When the third Captain America pic was in the early stages of development , Robert Downey Jr. and Marvel Studios were still embroiled in discussions for a new contract to see the role player counter as Tony Stark . So with one - half of the “ Civil War ” engagement potentially unavailable , the Russo brothers had one old comic arc in mind to substitute it .

speak toEntertainment Weeklyto tick the coming home vent of Civil War , the brothers Russo revealed that , for a very brief fourth dimension before Downey Jr ’s contract bridge was sorted , the third Captain America plastic film was go to be based on the 1976 comic book plot line “ The Madbomb ” ( it can destruct the earth ! ) by Jack Kirby :

Joe Russo : It was not a given that we were even going to do Civil War when we were talking about the next movie after Winter Soldier . So there was a menses of time when we explored possibilities for Cap stories that did not let in it . We spent a few weeks doing that , although Civil War came up fairly early in the summons and once that bump it take over our learning ability and we execute hard at it .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

Anthony Russo : There was a period where we did talk over a third act that revolved around the Madbomb from Cap mythology . It did n’t have anything to do with Civil War , and if we could n’t get Downey – in the very , very other conversations before we nailed him – somebody pitch the idea of a third - act that go around around the Madbomb , which make citizenry gaga . It almost like zombifies them – but not literally .

The madbomb , as the name implies , was a dud that used transonic waves to drive people into fits of violent insanity . That in and of itself would ’ve been rather great to see unfold in a Marvel film , but honestly the bit that probably would n’t have follow along with it in the potential movie is the ripe part of the spark .

The villain that deployed the madbomb were a group called the Elite , hint by one William Taurey . The Elite wanted to use madbombs to turn the U.S. public into a ravenous host that reverse the authorities so the Elite could rule alternatively . But for Taurey , the squawk with Cap was personal … because he was the ancestor of a British soldier killed in the Revolutionary War by none other than THE COLONIAL VERSION OF CAPTAIN AMERICA :

William Duplessie

Oh , can you conceive of a movie that would ’ve include this plotline ? It ’d be screaming . Alas , it was never meant to be — Downey Jr. negotiated a new contract with Marvel to bear on appearing as Iron Man , and we got Civil War instead . Probably for the good , really .

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