How soon did Robert Downey Jr. know he was going to co-star in Captain America: Civil War? Around the time of the release for Avengers: Age of Ultron, there was some talk that RDJ might be walking away from the MCU. However, after a very public negotiation on his contract extension, Downey signed on for Civil War. In a new interview with EW, Chris Evans reveals that the talk of Downey potentially leaving the Marvel Universe behind was nothing but posturing by his agent.
Kevin Feige starts out the conversation. "We would have done this story with or without Spidey," said Feige, referring to the deal with Sony Pictures that eventually led to Tom Holland landing the role of Peter Parker. "But certainly that was part of the dream when I first pitched you [the idea of Civil War] on the set of Ultron."
Chris Evans continued, "Yeah, you came in and it was such a great reveal. You had an envelope and you slid the Civil War comic book out. You know, I was hoping but I knew what it required — and you never know if that is going to work out. It was really exciting, and Downey came up to me on the set and was like, ‘I think we’re going to do this movie together.’ I was like, ‘Don’t play with my emotions."
Apparently Civil War co-director Joe Russo never heard that part of the story before, because he sat up and remarked, "When did he tell you that? How early was that? Because that’s not what his agent said." Evans replied, "I don’t know, it might have been even before you came and told me. Well, he seemed kind of into it."
It seems Downey learned about Civil War before Captain America even knew! Given Joe Russo's response it also appears that the contract negotiations for Downey's inclusion caused the sibling directors a bit of angst.
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