CAPTAIN AMERICA 3_ I WAS RIGHT!!

I WAS RIGHT!!

On July 14th, I proposed that CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 might well be based on Marvel's crossover saga:
CIVIL WAR.

The government demands each metahuman to register, revealing his name and agreeing to become part of a government militia if drafted.

Steve Rogers saw what Germany demanding Jews to register devolved into and disagrees.   

Tony Stark is on the government's side.

According to VARIETY, Robert Downey Jr. is on the verge of signing on to CAPTAIN AMERICA 3,

a move that would bring the CIVIL WAR storyline from Marvel’s comic books to the big screen and trigger the start of a new phase of movies from Marvel Studios.

 The actor is in final negotiations to play billionaire Tony Stark in the third installment, 

which is slated to begin production in the Spring for a May 6, 2016 release. 

 Steve Rogers once more is on the run to avoid arrest.

The moral question and battle with his Avengers teammate essentially makes Stark a villain of sorts in CAPTAIN AMERICA 3,

providing Downey with a meaty role he could play out into future Marvel films, including a fourth AVENGERS.

The CIVIL WAR storyline did not end well for Captain America:

But as with the Battle of the Alamo, Steve Rogers dying won the war for human rights.

Downey, who earned $50 million for THE AVENGERS alone, will collect around $40 million plus back-end participation for CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 said sources, 

and will get an additional payout if CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 outperforms “Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s” $714 million worldwide haul. 

Since the actor did not appear in the first two “Captain America” films, 

the thinking is that if the third installment surpasses the last movie, its success could be attributed to Downey.

 Downey also has been wanting to play a larger role in future films 

as a way to remain creatively involved and close to his fan base that would undoubtedly come out to see his non-Marvel movies. 

PLOT for CAPTAIN AMERICA #3?

Marvel Studios has refused to move CAPTAIN AMERICA #3 from the date WB has chosen for BATMAN VS SUPERMAN.

Seems suicidal doesn't it?  But the smart money should remember Marvel's track record.

THE WINTER SOLDIER arc in Captain America comics led directly into another company-spanning arc:  

CIVIL WAR

Upon the basic premise of CIVIL WAR lies an age-old debate on Freedom versus Security, 

and like any classic conflict, it comes with casualties on both sides:

The government can no longer ignore the growing threat that heroes now pose to the world. So the Superhuman Registration Act is born.

This law states that every hero has to register his full identity so they can be held accountable for any destruction happening during their ''rescues''.

{Remember the hue and cry from the politicians at the end of THE AVENGERS?}

This divides the universe in two camps. 

With Tony Stark backing the act at one side, and Steve Rogers, Captain America, rebelling against the US government on the other side. 

The story brings forth unlikely alliances, as not only heroes get teamed up against each other, vilians also join both causes. 

Steve Rogers has seen what Germany demanding Jews to register devolved into.  

As in THE WINTER SOLDIER, he says: "This isn't freedom.  This is fear."

While Robert Downey Jr. has brought a lot of charm, charisma, and humor to the role of Tony Stark, 

I think we see that he has a tendency to anger some people as much as he does charm others. 

It's this trait that gets him the role of Director of the new S.H.I.E.L.D.

During this time he commits some really horrible atrocities, 

he even lets Happy die when he realizes that he is courting Pepper. 

No doubt this would have to be changed for the movies, but it shows the effect the position has on Tony, 

and like they say, "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely". It's an age old story that resonates to this day.
 

And the story arc ends with Captain America being killed as Marvel is being rumored to do with Chris Evans.

 

Tony manages to do it with "clean" hands, but no one's hands are clean at the end.

Don't you think that storyline would give BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN a run for its money?

THE ONLY QUESTION NOW IS ...

DUH!_THAT QUIET VOICE THAT ASKS YOU, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

Humans aren't the only ones who suffer from sagging middles.

Novels do, too.

It's accompanied by that leaden feeling that weighs you down with the mocking question :

"What were you thinking of when you thought you could write a book?"

When you hear that voice, I want you to answer, "DUH!"

D ..... DISASTERS

U ..... UNDERLYING

H ..... HEROES

DISASTERS :

I.) Disaster. When your novel's middle sags, you certainly know that word. It's what you feel you are writing!

II.) Escalating Disasters ...

A.) are what make up the backbone of the best novels.

B.) without them, you're just writing a news snippet for CNN.

C.) Each disaster must lead logically from the last one to make a coherent whole.

D.) But to interest an agent, then the publisher, and finally the reader ...
you must have a destination in mind for your hero from the very beginning.

III.) If your novel's middle is sagging then ...

A.) Like with humans, the discipline of exercise is missing.

B.) The disciplined exercise of steadily working towards a pre-conceived ending, step by logical step.

C.) Without that compass to guide you, your novel will meander all over the place, subject to the whims of your imagination.

UNDERLYING :

I.) The trouble with a novel that its very structure invites sagging in the middle.

II.) Your novel's middle will more than likely take up fully half of your pages.

A.) After that many pages, things start to look alike.

B.) The fix : underlying that middle with a tremendous disaster, rocking your hero and his world to its foundations.

C.) Shaking things up like that will awaken your readers from the sameness doze they may have fallen into :

Think Obi wan Kenobi sacrificing himself so that Luke may escape. To all appearances, Darth Vader looks unbeatable.

D.) This enormous disaster shores up your novel's middle, firming it up and preventing sagging.

HEROES :

I.) A memorable character that leaps off the page and into your reader's imagination is the keystone to the success of your novel.

A.) Think Hannibal Lector.

What? Hannibal a hero? Of sorts. He chose his victims quite carefully. Don't agree? Think Dexter. Same principle. We pull for Dexter, for he has chosen an acceptable outlet for his murderous impulses.

B.) UNDERLYING comes into play again with your hero :

Your hero was not born yesterday. He/she has a past. It will determine his or her actions. You had better know your hero's backstory.

C.) In fact, your hero's backstory may very well provide the world-shaking disasters that braces your novel's middle.

D.) You see how DISASTER - UNDERLYING - HEROES all interweave with one another? It is a support device that wraps around your novel's middle, keeping it firm.

E.) A fully developed hero with a past, flaws, hopes, failures will make him seem real, sucking your reader into identifying with him, rooting for him, and thrilling with him when he succeeds.

F.) Without a backstory, your reader will not understand your hero -- and more than likely, neither will you. And that slippery slope ends with a sagging middle and confused muddle of an ending.

G.) Backstory is an iceberg ;

1.) The part that is important to you as a writer is the 9/10 of it that the reader cannot see.

2.) The part you must tell your reader is the tiny 1/10 above the water line.

3.) Sensory and data overload is one of the hallmarks of a sagging middle.

H.) What determines the backstory you reveal to your reader?

1.) Core truths.

2.) They determine your hero's motivations, acting as a rudder in the flow of events in your novel.

3.) They often conflict.

You know why Miss America wants "World Peace?" She wants to impress those fuddy-duddy judges and win the war of the beauty pageant!
Stated values often clash with the real ones, motivating your hero.

II.) A dynamic hero, like say Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark, shored up those times when he he wasn't in that armor -- those moments could very well have sagged -- but because of his impish, rogue attitude, those moments were some of the best of the film, IRON MAN.

*) I hope you've found something of value in this little post. Happy New Year, Roland!
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