Yesterday revealed that Robert Downey Jr. is set to appear in the next Captain America movie and is in the final part of negotiations. The plot will focus on the Civil War story line by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven from the Marvel comics.
For those unfamiliar with the story, it revolves around the Superhuman Registration Act and the opposition between the superheroes on both sides. Basically, the Act is created out of fear and gives the Federal Government the right to know the secret identities of superheroes and to use them as a police force. Iron Man is for registration and Captain America is against. It’s an interesting plot that brings politics into the Marvel universe. One of the memorable moments is when Peter Parker reveals his identity in front of the nation.
However, that wasn’t the most shocking moment to come out of the series. The end of Civil War was kind of a big deal. It even made the mainstream news and led to a commentary on a post-9/11 world, all because Captain America gets assassinated. Just because Steve Rogers dies doesn’t mean that Captain America is over because soon after, Bucky Barnes takes up the mantle. However, in true comic book fashion, Steve Rogers didn’t actually die and is brought back in Captain America: Reborn.
While Marvel hasn’t commented on the Variety story, they did post an image in the news section of their website and on Twitter stating Civil War #1 is coming Summer 2015. It’s highly likely that this event will be used as a setup to the movies, but what’s interesting about the image is that Spider-Man appears in the middle. Is this hinting at a possible crossover between Marvel Studios and Sony, who owns the movie rights to Spider-Man? 
Of course, all of this information has led to speculation at the direction that the Marvel movies are going to take. It’s unclear how closely the movies will follow the comics in the Civil War story line. If it does, there are characters whose movie rights aren’t owned by Marvel and I’m interested to see how that’s going to be addressed. Then there’s also the possibility of Captain America “dying” at the end and Iron Man becoming the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After reading the article from , I have to wonder if this was Marvel’s plan all along, because it sounds as if Marvel is having to adjust the plot of the movie in order to accommodate Robert Downey Jr. who has gone from a small part to having a major role. It’s possible that Marvel was originally going to do the Civil War story line, but with Iron Man having a smaller role than in the comic book. With the insistence of making Iron Man a larger part of the Captain America movie, it could have just given them the opportunity to follow the plot more closely.
The original Civil War was released in 2006, almost a decade ago, but I think the story line is still relevant. The distance in time from when the comic books were first released to using it for the movies now is probably a good thing, as it’s not as fresh in everyone’s mind. There’s also the possibility of introducing the story to a new generation of comics fans who might not have been aware of the story line or were too young when it first was released. Most importantly, the introduction of Civil War can give a whole range of plot lines and new characters to the movies.
Marvel has encouraged speculation in their fans through Easter eggs in their movies and the after credits scenes and I’m sure that the speculation surrounding the movies will continue until they are all released.
Photo credit: http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/c/00/543c8cbbbe028/portrait_uncanny.jpg