Watch This Guy's Real Life 'Iron Man' Suit Fly Through the Streets

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San Diego Comic-Con isn't typically known for showcasing groundbreaking technology. For the uninitiated, the event might conjure an image similar to a renaissance fair -- not a place where the technological marvels of the Iron Man films come to life. 

This isn't true for the inventor Richard Browning, who's been developing a jet-powered exosuit that enables him to swoop through the air just like Tony Stark. Browning took his Iron Man-esque suit out for a spin during Comic-Con this week, and let's just say he casually defied more than a few laws of physics: 

Despite the obvious similarities between Browning's suit and the one worn by Robert Downey Jr. in the movies, the inventor doesn't welcome the comparisons. He told Player.one: "It’s cool because I like the Iron Man film. It’s a cool concept and it’s nice having built something that’s not too entirely dissimilar. We could have painted it gold and red, and that would have made the point that we are really trying to aspire to recreate it, but no. It has nothing to do with comic books."

Browning is the founder of Gravity, a human jet-propulsion start-up that aims to reinvent the way humans fly with the aid of very expensive engines strapped to their bodies. He made some viral waves in March when he first unveiled his jet-propelled suit with the help of Red Bull. Called Daedalus, the suit uses two jet-powered engines on his arms and an additional jet-engine strapped to his back to achieve flight. With it blasting at full capacity, Browning can ascend as high as 30-feet and scream through the air at 50 mph. It's guaranteed to scare the hell out of any local population of birds and possibly warrant scrutiny from the FAA. 

The inventor -- who's given Ted Talks on his lofty goals and ideas -- recognizes that real-life Iron Man suits pose various safety challenges. "I will admit that we are now going higher and faster to the point where it's going to hurt more if I have an accident. But you know what, I could get run over by a car crossing the street. It’s a risk-reward thing," he said.

As Browning fine-tunes the safety measures surrounding Daedalus -- for starters, he'd like to develop technology to help in the event of engine failure -- it isn't hard to imagine him jetting off to the convenience store to run some errands. Or getting caught in a telephone line. 

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Sam Blum is a News Staff Writer for Thrillist. He's also a martial arts and music nerd who appreciates a fine sandwich and cute dogs. Find his clips in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The A.V. Club and Esquire. He's on Twitter @Blumnessmonster.