^[6]

Aldrich Killian's War[]

Removal Surgery[]

Following the battle on the Norco, Tony Stark studied Extremis in order to cure Pepper Potts, and used a variant to survive his shrapnel removing operation which included an arc reactor powered magnet collecting the shrapnel. No longer requiring an Arc Reactor in his chest, he later drove to the ruins of his mansion and threw the Arc Reactor to the ocean.^[7]

Built-In Arc Reactors[]

Following the Avengers' mobilization in order to partake in the War on HYDRA, Tony Stark created Iron Man armors that had built-in Arc Reactors in them, as he no longer required one in his chest.^[7][8]

Avengers Civil War[]

Clash of the Avengers[]

In 2016, during the clash of the Avengers, Iron Man and War Machine pursued Captain America and Winter Soldier. Falcon also flew after the two, so War Machine asked Vision to disable the EXO-7 Falcon suit with his laser beam. Vision, however, missed Falcon and hit War Machine's Arc Reactor, shutting off his armor and causing him to crash, resulting in spinal injuries leading to partial paralysis.^[9]

Battle at the HYDRA Siberian Facility[]

Later, in the HYDRA Siberian Facility, Iron Man fought against Captain America and Winter Soldier. During the fight, Winter Soldier tried to remove Iron Man's Arc Reactor with his prosthetic arm, only for Iron Man to blast out a Unibeam, which disintegrated the arm. Captain America then used his shield to disable Iron Man's suit by destroying the Arc Reactor.^[9]

Vulture's Heist[]

Duel at Coney Island[]

Two months later, a set of Arc Reactors was transported from the Avengers Tower to the Avengers Compound on a plane. During the transition, Vulture hijacked the plane in order to steal the cargo, but Spider-Man prevented him from doing it, causing the plane to crash on Coney Island. On the ground, Vulture tried to fly with the Arc Reactor container, only to cause Vulture's Exo-Suit to explode, with the Arc Reactors as well.^[10]

Infinity War[]

Attack on Greenwich Village[]

In 2018, Stark used an improved Arc Reactor at Greenwich Village to battle two members of the Black Order. However, Stark had to go up to space to rescue his close friend Spider-Man and his new ally Doctor Strange from a Q-Ship. Stark was able to save Spider-Man and tried to send him home then got on board the ship to rescue Strange.^[11]

Battle of Titan[]

After rescuing Strange with help from Spider-Man, who stowed away, and meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy, Stark used his Arc Reactor to battle Thanos. However, during the fight, Stark almost had his Arc Reactor and his armor ripped off of him. Strange then stopped Thanos from killing Stark as he told the Mad Titan to spare him in exchange for the Time Stone.^[11]

Rescue of Tony Stark[]

To be added^[12]

Battle of Earth[]

By 2023, Stark had constructed a new Reactor. During the battle against an alternate Thanos and his army, Stark used the Infinity Stones to wipe them out, sacrificing himself in the process. Following his death, his Reactor turned off.^[12]

Tony Stark's Funeral[]

A week later, Tony Stark’s first Arc Reactor was sent adrift in the lake at the Stark Eco-Compound by Pepper Potts during Stark’s funeral.^[12]

Spider-Man Multiversal Crisis[]

Stark Industries Fabricator[]

In 2024, following a rift in the Multiverse, five villains from other universes who fought their respective Spider-Man were transported into the main universe. When Peter Parker brought them to Happy Hogan's apartment, he opened a Stark Industries Fabricator with am Arc Reactor inside it, which Max Dillon noticed, becoming amazed by its energy.^[13]

Escape from Spider-Man[]

However, when Norman Osborn's alter Green Goblin showed up and convinced the uncured villains to turn against Parker, his aunt and Doctor Octopus, Electro seized the Arc Reactor from the Stark Industries Fabricator and took it into in his possession. Dillon then built a new Electro suit and used the Arc Reactor as its core.^[13]

Battle at Liberty Island[]

Shortly after watching a livestream from Peter Parker, Electro arrived at the Statue of Liberty as he used the Arc Reactor to blast electricity and energy at Amazing Spider-Man and another Spider-Man. Electro continued to use the Arc Reactor to battle the Spider-Men.

However, Doctor Octopus arrived and removed the Arc Reactor from Electro's chest and put his cure in its place. After setting a cured Dillon down with his tentacles, Octavius looked at the Arc Reactor and appreciated that the power of the sun was in the palm of his hand.^[13]

Alternate Universe Versions[]

Saving Tony Stark[]

In an alternate universe, the ARK Reactor was created by Stark Industries as a renewable energy source in order to get climate activists to stop pressuring the company. It powered Stark Industries Headquarters and was held in a large room. However, Stark Industries stopped making breakthroughs in the technology, so they abandoned it altogether.

Tony Stark was kidnapped by the Ten Rings, who demanded that they recreate the Jericho missile. Instead, Stark used palladium from the weapons the Ten Rings had in order to create a miniaturized ARK Reactor. Stark explained how it was able to produce energy while Yinsen installed the ARK Reactor in his chest to keep the shrapnel from a Stark Industries Fragmentation Shell away from his heart. Stark and Yinsen then built a suit of armor for Stark to wear which could be powered by the ARK Reactor. Stark used the ARK Reactor-powered armor to escape captivity.

Obadiah Stane went to the room where the large ARK Reactor was stored to discuss Stark's plan to end weapons manufacturing. Stark suggested that they invest time resuming Repulsor technology, leading Stark to realize that someone had told Stane about his miniaturized ARK Reactor. Stark showed Stane the ARK Reactor. Stark then returned home and asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to scan the ARK Reactor and give recommendations for upgrades. J.A.R.V.I.S. at first could not, saying that Stark's intention to keep himself alive. However, J.A.R.V.I.S. eventually provided a list of recommendations which Stark used to build a new ARK Reactor using the Series IX CNC Combo machine. Stark then had his assistant, Pepper Potts, install the new ARK Reactor. She took the old one and, despite Stark's instructions to throw it out, had it preserved with a frame declaring it as proof that Stark had a heart.

Stark used the ARK Reactor to power a new armor and tested it, exerting the capacity of the reactor's power. The armor shut down, and J.A.R.V.I.S. reminded Stark that the ARK Reactor needed to have sufficient capacity to power both the suit and the electromagnet keeping shrapnel away from his heart. Stark fixed the problem in the design for his third armor, which was powered by the ARK Reactor. He used the armor to attack the Ten Rings in Gulmira.

As Stark continued to work on another armor, Stane arrived at his mansion and used a Sonic Taser to temporarily paralyze Stark, stealing his ARK Reactor as Stane's engineers were not able to miniaturize it themselves to power his own Iron Monger Armor. Stark struggled to reach the encased old ARK Reactor and used it to power his Mark III armor as he went to fight Stane.

A fight broke out in the ARK Reactor building at Stark Industries Headquarters, causing the core to become breached and the building to evacuate. The ARK Reactor began to meltdown, so Potts prepared to overload the ARK Reactor and discharge the excess power while Stark fought Stane. However, the circuit was not complete, so Stark returned to the ARK Reactor building from the fight and completed it. However, before Stark could clear the roof, Stane attacked again. Stark told Potts to discharge the energy, sending a burst that killed Stane. The following day, Stark had engineers at the company work nonstop to repair the ARK Reactor. As Stark prepared for his press conference about the battle, he found himself continually touching the ARK Reactor in his chest.^[14]

Stark Weapons Smuggling Conspiracy[]

In an alternate universe, Tony Stark built a miniaturized Arc Reactor, based on the large Arc Reactor that powered Stark Industries Headquarters, and put it in his chest. He used the Arc Reactor to power the Mark I Armor which he used to escape from the Ten Rings. He built new suits of armor and used the Arc Reactor to power them, making the technology far more advanced than any of his competitors. The Arc Reactor was able to restore power to Stark's heart in the event of a failure.

Obadiah Stane needed a power source to fuel his version of the armor, so he stole Stark's Arc Reactor. Stark used another Arc Reactor to power his armor and went on several more missions. Stark fought Stane and tricked him into standing over the large Arc Reactor at Stark Industries Headquarters as Pepper Potts caused it to create an electromagnetic pulse, disabling the armor and allowing Stark to defeat Stane.^[15]

Cardiac Arrhythmia[]

In an alternate 2012, Tony Stark helped Scott Lang temporary disable the alternate 2012 Stark's Arc Reactor so that they could steal the Tesseract. The disabling of the Arc Reactor caused the 2012 Stark to go into cardiarc arrhythmia. However, Thor hit the Arc Reactor with Mjølnir and managed to reactivate it, saving the younger Stark's life.^[12]

Assassination of Tony Stark[]

In an alternate 2010, Tony Stark, wearing his Mark IV armor, sat with Nick Fury at Randy's Donuts and discussed the Avengers Initiative. Natasha Romanoff, in the middle of the discussion, injected him with lithium dioxide to abate the palladium blood poisoning caused by his Arc Reactor. However, Hank Pym, who hid himself in the needle, entered Stark's body and ruptured his organs, causing him to die.^[16]

Zombie Apocalypse[]

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Sakaarian Iron Man[]

In an alternate universe, Tony Stark landed on Sakaar rather than Earth after the wormhole closed before he could make it back through at the end of the Battle of New York. On Sakaar, Stark used a charge from his arc reactor to fry the Grandmaster's Obedience Disk and escape as well as to power his new Sakaarian armor. During the Sakaar Grand Prix, Stark used an energy boost from his arc reactor to increase the speed of his race car and win the death race. In the process, the race car became surrounded by glowing blue energy.^[17]

Capabilities[]

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Appearances[]

Trivia[]

• HYDRA had an exo-skeleton powered by Arc Reactor technology since the Spanish Civil War.^[18]

References[]

External Links[]

• Arc Reactor on Marvel Database