It was widely reported/rumored that RDJ would make a cameo and he has said in the past he was not adverse to returning, unlike Chris Evans who is done with Captain America.
Here is where the rumor started
https://deadline.com/2019/09/saturn...-jon-favreau-kevin-feige-stan-lee-1202734450/
Yes, and even on the homepage of my favourite movie-theatre Downey's still written in the credits, IMDB also carried that rumour for a long time, it's only in the last year or so that this credit-rumour was removed from Downey's page there...
I also really want to see the Red Guardian in other stuff. Maybe even the lead of his own DisneyPlus show. Or bring him onto season 2 of the Captain America and Winter Soldier series.
Oh, please don't. First of all, we already had a past supersoldier in Falcon and the WS (in a much more serious role)... and what would be the point? Steve Rogers is gone. I thought the character was ridiculous, like they didn't know what to do with him. Either portray him seriously, like as a spy who somehow delivers girls to the Red Room, or turn him into comedic relief, you can't do both. I realize this movie should highlight women, but that doesn't prevent you from giving male characters some kind of background. Therefore, I really hope this is the first and last we'll see of him.
And, it's not just a matter of understanding but also engagement with the characters. By Civil War I really couldn't care less about Tony Stark. All of it becomes too long to appreciate the inteconnectiveness that obviously takes a lot of work..
Interesting - by CW I really couldn't care less about Steve Rogers... There's no character-growth (rather a decline from the first CA-movie onward), stagnant worldviews and illusions of grandeur (that were fed by the Captain America image and Erskine). The way he can seriously think his hands are the best to make decisions that involve the whole world, that could lead to war etc is simply ridiculous. And it should have been addressed within the movies and F&theWS that the serum enhances not only good traits but bad ones as well (as it does with Walker)... fighting bullies by becoming one, distrusting everyone, being stubborn and not able to actually listen for once. When did we ever see Steve listen to someone or go into any discussion with an open mind? He surrounds himself with yay-sayers (Sam only grows a backbone after Steve's gone), portrays himself as the protector of people (Wanda... no matter her past or her setting the Hulk loose on innocents... she's a bully but he's blind to it) etc.
But returning to the topic of the MCU being too wide-spread... Hm... actually what movies do you really need to watch before CW? TWS, Age of Ultron and Iron Man (about accountability and where Tony's coming from)... that's it. And those movies are in the essential to the MCU-category anyway.
I think you could watch most movies individually... if a certain plotthread or character whetted your appetite you can still watch "his or her movie" later on. You don't have to watch them chronologically except for like Endgame - there I'd recommend you first watch Infinity War.
You can watch this a year later or 10 years later, it has no significance in the MCU unless filling in backstory or developing new characters are something you feel you need to see now.
If this had been before she joined Avengers I might have found it interesting. Make taskmaster Hawkeye. See how she became a better person.
That's exactly my issue with this movie. It's irrelevant, even the ending is a cop-out not showing how Natasha escaped/was not arrested. Why even set it immediately post-CW, why not immediately post-WS (when Natasha's SHIELD "family" imploded and Hydra was revealed)? This movie doesn't offer any character-growth for Natasha at all. I'd have preferred a movie that shows the events of Budapest, the setup, maybe her doubts about "killing" a child etc, that shows how she earns Hawkeye and Coulson's trust (and I'd have loooooved to see Coulson!!). It's not as though the movie itself would have had to be changed that much, the characters were all there back then as well - but it would have been an important moment in Natasha's history, in her character-development. Instead she's but a side-note to introduce other characters. And that's simply unworthy of being her last appearance within the MCU.
