10 Shocking MCU Movie Plans That Almost Happened
7. Captain America: Civil War Was Nearly A Zombie Movie
When Anthony and Joe Russo were busy nailing down the third Captain America movie, Marvel Studios told them to have a back-up plan in case Robert Downey Jr.'s contract couldn't be negotiated for more movies, because a Civil War film without Tony Stark would've been awkward at best.
The Russos' contingency was to adapt the famous "Madbomb" plotline from the comics, where Cap (Chris Evans) had to deal with every civilian in the vicinity being turned into violent, mindless, zombie-like brutes by the titular bomb, which would have been detonated by Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl).
This is a pretty goofy concept and not one easily translated to the screen without getting silly, and Civil War is such a fiercely brilliant, cinematic idea from the outset that it was the only right way to go. Mercifully, Downey Jr. got the dollars he required, and the rest is history.