While Robert Downey Jr. went on the record to clarify that Iron Man 4 was not in the plans for him, but instead promised, “I’m still going to be involved with Marvel and there’s going to be plenty of other fun stuff.” Downey also hinted at a secret plan he expected Marvel to announce soon. That plan was revealed now. Downey is set to co-star in Captain America 3, as villain.
THE DOWNEY FACTOR
According to Variety, Marvel initially wanted Downey for a small role that needed just three weeks of shooting. Downey latched on to the idea and vied for a bigger part that would come with a bigger salary. Marvel Entertainment chief Ike Perlmutter reportedly balked at the request and ordered the screenwriters to write Iron Man out of the storyline.
Kevin Feige stayed the course and continued to negotiate with Downey’s reps since the “Civil War” storyline helps “drive the plots of sequels and new franchises for the next seven years.” The fallout from the Superhero Registration Act will factor into a Avengers 4, featuring Ant-Man and Doctor Strange among others.
Downey is now on the verge of signing a $40 million deal, per Variety, with backend participation and a bonus if Captain America 3 outperforms Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That’s a hefty price, but it’s great to keep Downey in the universe without rehashing the same character beats.
THE CIVIL WAR REFLECTIONS
Here is the synopsis for Marvel's Civil War written by Mark Millar:
Civil War follows the implementation and consequences of the Superhuman Registration Act, a legislative bill which required the mandatory registration of any person based in the United States with super powers…
The prospect of registration divided the superhuman community down the middle, with Tony Stark, the superhero Iron Man who had previously tried to halt the act, becoming the pro-registration figurehead, and Captain America leading the anti-registration group. Iron Man, with Mr. Fantastic and Henry Pym, argued that the changing political landscape meant that resisting the law was pointless, and that it is reasonable for heroes to have proper training and oversight, whereas Captain America, alongside Luke Cage and Falcon argued that heroes required secrecy in order to protect aspects of their “normal” life, such as spouses and children, and to allow them to act in whatever means necessary against threats which the ordinary emergency services couldn’t cope with.
Personally, I have nothing serious against the Civil War storyline. In fact, I really enjoyed it when it had its run in the comics. But as I said way back when the rumors surfaced, the Civil War storyline would work well if Marvel's Cinematic Universe has already introduced quite a vast number of "masked" superhero characters. What made the Civil War storyline work in the comics is that it is a large-scale war between "masked" super-characters. On the other hand, it is quite possible that this upcoming Captain America 3 storyline will take only the bare essence of the Civil War storyline and will not exactly be following what is in the comics. The way I see it, it may probably be taking the more theoretical and the more intellectual issues of the story instead of the visually-entertaining chaos that it is in the comics. But hey, that's just me. Just don't catch me saying: "I told you so!"
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