Downey Jr. was asked about his potential to appear in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during a Reddit AMA this morning, and noted that while he’d like to appear on the show, popping up on a Marvel TV series would not be quite as easy as it seems. “Nothing is impossible. But there might be a fair amount of red tape involved in something like that. I love Clark Gregg, and am pleased the show is doing so well.”Clearly Downey Jr. is a big fan of donning the iron suit. If it were up to him, it seems he’d pop over on the set to film a small cameo or guest episode, but he’s also bound to the contract he signed with Marvel Entertainment, which stipulates he is allowed to appear in a certain number of projects. The actor re-upped his contract with Marvel in 2013 to include appearances in Avengers: Age of Ultron as well as a future Avengers film, but not bit parts in Marvel TV shows. A guest appearance on TV would need to be specifically agreed to in a contract, plus with a limited number of appearances and $50 million dollars on the line, I would bet Marvel doesn’t want Downey Jr. to waste his time with Clark Gregg’s TV series.

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While the first X-Factor consisted of the original X-Men lineup, the group was reorganized by David as a government sponsored mutant strike force. Jamie Madrox, a.k.a Multiple Man, was one of the original members, along with Polaris, Havok, Quicksilver, Strong Guy (yes, that’s really his name) and Wolfsbane. Madrox appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand and Quicksilver was the breakout star of Days of Future Past, but to keep things simple, it’s likely that the show will use a brand new lineup. Even if the show connects with the movies, it’s better to keep the TV characters off doing their own thing rather than having them pop back and forth between both mediums. Or they could go the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. route and bring one of the movie characters to the show and hire them as the team’s leader. Between Iceman, Colossus, Bishop, Blink and more, there are many worthy candidates among Professor Xavier’s gifted youngsters.

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Madden also had the inside scoop on one of the lead mutants, saying Jamie Madrox, a mutant with the ability to duplicate himself, would be a part of the plot. He then went ahead and compared the project to a weird but critically acclaimed Fox science fiction series. The X-Factor series will definitely feature Jamie Madrox and be sort of like "Fringe in the X-Men world".

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Although mutants have been explored on TV with the Generation X TV movie and Mutant X an X-Factor show would be a welcome expansion of the X-Men film universe. With the main mutants fighting Sentinels and Apocalypse, they can leave the TV characters to dealing with the less explosive problems, although that doesn’t mean they’ll be any less dangerous.ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may be about a spy agency working to keep the peace in a world filled with superheroes and supervillains, but over the course of its run, the show has also tied in to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe in multiple ways. One of the big questions that fans have often asked is whether or not the series will be able to pull in some big names from the movie world to appear on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. This morning, Iron Man and The Avengers’ Robert Downey Jr. addressed this very question.

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This also explains why we haven’t seen a ton of big crossovers on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. For one, the series was built upon expanding the Marvel Universe beyond the huge superheroes, the Hulks and the Captain America’s and the Thor’s, that are dominating the big screen. Secondly, it’s just too costly to bring most of the huge names onto the TV show, which is a huge part of that red tape Downey Jr. mentions. So far, Thor’s Lady Sif is probably the biggest superperson S.H.I.E.L.D. has managed to sign on for a guest stint. While I can see more appearances of that ilk in the future, I’m guessing a Robert Downey Jr. stint is closer to impossible than to possible at this point in time.

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Public opinion towards mutants in the X-Men films is polarizing at best, from people wanting them exterminated to wanting to cure them of their “disabilities.” Thanks to Days of Future Past, it’s unclear how mutants are living in the revised timeline, although with Sentinels not hunting them down, anything is better by comparison. Regardless of how the public views them, the government would recognize their usefulness, so organizing a mutant strike force isn’t farfetched. The most intriguing tweet is Madden saying this show will be the “Fringe of the X-Men world.” Fox’s Fringe had the FBI investigating paranormal events around the world, and eventually major plots revolved around parallel universes and alternate timelines. If this statement is true, it’s possible X-Factor would be a military group, but rather a team investigating unusual mutants and related events. If the show really wants to emulate Fringe, they’ll need to get a kooky scientist on board. Someone who’s eccentric beyond measure, but with intelligence equally unparalleled.