Robert Downey, Jr. May Join ‘Captain America 3’

Hollywood’s trade magazine Variety is reporting that Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey, Jr., is close to joining the cast of “Captain America 3.” This could be the “negotiations for ‘Iron Man 4′” he was hinting at a week ago.

But bringing Tony Stark into a Captain America film would imply that he’s being brought in as the heavy, setting Iron Man and Captain America at odds in the Civil War storyline. Civil War itself is an incredibly popular series written by Mark Millar that had far-reaching effects into the entire Marvel Universe. Could it be coincidental that Marvel announced this morning that they’d be relaunching Civil War comics next year?

That Kevin Feige is making overtures to give us Civil War on the big screen is perhaps some of the most thrilling news I’ve had in a long time. As I read the original Variety article, watching all of the pieces of the Marvel Universe fall into place for such a compelling story that’s a favorite of mine, I may have shed a joyful tear or two.

The Variety piece is definitely something to read on its own and shows us just how hard Feige works for us fans. Take this nugget:

Originally, Marvel wanted to hire Downey for a small role, which would have required just three weeks of work. But 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, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

It paints a picture that shows us how precarious a knife’s edge the Marvel Cinematic Universe hangs and how hard Feige fights for us.

It’s also important to note that this news is not confirmed and the article states that negotiations are still ongoing. Anything can still happen, but, at this moment, it seems more likely than not that we’re heading for a Civil War.

And I couldn’t be happier about it.