Marvel Studios did a hell of a thing when they made Captain America: Civil War. The film saw The Avengers team break up and Captain America and Iron Man became rivals. Well, Robert Downey Jr. almost didn’t come back to reprise his role as Tony Stark! Had that not happened, the movie would have been very different as Captain America would have found himself at odds with another Marvel character.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige shared this bit of trivia while talking to a group of fans and students during a Q&A with the New York Film Academy. He explained:
“We didn’t have a deal with Downey. So it’s like, ‘Looking good with Downey! It’s Cap versus Iron Man.’ [It became] ‘I don’t know, it might not be Downey.’ Alright, it’s gonna be Cap versus who?”
It sounds like he was really sweating it there for a minute! Luckily everything worked out in the end and the creative team managed to realize their vision.
Things would have been really interesting had Tony Stark not appeared in the film. That means a different character would have had to bring Spider-Man into the mix and the character would have had a relationship with a completely different character. Iron Man would not have been his mentor.
Then, who would Cap have found himself up against? The whole reveal of Winter Soldier killing Stark’s family wouldn’t have had any impact on the story. So much would have been changed! The whole conclusion of the Infinity Saga would have played differently!
I’m curious to know what Feige would have done with this film had Downey not come back to reprise his role. What are some of your ideas for how Civil War could have played out without Iron Man?