Joss Whedon made some major changes to Iron Man's armour in The Avengers, including ditching the triangular chest piece which had only just been introduced two years before in Iron Man 2. However, there was also another, less noticeable alteration which many fans failed to pick up on. In order to create some of the iconic poses that Tony Stark makes while he's in the air, the filmmaker gave Iron Man a jetpack so that he could hover in the air without having to use the thrusters on his hands. This is ultimately a minor cosmetic change, but one which made a major alteration to how the character is portrayed.
