Iron Man Vs. Captain America?
Variety reports that Robert Downey, Jr. is in negotiations to take on additional appearances in Captain America 3 and Avengers 4 as rumors swirl around the possibility that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to erupt in the Civil War storyline.
For those not in the know, Civil War pitted superheroes against each other as the U.S. government enacted the Superhero Registration Act, which forces anyone in the hero business to register their real identities with the government and make themselves available as a police force. In the original story, which is set to be rebooted in 2015, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark come down on opposite sides of the argument, with Cap decidedly against the law. It’s a natural extension of what we’ve already seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Rogers takes Nick Fury to task for leaning heavily toward a police state.
According to the report, the original deal would have put Downey in Cap 3 with a cameo, a small role. But Downey negotiated for a bigger piece, even walking away from the deal before Kevin Feige stepped in and convinced Marvel Entertainment chief Ike Perlmutter to make a deal that would give Downey significant participation in the story. If this is what Feige has been driving at this whole time, then Avengers 4 could be when we see the transition from Steve Rogers to Bucky Barnes as Captain America (shh — spoilers!).
This would also give us more of Agent Sharon Carter, by the way.
#CivilWar #1 — Summer 2015 pic.twitter.com/o8732gL4lL
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) October 13, 2014
One aspect of the original Civil War that could prove problematic for the movie franchise is the fact that Spider-Man plays a prominent role. Could that be why there have been strong rumors about Marvel and Sony re-negotiating the Spider-Man deal? Could that be why Venom is no longer in development, and there are possibilities a new actor could be playing Peter Parker the next time we see him on the big screen?
Or could the 2015 Civil War be a way of rebooting the story without Spider-Man? Or perhaps with the Peter Parker version being replaced by the Miles Morales Ultimate version? Certainly a possibility given the Spider-Verse story arc that’s been playing out in the comics of late.
In recent weeks, Downey has played fast and loose with hints and retractions concerning his continued involvement with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but those rumors and speculations were always centered around Iron Man 4. Now it seems like Marvel again has bigger plans than anyone had realized, even though some fans had been wishing for Civil War to appear on screen at some point.
Now… about that cameo in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D…
