Iron Man not the bad guy in Captain America: Civil War

The Captain America: Civil War directors say they’re hoping for an even split among fans when deciding who’s right between Captain America and Iron Man.

It’s pretty hard to read the Civil War comic book series and not decide that Captain America has the more understandable, sympathetic position. Even Robert Downey Jr., who’s done more to turn Iron Man into an a-list superhero than anyone alive, told Nerdist that his character comes off as the villain in print.

"It’s difficult to me to think of Tony in those terms, but when you read the comic it’s like, “Man, Tony, you’re blowing it dude!”"

Locking supervillains in a secret extradimensional prison and making an uncontrollable clone of Thor tends to produce those kinds of feelings. But Iron Man won’t be doing either of those things in Captain America: Civil War. He’ll simply be advocating for some government oversight of the Avengers and the other superhuman types running around in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That’s a complete 180 for Tony Stark, who was the maverick of the group in the first few Marvel movies. Nick Fury famously allowed him to read his own SHIELD dossier, which implied that he was unsuitable for the Avengers Initiative.

After his role in the birth of Ultron, Tony’s had a change of heart. That transition is a direct contrast to Steve Rogers, who’s gone from someone who only followed orders to a man who openly questions authority. If he hadn’t, the MCU world might be under Hydra’s thumb considering what went down in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

The team behind Captain America: Civil War worked hard to ensure that neither man is unequivocably “right” when it comes to their feelings on the Sokovia Accords, which would provide the supervision the world’s governments feel they need. Screenwriter Stephen McFeely summed up the ideal scenario in the same Nerdist interview:

"We want people walking out of this movie going, “Tony’s right.” And half the other people going, “Steve’s right.” That would be a dream if we got a 49-51 split. Because the question is a legitimate one."

That kind of nuance is difficult. The Civil War comic didn’t pull it off. It’s nice to know — especially if you’re a fan of Iron Man — that the movie might.