Robert Downey Jr. On ‘Captain America: Civil War’: ‘It’s Steve’s Story’

Captain America: Civil War is undoubtedly one of Marvel’s most anticipated films of of its Cinematic Universe Phase 3. With Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel was able to shake the entire infrastructure of the cinematic universe they’d established, and with Civil War, the outcome will likely be just as influential. That’s not even mentioning the fact that Civil War will bring Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man back into the fold. With only two more Avengers films to get through before his contract was up, Downey opted to extend his contract in order to make the Civil War storyline possible. So why’d he do it (via Empire Magazine)?

“I’m crazy about Evans. I really am. I don’t know why or how to explain this particular kinship we have. By the way, he hasn’t called me in six months. Honestly, in order for this whole thing to have worked, I did my part, Hemsworth knocked it out of the stadium and then it fell on Cap. That was the riskiest. It was the one that had the highest degree of difficulty in making it translate to a modern audience. It was the Russos and Chris who, I think, really hit the line drive and won the series. I remember glancing through it going, ‘Wow, that’s a different way to go.’ They said, ‘If we have you, we can do this or Cap 3 has to be something else.’ It’s nice to feel needed.

“At this point it ceases about being about announcements of contracts and deal points and Forbes and all that. And to see Chadwick being announced for Black Panther, I go, ‘Wow, man, Marvel is making all the right moves and they’re not doing it because it’s PC, they’re doing it because it’s exciting.'”

For those unfamiliar, the Civil War story arc follows what happens after several fatal incidents take place involving superheroes, prompting the government to pass the Superhuman Registration Act. On either side of this controversial act are Captain America and Iron Man, pitting two directly against one another, and leaving other superheroes like Spider-Man left to choose who they side with. So with all this in mind, does that make Tony Stark the antagonist of this particular movie? Downey opened up on his thoughts on the subject.

“I wouldn’t put it that way. Ultimately it’s Steve’s story; [the title] doesn’t say Iron Man 4: Civil War. I think that’s great too. I think Chris [Evans] has been hungry to bring even more of an underside and some shadow to that. I remember the comics – on the surface you got the sense that Cap was baseball and apple pie, but underneath there was all this churning stuff of being a man out of time. Now we know he’s made his peace with that. What’s the bigger issue? It can have a little something to do with the past, but it can be about someone becoming more modernized in their own conflict.”

Captain America: Civil War is slated for a May 6, 2016 release. But before that still have Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Ant-Man to get through – all of which will, of course, set the groundwork for Civil War.

Are you looking forward to seeing Robert Downey Jr. in Captain America: Civil War? Do you think that’ll be the movie Spider-Man makes his MCU debut? Let us know below!