The other big shift from the current status quo of the MCU to where things are in Civil War is in the character of Iron Man. A slightly douchiness has always been inherent in Tony Stark watching his journey from an irredeemably self-involved arsehole to a slightly more heroic, marginally less self-involved arsehole has pretty much been his character arc across the Iron Man trilogy. It's a similar balance act that he's struggled to pull off in his comic book incarnation, topped off by the ever-present spectre of his former alcoholism which seems ready to pounce at any given vulnerable moment. What he's not, however, is a villain. Civil War tries to show both sides of the conflict but, really, it's clear that most people's sympathies lie with the anti-registration lot. That's partially because Iron Man, representing the pro-side, acts a heck of a lot like a supervillain throughout the story. Movie Tony is a bit of a tool, but he's not the total jerk seen in Civil War, who happily sells out his best friends in the process of becoming head of SHIELD and pushing forth his agenda, culminating in his beating the crap out of Steve Rogers. So what he gets up to in Captain America 3 should be interesting...
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
