Big News For 'Captain America: Civil War'

Captain America and Spider-Man, just two dudes who accidentally upgrade into fighting machines. Though Marvel is notoriously quiet about the plots and characters in its myriad films, in a recent interview in Entertainment Weekly, Robert Downey Jr. (alias Iron Man) let slip that Spider-Man may play a role in the upcoming Captain America sequel Civil War . "We’re now like the old guard, and our storyline carries real weight just because of our history in the [canon]," Downey Jr. says of his character and that of Don Cheadle, aka James Rhodes in Iron Man 2 and 3. "But we’re also looking around like, ‘Who thought that Falcon and Black Panther and Ant-Man and now Spider-Man…?’ I mean it’s like wow, this thing is just crazy." So what role might Spider-Man play in Captain America: Civil War ?

Peter Parker has gone through a couple transformations over the past few years. Tobey Maguire played Spidey in three films between 2002 and 2007; he was followed by Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel. Then Sony, the company that backed those previous Spider-Man iterations, and Disney, the home of Marvel, brokered a deal for Spider-Man to join Marvel Studios' universe. He was recast with young Brit Tom Holland in the role — so Captain America: Civil War, next year's near-definite juggernaut, will be his first trial run as the superhero.

(Well, Chris Evans noted in the same EW piece that "You never know with Marvel. ... Sometimes they shoot things and don't use them." Sounds like an excuse. But then, Spider-Man doesn't appear in the trailer, though Iron Man, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon are all present and accounted for.)

So without any trailer evidence to back us up, here's how Spider-Man might figure into Civil War.

He's An Iron Man Ally Who Swoops In To Save The Day

In the wake of the events of Age of Ultron, the American government wants oversight for the activities of the Avengers — something Captain America does not desire, but Iron Man supports. The Avengers split into two factions, led by the opposing strong men. Given that Holland was seen palling around with Downey Jr. on the Civil War set, it's possible that Spider-Man is on the side of oversight.

He's A Captain America Ally Who Goes Rogue

Baby Spidey might not know which way to turn when the Avengers split into factions; he could end up on the side of Captain America, along with the Winter Soldier and Falcon (Anthony Mackie).

He's... In A Post-Credits Scene

Spider-Man doesn't appear in any of the trailer's action, so he might not really be in Captain America: Civil War at all. That is, we know how much Disney loves those post-credits scenes, so perhaps Civil War will play out as a traditional Avengers tale, leaving Spider-Man to enter the fray at the very end.

He Joins The Avengers As A Government Compromise

It's possible that, in the absence of a clear winner, a compromise is brokered: Spider-Man joins the team in return for concessions from both sides, allowing the Avengers to work in harmony once more.

Peter Parker Stumbles Upon The Avengers In The Name Of Journalism

In a way, Peter Parker was the original Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler — a guy who uses a position to his advantage to sometimes-unethically get a scoop. Parker is a student journalist by day, superhero by night (much like Clark Kent of Superman), so maybe his newsroom duties are actually what bring him into the Avengers fray.

See, this is why Marvel keeps such a tight seal on its plots, characters, and twists. Knowing that Spider-Man is in Civil War in some capacity doesn't go far to reveal what happens in the movie, so we'll all be here speculating till next May, or till there's a new trailer to analyze.

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