Iron Man reportedly in Captain America 3

Iron Man is set to appear in Captain America 3, according to Variety. The publication reports that Robert Downey Jr. has entered ‘final negotiations’ with Marvel over his role in the movie, which will hit theatres May 6, 2016.

Variety explains that “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.”

The size of Iron Man’s role in the film is significant, because it has to do with Marvel’s comic book Civil War storyline – that sees Tony Stark in favour of the Superhero Registration Act (a bill forcing all vigilantes to register their identities with the US Government and act under its command), while Captain America and his followers are not, leading to a stand-off – which was written by Mark Millar (Kick-Ass) and drawn by Steve McNiven, and was Marvel’s flagship event in 2006.

Variety goes on to detail that Marvel boss Kevin Feige is therefore in favour of the deal, arguing that the civil war storyline will extend over the next few years and will have an exciting impact across Marvel’s franchise of films.

Badass Digest says they’ve heard the title for the film will be either Captain America: Civil War or Captain America: Fallen Son, lending further evidence that The Civil War storyline will be the central theme of the movie.