Earlier this month we told you about how Robert Downey Jr. confirmed that he’ll be in Iron Man 4, only to have to backtrack and say no, just kidding, he won’t be returning for the fourth installment of the Iron Man franchise (assuming it even happens). I, for one, was pissed. The Iron Man movies are one of the only superhero movie franchises left that actually churns out good movies rather than crappy excuses to gorge yourself on popcorn for 90+ minutes, and without it we only have The Avengers, Captain America and…well, what else is there? Thor 2 was meh, and I don’t even wanna get started about Green Lantern. How ELSE are we supposed to get our fix of Robert Downey Jr being…well, himself?
Did I freak you out with all of that soul-crushing information? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. There’s no need to worry though, since the new Captain America 3 film will not only have Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, but it’ll pit Iron Man and Captain America AGAINST each other.
Robert Downey Jr. is on the verge of signing on to “Captain America 3,” with Tony Stark’s Iron Manset to play a key role in bringing the Civil War storyline from Marvel’s comicbooks to the bigscreen and trigger the start of a new phase of movies from Marvel Studios.
The actor is in final negotiations to play the billionaire in the yet-to-be-titled third installment, that is slated to begin production in the Spring for a May 6, 2016, release, according to sources close to the discussions.
The new pact is significant for the Marvel cinematic universe considering the plot will pit Stark against Captain America’s alter-ego Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans, as they feud over the Superhero Registration Act, which forces anyone with superhuman abilities to reveal their identities to the U.S. government and agree to act as a police force for the authorities.
Stark supports the program, but Rogers does not, saying it threatens civil liberties, causing sides to be taken and Rogers, among others, to go on the run to avoid arrest. The moral question and battle with his Avengers teammate essentially makes Stark a villain of sorts in “Captain America 3,” providing Downey with a meaty role he could play out into future Marvel films, including a fourth “Avengers.”
This almost didn’t even happen, as Robert Downey Jr. reportedly almost turned down the chance to appear in Captain America 3 altogether due to the fact that his original role in the film was much smaller and only required three weeks of work. You’d think that wouldn’t be so bad, but a small role = a small paycheck, and Downey Jr. wasn’t having it.
…Downey wanted Stark to have a more substantial role in the film’s plot, which would give him more screen time and naturally a bigger payday. This angered Marvel Entertainment chief Ike Perlmutter, who ordered the screenwriters to write Iron Man out of the script entirely, sources said.
Even though the deal appeared dead, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Downey’s reps at CAA continued talks in hopes of working out their issues.
With Captain America’s track record (79% and 89% on Rotten Tomatoes for the first two installments of the franchise, respectively) everyone is sure to have high hopes for this film, but then again we could get saddled with another lemon like Spiderman 3 where there were too many characters and not enough plot. Only time will tell if Iron Man should’ve stayed written out of the script or not.
[H/T Variety]