Tony Stark and the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe may be in trouble, as police are now investigating the disappearance of the original Iron Man suit, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The costume, worn by Robert Downey Jr., has been valued at $325,000 and vanished from its home in a Pacoima storage warehouse sometime between February and late April, according to Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Christopher No. The red and gold suit was ordained into pop culture after Marvel’s 2008 Iron Man, the movie that kicked off MCU's empire, which eventually lead to the Avengers franchise.
Employees at the warehouse "just happened to check" on the costume on Tuesday and realized it was missing. It’s unknown who owns the warehouse, who reported it missing, or everyone who would have had access to the costume in the past few months, but the disappearance is being handled by LAPD's Foothill Division. It is the only item that was reported missing.
These days, Stark is seen wearing an updated version of that original suit in the latest Avengers film Infinity War. The movie has already made the biggest splash in Marvel history, quickly crossing the $1 billion mark and possibly on its way to becoming the highest grossing film ever. RDJ will be returning to the Avengers fourth film, which was supposed to be the last of the series, but rumor has it there could be an Avengers 5 in the works.
"We meet on a regular basis with our Marvel team, and we’ve plotted out Marvel movies that will take us well into the next decade," Disney CEO Bob Iger told The Hollywood Reporter. "I’m guessing we will try our hand at what I’ll call a new franchise beyond Avengers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t see more Avengers down the road. We just haven’t made any announcements about that."
