Instead of teaming up with The Avengers to fight the bad guys, could Iron Man and Captain America soon oppose each other in a Marvel movie?
Robert Downey Jr. was coy about playing Tony Stark in a fourth Iron Man film while promoting The Judge last week. As it turns out, Downey knew he’d be donning the red-and-gold armor again. It just won’t be for Iron Man 4. According to Variety, the actor is in negotiations to join the cast of Captain America 3 with a storyline resembling the 2006 comic book series, Civil War.
In that story, the government mandated that superheroes reveal their secret identities and register themselves as weapons of mass destruction. Captain America was opposed to violating citizens’ civil liberties, while Iron Man supported regulating those who posed potential dangers.
For the movies, this development will presumably result from the next Avengers film, Avengers: Age of Ultron, in which Stark unwittingly creates the main villain. In light of that, he may be willing to go along with the government’s desire to control superhumans and technology that pose a risk.
(Hopefully, it will be pointed out that Stark balked at turning over his Iron Man suit to the government in Iron Man 2, calling the Senate “ass-clowns.” Of course, we found out in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that — spoiler alert — the senator leading those hearings was an agent of the sleeper terrorist group, Hydra.)
Variety‘s Marc Glaser reports that Downey was originally to have a small role in the Captain America sequel, but fought for a larger part (and thus, a bigger paycheck). That pissed off Marvel’s top executive, but the studio president talked him down, arguing that this story will drive several future films.
The yet-to-be officially titled Captain America 3 is set for a May 6, 2016 release.
