Gear up for Battle Mini Game, Coming to Minecraft on Consoles in June

Gear up for Battle Mini Game, Coming to Minecraft on Consoles in June

Hi everyone!

Team Minecraft at Mojang, 4J Studios and Microsoft have been working on some cool free content for Minecraft: Console Edition, and we’re really excited to introduce mini games to you today. Of course, coming up with improvised rules and new ways to play with friends is already a popular activity among Minecraft: Console Edition players – and long may it continue! But with our new mini games, we’ll be helping you quickly and easily jump into competitions with tailor-made rulesets, so you can have fun straight away without having to fuss around with manual count-downs, laboriously prep loot chests or keep score. Sound good? Great – you won’t have to wait very long for this to come out, so get your enchanted fishing poles ready. The first mini game we’ll be rolling out, called Battle, will be here in June.

Battle allows you to set up a competitive multiplayer fight for survival, where speed, strategy- and sometimes just pure luck- will make you the winner.  Players in Battle matches use randomly generated resources found in chests placed in specially designed PVP maps and combat one another in a free for all death match until the final victor is determined. The fun’s not all over after you are defeated though, as fallen players can spectate the combat among remaining players in the match by freely flying around each arena as a bat. Battle matches can be played with up to four players in split-screen and up to 8 players online via Xbox Live. Or, you can find other community members to join your game via an in-game matchmaking system.

In June, Battle will be rolled out for free to all owners of Minecraft on Xbox 360, Xbox One and other consoles via a game update, and the free update will include three maps for you to try out. If you like Battle and want more, we’ll be supporting it with additional Map Pack add-ons periodically after release for $2.99 USD or local equivalent.

See you in the arena!

Gear up for Battle Mini Game, Coming to Minecraft on Consoles in June

Beta Version of Minecraft: Education Edition Available for Download for Schools and Educators!

Beta Version of Minecraft: Education Edition Available for Download for Schools and Educators!

Beta Version of Minecraft: Education Edition Available for Download for Schools and Educators!

Beta Version of Minecraft: Education Edition Available for Download for Schools and Educators!

The time has come. The beta version of Minecraft’s highly anticipated education edition is available for testing for schools and educators starting today.

Teachers and administrators will be able to test out the beta version for the rest of the summer to provide Microsoft with feedback on how the game would work in classrooms.

As Education World reported last month, Minecraft is available in over 11 languages and its owner Microsoft is hoping to work with educators around the world this summer to perfect the game’s classroom value. For educators looking to keep busy this summer, the partnership could be ideal.

Microsoft has been looking to expand Minecraft’s influence in education since it purchased the game several years ago. In 2011, an educator created an educational version of the game and it took off in schools almost immediately.

In 2011, educator Joel Levin developed MinecraftEdu. Not long after, the potential for Minecraft in the classroom was realized when the program expanded to over 5,500 educators and received support from Minecraft’s former owner, Mojang. Microsoft bought MinecraftEdu earlier this year to supplement the upcoming launch of its own education version.

Microsoft plans to be busy this summer working with educators to use their feedback as it continues e to develop the game.

“During the summer months, we are also going to be focused on working with educators on building out lesson plans, sharing learning activity ideas, and creating re-usable projects,” the Minecraft Education Team said in a blog post last month.

“If you are new to Minecraft, or if you aren’t sure where to start in bringing Minecraft into your classroom and incorporating into your curriculum, the early access program is going to be a great way to familiarize yourself with Minecraft: Education Edition. We also suggest educators check out our many resources on education.minecraft.net, including lesson plans like the Great Pyramids of Giza, or electrical circuits using Redstone. In addition, the Minecraft Mentors program connects you with educators experienced in teaching with Minecraft and demystifies the process,” it said.

Beta Version of Minecraft: Education Edition Available for Download for Schools and Educators!

How movie characters should look according to the comics

How movie characters should look according to the comics

It looks like 2016 is set to be the year that movies based on comic books really embrace costume accuracy. The amazingly accurate outfit featured in Deadpool set the standard, and both Black Panther and Spider-Man’s duds in Captain America: Civil War look fantastic. But as excited as these comic-accurate looks have fans feeling, there are lots of page-to-screen adaptations that are just wrong. Sometimes ignoring characters’ original designs is a pretty smart decision, while other times it’s hard not to be bummed about the changes filmmakers make for the sake of “realism.” Watch our video above to see some of the most off-kilter attempts to put super-suits on the big screen from the past, present, and future. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more sweet, sweet vids.
Wolverine

Back when Hugh Jackman first took the role of Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, it was impressive enough that he managed to accurately capture the essence of everyone’s favorite clawed psychopath. It didn’t much matter that, at 6’2″, Jackman stands a full 11 inches taller than his diminutive comic book counterpart. But despite the fact that fans have loved the movie version of Wolverine for over a decade, he’s still never appeared on-screen in his comic-accurate costume. C’mon, can’t we even get the mask on his face? Just once?
Vibe

We can’t really blame the producers of the CW’s The Flash for not going so comic book accurate with this one. For one thing, Cisco Ramon, aka Vibe, is still discovering his powers on the show, and hasn’t gone out to fight crime as a full-on superhero. Moreover, until a recent redesign, Vibe’s comic book suit was pretty embarrassing, with its red handkerchief and V-neck collar that goes all the way down. Still, if the show keeps looking to score points for comic book accuracy, we have to point out that it’s missed this one—even when it makes the smart choice by actually avoiding said accuracy.
Hawkeye

This is another instance where the filmmakers behind Hawkeye’s big screen look made the right move—by moving away from the comics. Sure, Hawkeye’s all-purple archery suit looks cool on the page, it’d be hard not to make it look ridiculous at the movie theater.
Superman

Lots of Superman haters have pointed to his costume as something in need of “fixing.” With the yellow belt that holds nothing up, the red underpants on the outside, and the simple blue spandex, it’s definitely a simple outfit, and one that hasn’t changed much over the past century. But Christopher Reeve managed to make it look awesome in 1978’s Superman, and all three of the sequels. That was proof enough that Superman’s costume wasn’t actually broken at all. Yet, for some reason, Zack Snyder insisted on making Superman’s belt even weirder—and cover him in fish-scales?—for 2013’s Man of Steel. Bring the underpants back, man.
Deadpool

Much ink has been spilled about how badly X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s producers screwed up Deadpool: they take him out of his iconic costume, sew his mouth shut, and give him all the mutant powers they could stuff into one person. The good news, of course, is that it paved the way for 2016’s Deadpool, which has broken new ground for faithful comic book adaptations (and for creative use of a unicorn doll in an R-rated movie).
Punisher

While it’s not going to win any awards for being clever, the Punisher’s costume is pretty memorable for exactly one reason: it has a gigantic white skull on it. So when the Dolph Lundgren-starring Punisher movie came out in 1989, what’s the one thing the filmmakers decided to omit from the character’s look? The gigantic white skull.
Mystique

As we’ve discussed, the producers of 2000’s X-Men made some important choices to ensure that their team of mutants would look realistic on film. That meant cutting brightly-colored superhero costumes in favor of black leather. Whether or not that was a more believable costume choice is debatable. But there’s no question that director Bryan Singer’s move to change the look of Mystique is one of the more baffling adaptations in superhero movie history. For some reason, Singer insisted that the villain be covered in lizard scales and walk around naked all day long, despite there being no such corresponding look in the comics. Stranger still, the scales have stuck around from movie to movie and actress to actress, even though it looks truly bizarre and has no real reason to still be, like, a thing.

Read More: http://www.looper.com/11608/movie-characters-should-look-according-comics/?utm_campaign=clip

How movie characters should look according to the comics

Vin Diesel Might As Well Just Come Right Out and Say He’s in Marvel’s ‘The Inhumans’

Vin Diesel Might As Well Just Come Right Out and Say He’s in Marvel’s ‘The Inhumans’

If you’ve murdered someone or have a treasure hidden somewhere, the last person you probably want to tell is Vin Diesel. The actor just can’t seem to keep many secrets to himself, especially when it comes to future projects that he may be doing at Marvel Studios.

For the past year, Diesel has been doing a little more than teasing that in addition to his voice role as Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy, he might have something to do with the forthcoming film The Inhumans. The project was recently rumored to be in danger of getting axed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, especially if we continue to believe Diesel’s pretty obvious hints.

Speaking with io9, after revealing who will be directing xXx 3, Diesel said that there is still the opportunity to do something more with Marvel Studios. And while he didn’t mention a specific title or character name, he did seem to back up certain rumors about which character he might play:

I can totally be something [else] with Marvel. I think playing [Groot] only makes Marvel that much more excited and me having my experience with Marvel, seeing how great they were, makes me more excited.

We’ve heard a lot of talk about Marvel wanting to have me play a character that doesn’t have my voice. So my voice is used for Groot and my presence is used for the other character.

You may remember that we’ve heard rumblings that Diesel could be playing Black Bolt (aka Blackagar Boltagon), the leader of the Inhumans. Diesel hasn’t mentioned this character specifically, but his mention of using only his presence for this other character makes sense for Black Bolt. The character has a voice that unleashes immense destructive power when he speaks, making him a mostly silent leader of the pseudo-mutants.

However, at this point we’re unsure as to when The Inhumans will get off the ground. The film is still set for release on July 12th, 2019. But just as Marvel recently messed with the release dates for Black Panther and Captain Marvel while adding Ant-Man and The Wasp, the sequel to this past summer’s Phase Two title, there’s a chance The Inhumans could get delayed at some point. Whenever the project gets in front of cameras, though, seeing Vin Diesel in Inhumans seems like a forgone conclusion.

Again, the rumors that The Inhumans was going to be canceled due to a clash between the film and television side of Marvel Studios, specifically with regards to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., have been grossly exaggerated. There are actually some rules in place that leave certain elements of the Inhumans mythology off-limits to the TV series, so everything should work out in the end. Stay tuned for anymore updates.

Vin Diesel Might As Well Just Come Right Out and Say He’s in Marvel’s ‘The Inhumans’

What Marvel Got Right About Spider-Man That His Solo Movies Got Wrong  Read More: What Marvel Got Right About Spider-Man (That His Solo Movies Got Wrong)

What Marvel Got Right About Spider-Man That His Solo Movies Got Wrong Read More: What Marvel Got Right About Spider-Man (That His Solo Movies Got Wrong)

The following post contains minor spoilers for Captain America: Civil War.

Oh what a difference 18 months makes. A year ago last fall, Spider-Man fans were facing an entire universe of Spidey movies they didn’t particularly want: A third Amazing Spider-Man about the continuing and not-particularly-exciting adventures of Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker, plus spinoff movies for Venom and the Sinister Six. Things got so bad for Spider-Man that when ludicrous rumors began circulating that Sony was considering an Aunt May movie, the studio had to publicly dismiss that talk as “silly” with “no validity whatsoever” because after the Amazing Spider-Man 2 trainwreck, no idea, no matter how obviously terrible, seemed implausible.

A year and a half later, everything has changed. The Amazing franchise is dead and gone, the spinoffs are in limbo, and a revamped Spider-Man has emerged. Sony will continue to release his solo films (the first, Spider-Man: Homecoming, opens in theaters next summer) but this new hero, played by Tom Holland, is officially back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with a small but terrific role in this week’s Captain America: Civil War.

This new Spidey hasn’t had much screen time yet, but he’s got a real shot at being the greatest movie Spider-Man of all time. In some ways (like the seven below) he already is.

1. He’s looks (and acts!) like a teenager.

Tobey Maguire was 27 when Spider-Man hit theaters in 2002; Andrew Garfield was a few months shy of 30 in 2013 as The Amazing Spider-Man made its premiere. I know he’s called Spider-Man, but c’mon; that was ridiculous. Maguire and Garfield were and are great actors, but high school kids? Peter Parker’s supposed to be a science genius. Both Maguire and Garfield’s Peters look like they were left back. A lot.

As great as the previous iterations of Spider-Man were at times, both were afflicted with what could be called “Beverly Hills, 90210 disease” — an acute affliction of the facial area that make pop culture adolescents appear much more physically mature than they should. New Spider-Man Tom Holland is just 19, and he looks a decade younger than either of his predecessors. Even better, his Peter doesn’t act like a cool, calm, and collected superhero; he’s a dork with incredible powers. With his high and reedy voice Holland is the first movie Spidey who can pass for a legitimately awkward pubescent kid, nailing one of the most appealing (but least explored, at least onscreen) parts of the character.

2. No origin story.

Hey did you know that Spider-Man’s uncle was killed by a burglar and he could have stopped him but didn’t and on that day he learned that with great power comes great responsibility?

Yes of course you did because everyone in the universe knows this.

It’s one thing to retell the origin of Ant-Man or Doctor Strange, characters whose histories and backstories might not be that well known by the public at large (or which are getting tweaked slightly for the silver screen). It’s another thing to tell the origin of Spider-Man, one of the most iconic fictional characters of the last century. In 2016, after two different franchises with two different origins, there’s just no need for another spider bite and robbery gone wrong and tearful vow to avenge injustice.

Where so many comic book movies keep wasting time rehashing the same origin stories (*fakecoughBatmanvSupermanfakecough*), Captain America: Civil War tells you all you need to know about this new Spidey with a few simple lines and then gets down to what we really want to see, which is the new Web-Head in action. Speaking of which…

3. Better action.

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man deserves a huge amount of credit for creating a visual language for the Friendly Neighborhood Wall-Crawler; translating the imagery of comics to the big screen in a way that has remained basically unchanged to this day. Still, for all his innovation, Raimi never quite delivered an unforgettable super-powered brawl. His Spidey’s best moments were always when he was swinging around Manhattan, dodging debris, and rescuing women as they fell from great heights, not so much going toe-to-toe with the bad guys.

Spider-Man’s role in Captain America: Civil War is a modest one, but this Spidey has already given us the coolest fight scene of the character’s movie career. Part of that is the context; Holland has the benefit of taking part in an enormous Avengers battle royal, giving him tons of different heroes to interact and fight with. That said, if directors Anthony and Joe Russo and their stunt and effects teams hadn’t found inventive ways to use Spider-Man’s powers, no one would care if he fought the entire contents of The Official Handbook of the Marvel UniverseThe TV spot below gives you a tiny taste of this new Spider-Man in action, and leads us right into our next point.

4. He’s the funniest Spider-Man to date.

Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parkers were very different men, but they shared a similarly muted sense of humor. Maguire excelled at Peter’s melodramatic side; he was always most comfortable digging into the ups and downs of his love life and career, and the struggle to carry the full emotional burden of his decisions. But Maguire struggled with the character’s sillier side. His wisecracks and quips as Spidey — a staple of the hero’s comic-book adventures since his earliest days — often felt forced. His Spider-Man was weirdly silent an action; this battle with Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2 is about as jokey as he got, and he delivers just two mildly amusing lines during this four-minute fight.

Garfield had his own issues with the character’s wisecracks. When he tried it, he mostly came across like a smug jerk.

Garfield did fare a little better in Amazing Spider-Man 2. His one-liners during the opening bank heist and car chase were as close as cinematic Spidey came to the lighthearted joke machine of the comics — at least until Civil War’s Spider-Man, which is far and away the funniest screen Spidey to date, and the one to best use the character’s humor the way the comics do, as a defense mechanism a shy and nervous kid deploys to cope with his anxiety during overwhelming situations. Spider-Man doesn’t run his mouth because he’s cool or arrogant; he does it because he’s a scared 15-year-old in insane situations. Holland’s the first guy to capture that, and to find a way to make Spidey’s motormouth both annoying and endearing in equal measure.

5. The best Spider-Man costume to date.

Spider-Man’s costume has often been a strength of the various Sony franchises. Maguire’s uniform from the first Spider-Man (designed by James Acheson) was probably the best superhero costume to that time, and while the first Amazing Spider-Man’s red-and-blues were sort of a mess, the second film was probably the most realistic version of Spidey’s outfit in any of these movies.

Still, of all the Spider-Men onscreen in the last 15 years, Captain America: Civil War’s is the best dressed of the bunch. He’s also got the best explanation for a dweeby teenager winding up in a suave and high-tech one-piece jumpsuit (which I won’t spoil). Holland’s Spider-suit combines the best of Steve Ditko and John Romita’s Wall-Crawler with great 2016 design touches.

Best of all: Eyes that change sizes.

There’s a justification for those narrowing eyes in the film and that’s cool, but it’s ultimately more of a clever means to a crucial end: A Spider-Man who’s even more expressive in battle than ever before.

6. A new and different Aunt May.

There will always be a special place in my heart for Rosemary Harris, who was perfect as the maternal Aunt May in Sam Raimi’s movies. It would be tough to improve on her version of the character, so why try? Better to do something new and different with May Parker.

Sally Field could have done that, but by her own admission she didn’t enjoy playing the part and didn’t put a great deal of thought into her performance. Instead, it’s Marisa Tomei who got to reinvigorate the role of Aunt May. Rather than the frail, overly protective, and naive woman who’s been typical of Aunt May for half a century, Tomei’s May is young, hip, and energetic. The fact that Tony Stark couldn’t stop hitting on her in their brief scene together suggests all kinds of potential for dramatic tension between this May and Peter. Tomei’s presence provides something that’s all-too-rare in superhero movies: A sense of unpredictability.

7. He’s a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Last but certainly not least, Marvel’s is the superior Spider-Man because he’s finally back where he belongs, shoulder to shoulder with the other giants of the MCU. Spider-Man is a rich enough character to carry a movie on his own, and he’s fine in a vacuum, but he’s even better in a group setting because his inexperience and youth play well off older, more mature heroes who can play straight men to his nonstop barrage of punchlines.

Sony spent most of Amazing Spider-Man 2 trying to cobble together a cinematic universe for the character to live in, when a perfectly good one — the one where Spidey always belonged — already existed. This really is a perfect homecoming. Here’s hoping this new and improved Spider-Man sticks around for a good long while.

What Marvel Got Right About Spider-Man That His Solo Movies Got Wrong Read More: What Marvel Got Right About Spider-Man (That His Solo Movies Got Wrong)

12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

Iron Man is without a doubt one of Marvel’s most recognizable heroes. Ask anyone around the world who Iron Man is and they’ll tell you: he’s a man that’s covered in iron. He’s also a billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist, and one of the most bankable superheroes in cinematic history. But that’s not all he is.

Despite Iron Man’s claim to fame being that he’s just a regular human whose various suits help him accomplish superhuman feats, as it turns out, Iron Man is more than just the sum of his suits. Throughout different comic book, television, and film storylines since Iron Man’s 1968 debut, he’s accumulated a whole host of powers that most people aren’t aware of. Sure, everyone knows the basics – like his flight and weapons capabilities – but we’re diving into the powers that you don’t think about when you think about Iron Man.

To satisfy your curiosity of what makes Iron Man so badass in the recently released Captain America: Civil War, here’s 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has.

Genius-Level Intellect

Avengers Age of Ultron Tony Stark 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

With the equivalent of a small country’s weapons arsenal packed into a suit that he flies around inside of, it’s easy to forget that Iron Man isn’t just a high-tech killing machine — he’s actually the genius who invented the high-tech killing machine. Well, technically Tony Stark invented it, but they’re one in the same, which is why we’re considering one of Iron Man’s most overlooked powers his genius-level intellect.

There are a lot of smart people in the Marvel Universe. Between Reed Richards, Hank Pym, and Bruce Banner, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Stark is just some cocky engineer who knows his weapons. But perhaps one of Tony’s – and thus Iron Man’s – greatest strengths is his superior intelligence. Often considered one of the greatest minds in the world of Marvel, Stark graduated from MIT at 17 and quickly made a name for himself; and then later he made a name for himself as Iron Man, the smartest superhero on the face of the Earth.

He Can Store His Suit Inside His Body

Tony Starks surgery in Iron Man 3 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

In case you’re thinking that if you took Iron Man’s suit away he’d no longer be Iron Man, think again. Unlike Batman, Iron Man’s powers have been upgraded over the years and the result is a superhero that can never be separated from his costume — because it’s hiding inside of him. And while Iron Man has had a collection of suits over the years that all have different capabilities, it’s the suit that’s a part of Iron Man (and Tony Stark) that truly makes him a superhero.

Starting with Iron Man’s Extremis Armor and evolving into the Bleeding Edge Armor, Tony Stark was able to create a suit that meshed with his mind and body. Controlled with his thoughts and implanted directly into his nervous system via nanotechnology, Iron Man’s suit can be stored inside of his bones, able to be deployed whenever the situation presents itself. Not only is this power able to give Iron Man the element of surprise when an attacker thinks they have the advantage on him, but it also takes Iron Man more in line with the rest of the Marvel Universe heroes; seemingly-regular people that can unleash their powers at any time, no matter what they happen to be wearing.

Access to the World’s Communications Systems

robert downey jr iron man tony stark 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

If you’re Iron Man it would be pretty essential to hear what the world is saying about you and who may or may not be chasing after you if you’re enjoying a Sunday flight in your suit. It therefore makes sense that Shellhead would have the ability to tap into the communications systems of the world and use the information he obtains to his advantage. But that seems like a pretty straightforward power that we’d all assume Iron Man has, so what makes it so intriguing?

Iron Man’s ability to access the world’s communications systems is actually more complex than it seems, and the casual Iron Man fan would have no idea just what he can do with this power. Thanks to Tony’s merging with his Iron Man armor after the events of Extremis, he’s actually able to talk – and listen – to machines all around the world, without his suit. This is because Tony’s brain developed a technopathic bond with the world’s machinery, and as a result he can tap into any system that he wants and have his way with it. It’s just another under the radar power that makes life as Iron Man a lot easier.

Super-Human Healing

Tony Stark injured in Iron Man 3 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

Iron Man’s gotten a lot of upgrades since his comic book debut, and he’s far from the frail alcoholic that had to become Iron Man in order to prevent the shrapnel in his body from killing him. In fact, Iron Man took a page from others in the Marvel Universe – specifically Wolverine and Deadpool – and gained the ability of super-human healing somewhere on his journey from forgotten comic book hero to multi-billion dollar movie icon.

Taking a page from his suit – which has been developed to patch and repair itself if damaged – Tony Stark is harder to take down than one might think. With a super-human ability to heal, Stark’s body can produce entire new organs if it needs to in order to keep itself alive. While he might not survive a gunshot to the head like Wolverine, Iron Man can still take some serious damage before calling it a day, inside and out of his suit.

Super-Human Response Time

Iron Man in Avengers 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

When Iron Man got the Extremis armor, his suit’s operating system was hardwired right into his body’s nervous system. And while a lesser hero might use that nervous system OS to play solitaire with their mind all day, Iron Man quickly realized that this direct link to his brain granted him a super-human response time that he never had with his old suit; and he used his powers to fight evil, obviously.

Essentially a cyborg, Iron Man’s response time is instant, as all he has to do is think something and it will occur. Just like moving an arm or taking a step, Stark’s synapses fire a command to his suit and the command is immediately carried out, shaving precious nanoseconds off of life-or-death situations. This power essentially matches Iron Man up with the likes of Spider-Man’s spider-sense or the skills Cap got from the Super Soldier Serum, and thus it puts him on a level playing field with the more “traditional” superheroes that everyone knows about.

Physical Combat Skills Even Without His Suit

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in Captain America Civil War 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

Not many people would think that a wealthy businessman who became a weaponized superhero out of necessity would be a great fighter outside of his suit, but those are the kind of people that Tony Stark would love to prove wrong. Unable to use his suit for a period of time in the comics, Stark was unwilling to sit on the sidelines and be just another powerless guy, so he turned to Captain America for help.

It was at this point that Cap started Stark on a relentless training regimen that would prepare him to be a great fighter, even when he’s not hiding behind the red and gold armor. Stark took to his combat training and eventually became a physically intimidating presence, learning how to give and take punches along the lines of the best fighters in the world.

Radar Avoidance

Iron Man flying in Captain America Civil War 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

As far as Iron Man’s powers go, radar avoidance isn’t the sexiest or most compelling. When you’re a nearly indestructible human weapon, not a lot of people are going to pay attention to the little things that make your powers useful. But that’s exactly why not too many people know about Iron Man’s ability to avoid any form of radar, which actually turns out to be one of the most useful powers that Iron Man has at his disposal.

When you’re flying into hostile territory or trying to take out any number of various Earth-destroying threats with the Avengers, you’re generally not going to want to draw attention to yourself. So when Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, or The Hulk come smashing into your backyard, you’re going to notice; but that’s not the case with Iron Man. Having devised a genius cloaking system to avoid radar and other detection methods in his suit, Iron Man essentially has invisibility on his side — right up until he yells a sarcastic insult at the villain he’s fighting and gives himself away.

Ability to Project Hologram Decoys

Stark Suit Couch e1462688323160 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

This is one of Iron Man’s powers that we’d love to see more of in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: his ability to project hologram decoys in the battlefield. While the MCU has shown phones and S.H.I.E.L.D. computers utilizing holograms for all kinds of nonsense, we’ve yet to see an awesome on-screen representations of what may be Iron Man’s most underrated power.

Iron Man has used his suit’s ability to project holograms in the past by projecting a copy of himself, out of the armor, in order to fool enemies and bait them into attacking him. He’s also projected multiple Iron Men in order to fool weapons and attacking forces, as well as chameleon-type blending capabilities that essentially make him invisible to everyone. Considering that so much of Iron Man’s powers are offensive-based firepower, it’s cool to see a defensive ability that really showcases the high-tech nature and intelligence behind his armor.

He Can Be Powered by External Energy Sources

RDJIronMan 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

Your phone might die after a few hours of playing Candy Crush, but a high-powered suit that can make its user fly around and launch rockets can apparently never run out of battery; which has to be one of the coolest things about Iron Man — he’s always on. Although there’s been a fair share of power-failures and energy draining attacks on Iron Man in the MCU, in the comics, Iron Man is actually able to power his suit indefinitely using external energy sources.

Not only does using external energy for power save Iron Man a ton on his electricity bill, but it also means that he can take the energy from incoming attacks and energy discharges such as explosion and absorb them for power (we glimpsed this in his brief brawl with Thor in the first Avengers outing). One of the coolest elements of this power is the fact that enemies trying to wear down Iron Man don’t know that by shooting at him or trying to blow him up, all they’re actually doing is making him stronger.

Indomitable Will

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in Captain America Civil War 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

You wouldn’t think one of pop culture’s most famous alcoholics would have indomitable will, but just like any legendary superhero, Iron Man has a stronger willpower than just about anyone on the face of the planet. Like Captain America and many in the DC Universe, trying to change Iron Man’s mind would be a futile effort, and giving up is an option that would never cross his mind.

Though indomitable will may be the most inevitable superpower on the checklist – right up there with “having a costume” – it’s essential to who Iron Man, and Tony Stark, is; that he has immense willpower and mental strength. Having recovered from alcoholism after one of the most iconic storylines in comic book history – “Demon in a Bottle” – Stark learned to emerge from challenges stronger than ever and never quit until he wins. It’s something so ingrained in Iron Man that you wouldn’t think twice about it, but it’s also one of his most useful powers.

Able to Predict the Future

Captain America Civil War Iron Man Ticket Sales 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

If ignorance is bliss, then maybe being a genius is what makes Iron Man such a snarky asshole. Known by all in the Marvel Universe as a “futurist,” Stark is so intelligent that his mind works differently from everyone else. He can see the future by means of foreshadowing events before they happen based on reason and logic. There’s no mysticism involved here, just a good old-fashioned superpower based on brains.

Hawkeye called Iron Man out on this in Civil War, explaining that Stark must have known what was coming considering that he’s a futurist. It was an emotionally important moment, especially considering the tie-in to the Civil War comic book storyline. In the comics, Iron Man predicted the events of Civil War before they happened, thus proving that he isn’t some two-cent fortune teller at a carnival — he’s one of the only people in the Marvel Universe that can see ten steps ahead and plan how to react as a result.

He Has a “Freeze-Beam,” Among Other Things

Iron Man fighting in Captain America Civil War 12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has

In case Iron Man ever gets tired of blasting people with his repulsor rays, his central chest weapon is also capable of other feats that rarely get seen. Among the most interesting is his ability to generate a beam of ultra-freon, which would immediately freeze an opposing enemy and stop them in their tracks.

Along with Iron Man’s Freeze-Beam, he’s able to generate sonic blasts, create magnetic fields, and produce an electromagnetic pulse than can wipe out the power of anything nearby. All of these abilities are part of what is arguably Iron Man’s greatest power: his ability to change suits and weapons depending on his needs. At the end of the day, Iron Man is a great superhero because he doesn’t have a limited amount of tricks that he must rely on time after time. Thanks to his genius intellect and the other powers he’s accumulated since he became Iron Man, he can keep bringing new abilities to the table in order to surprise enemies — and delight fans.

Which power were you most surprised to learn that Iron Man has? Are there any we missed? Let us know in the comments!

12 Superpowers You Didn’t Know Iron Man Has