As you may recall, Robert Downey Jr. made a huge deal with Marvel Studios to return for two more Avengers movies after the first instalment, but has now signed a new one which will include an appearance in Captain America: Civil War. The threequel will adapt Marvel Millar and Steve McNiven’s comic of the same name.

That pits Steve Rogers against Tony Stark over the Superhuman Registration Act, a government bill which requires all superheroes register with the government so that they can be policed and controlled. Iron Man agrees with this move, but Captain America most certainly does not, and the two friends go to war.

In a recent interview, the actor was asked what made him decide to take part in Captain America: Civil War, and it sounds like he’s very excited to take the Marvel Cinematic Universe into its next chapter. “Honestly, in order for this whole thing to have worked, I did my part,” he says of 2008’s Iron Man. “Hemsworth knocked it out of the stadium and then it fell on Cap. That was the riskiest. It was the one that had the highest degree of difficulty in making it translate to a modern audience. It was the Russos and Chris who, I think, really hit the line drive and won the series. I remember glancing through it going, “Wow, that’s a different way to go”. They said, “If we have you, we can do this or Cap 3 has to be something else”. It’s nice to feel needed.”

As for how he feels to see Tony Stark/ Iron Man potentially become an antagonist (or even a villain) thanks to his actions in Captain America: Civil War, he. added: “Again, it’s natural to change your views. The main thing to me is, and this is where I think the Russos are quite brilliant and where Kevin backed the play, is what sort of incident could occur and what sort of framework could we find Tony in? The clues are in Ultron about where we might find him next. But what would it take for Tony to completely turn around everything he’s stood for, quote-unquote, because he was the right-wing guy who could still do his own thing.”

Downey Jr. then went on to discuss the realism behind the government expected The Avengers to be responsible for their potentially destructive actions, and it seems like that plays a big part in why his character will ultimately change his view point. However, does he view Iron Man as a bad guy now?

“I wouldn’t put it that way. Ultimately it’s Steve’s story; it doesn’t say ‘Iron Man 4: Civil War’. I think that’s great too. I think Chris [Evans] has been hungry to bring even more of an underside and some shadow to that. I remember the comics – on the surface you got the sense that Cap was baseball and apple pie, but underneath there was all this churning stuff of being a man out of time. Now we know he’s made his peace with that. What’s the bigger issue? It can have a little something to do with the past, but it can be about someone becoming more modernised in their own conflict.” What do you think about these comments?