The Marvel Cinematic Universe costume design for Iron Man remains one of the most iconic designs not only in the franchise but in comic book film history but according to Montreal-based comic book company Horizon Comics, the design for the armor was ripped off directly from one of their works an now, the company is going after Marvel and Disney.
Ben and Raymond Lai, co-founders of the said comic book publishing company are filing a new lawsuit against Marvel and Disney for allegedly stealing the designs of their Radix series, a three-volume comic series that ran from December 2001 to April 2002. The Lai brothers claim that Marvel stole the armor designs from the said comics as designs for both Iron Man and Ant-Man without their knowledge and consent.
In a lengthy statement (via CTV News), the Lai brothers said: "We started Radix in 1995 with the goal of creating something unique. It was with Radix that we became known and recognized in the American comic book industry. We made a name for ourselves. It allowed us to work all over the place, including with Marvel. MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) copied one of the Radix characters in 2002 to get a $50 million grant, we decided not to sue because they publicly apologized and acknowledged their mistake. But with Marvel, it's repeat infringement. After years of litigation in the U.S. and substantial sums, they continue to copy our characters. It's causing us significant damage and impacting our ability to make a living as artists. It is clear that we cannot accept this repeated behavior. The only way to make things right was to file these proceedings."
In 2013, shortly after the release of Iron Man 3, the Lai brothers filed a lawsuit claiming that Marvel Studios, in fact, stole their costume design and used it for the film citing the similarities between the film's poster and one of their drawings for Radix as evidence to back up their claim. The duo would ultimately lose the lawsuit.
Horizon's claim is a little hard to believe and one would assume that they're only after the money more than anything else. And considering that they already lost their initial lawsuit a few years for a similar lawsuit, chances are the Lai brothers will once again come up short unless, of course, they can provide actual evidence that Marvel stole their work. For now, I don't think Marvel and Disney have anything to worry about as fate is totally on their side.
Meanwhile, you can watch the complete Iron Man trilogy on Disney+.
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