One of the original Iron Man armors from Marvel Studios' 2008 Iron Man film has been reported missing - and the Los Angeles police department are investigating, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The armor has an estimated value of $325,000 and was last seen by the facility’s owners in February. They were unable to locate it in April, and when another search on Tuesday came up empty, they contacted the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police were notified of the missing armor on Tuesday, however neither the identity of individual who reported the theft nor the armor's owner have been made public.
Although the news report doesn’t specify which armor it is, footage shown from the MCU-launching 2008 film depicts the Mark III, widely regarded as Tony Stark’s classic suit.
According to CBS2, the storage facility is “extremely secretive,” which of course raises questions about how anyone would know that any movie props, let alone any as valuable as the Iron Man costume, are kept there. More pressing, however, may be what the thief might plan to do with it now. It’s not as if something like this could be advertising for sale on Craig’s List.
This comes just two months after two individuals were arrested on charges of stealing various superhero merchandise - including a Captain America shield - from a Rancho Cucomonga, California storage facility.
Directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man not only launched that franchise and the entire MCU, it also fueled Robert Downey Jr.’s Hollywood comeback. The film grossed $585. 2million worldwide.