Captain America: Civil War Could Have Featured Zombie-Like Heroes and Civilians
Captain America: Civil War is all about Cap and Iron Man's differences coming to the surface and clashing over what superheroes should and shouldn't be allowed to do. However, the Marvel movie would have had a completely different story if Robert Downey Jr. hadn't joined the production, directors Joe and Anthony Russo told EW.
The Russo brothers talked to EW about how Downey Jr.'s original Marvel contract was fulfilled by the time work started on the third Captain America movie. Joe said, "here was a period of time when we explored possibilities for Cap stories that did not include ." Despite this, the idea for Civil War came about early and "it took over brains."
Speaking of taking over brains, Anthony revealed that they were thinking of revolving the third act around the Madbomb, which is a device that makes people crazy, causing them to be much more aggressive.
"It didn't have anything to do with Civil War, and if we couldn't get Downey--in the very, very early conversations before we nailed him--somebody pitched the idea of a third-act that revolved around the Madbomb, which makes people crazy," Anthony said. "It almost like zombifies them--but not literally.
“The charm of the Madbomb is that you turn hordes of people into berserkers. That was the physical challenge that Cap and company would have had to face."
Joe added that there was a moral element to the Madbomb, in addition to the physical.
"The notion of the Madbomb would have been Cap having to fight civilians and how he would he handle that," Joe said. "We were always trying to put him into these interesting moral conundrums because of his nature. That would have made a compelling third act because if civilians are the antagonists, how could he stop them without killing them?"
An emotional component was also present, as Captain America would have had to fight his superhero friends, who would have been taken over by the Madbomb as well.
"Somebody you know has turned into a zombie and now you have to fight them," Anthony said.
But then Downey Jr. and Marvel Studios reached a deal, and everyone lived happily ever after. The end.
Captain America: Civil War hits digital HD, digital 3D, and Disney Movies Anywhere on September 2, while the Blu-ray, DVD, and On-demand versions arrive on September 13. You can see the full list of Blu-ray bonus material here or watch the Civil War gag reel that features forgotten lines and swearing.
