Avengers/Iron Man Question

[Cinnder]

In Avengers, just after he lets go of the nuke and starts to fall back to Earth, two bits of his suit seem to detach from his shoulders, almost like stages detaching from a rocket.

Anyone know what these are?  Not sure if this is something I missed, perhaps in one of the IM solo films.

[FatherXmas]

No you didn't miss anything from the other movies.  I think they are what they appear to be, additional propulsion units which can be detached when they are of no more use.  May have been done here to provide him a bit of a push back toward the portal.