After hitting so many different parts of popular culture, Martin Freeman, forever known around these parts as Bilbo Baggins, will now invade the Marvel Universe, which also means Disney. Just in case he wasn’t popular enough for works in Middle-earth and in the world of Sherlock Holmes, he will jump into Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War.”
Marvel made the announcement on its website.
“From his roles as Bilbo Baggins and Doctor Watson to Tim in ‘The Office,’ Martin’s range from the dramatic to the comedic has consistently impressed us,” said “Captain America: Civil War” Producer Kevin Feige. “We couldn’t be more honored or excited to have such a talented actor join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
Marvel didn’t announce what role Freeman had in the film that is scheduled for a May 6, 2016 release. The comic book story line pits Iron Man against Captain America as they grapple with different sides of the issue of freedom. Because super powered beings are dangerous, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to make them all register their powers and identities. Some heroes choose to side with Tony Stark, who agrees with the government and others agree with Captain America that it is something appropriate for Nazi Germany.
The two sides clash with heroes forced to choose a side and reluctant to fight each other. Despite being a Captain America movie, it will likely involve a large cast of super heroes. Freeman, an actor with significant clout, would be likely to be featured somehow, but so far, that is only speculation. In the comics the X-Men are also involved, grappling with mutant registration, but before Marvel consolidated its heroes into one studio, it sold the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four to Fox. This means Ian McKellen’s (Gandalf) Magneto will not meet Freeman’s character.
With the Avengers and Captain America cast of characters well established, it is possible that Freeman could help Marvel branch into the more street-level realm of Marvel started recently in the Netflix series, “Daredevil.” There are plans to expand with more heroes there and Daredevil and other street-level heroes could be involved, as could Spider-Man, potentially on loan from Sony Pictures. Both characters were involved in the comic book tale. Spider-Man was somewhat caught in the middle and speculation is rampant that he could show up.
More word on Freeman’s role as it becomes available.
