Robert Downey Jr. shares a set photo of Tom Holland, Jon Favreau, and himself, conducting 'secret shoots' on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming. For almost 10 years Marvel Studios have been crafting the blueprint for the superhero movie genre. In 2008, they had an enormous kickoff with their blockbuster Iron Man, which simultaneously became one of the most memorable comic book movies of all time, created one of the generation's biggest movie stars in Robert Downey Jr., and paved the way for a whole new paradigm for filmmaking.

Next, Marvel rewrote the rule book and changed the entire landscape of big-budget filmmaking by creating a shared cinematic universe with The Avengers. Several years later Marvel Studios is in the midst of redefining comic book movies once again with casual superhero crossovers. Last year Captain America was joined by most of the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, while the Hulk has captured the world's attention with his heavy inclusion in this year's release of Thor: Ragnarok. After Spidey swung into Cap's adventure last year to team up with his idol Tony Stark, Iron Man himself is looking to return the favor in the much anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The new movie is set for release in a few short months and the buzz is beginning to feel tangible. Eager fans have already been treated to multiple trailers, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, and amazing concept art. Downey Jr. is once again getting into the act by posting a picture from the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming to Instagram. In the photo, Holland is centered between Downey Jr. and Favreau, whose Happy Hogan character is making his first on-screen appearance since Iron Man 3. The photo is captioned by Downey Jr. with "Killer trio..." while also taking the time time to thank his assistant for the photo, hair, and makeup stylists.

The three are certainly a "killer trio" for Marvel Studios - and Sony - as they represent the past, present, and future of the MCU. Favreau's vision for Iron Man provided the groundwork for the MCU, Downey Jr. has undoubtedly been its biggest star, while Holland is positioned to be the face of the MCU potentially for the next decade. Sony and Marvel's partnership with the Spider-Man character has been a tremendous success and if things go according to the box-office plan for Spider-Man: Homecoming, we can expect them to extend their symbiotic relationship beyond their reported multi-picture deal.

It's unclear exactly when the picture was taken, however Downey did include "#secretshoot" in the caption, which seemingly indicates that there have been quiet re-shoots for Spider-Man: Homecoming. Especially when you take into account the Instagram post by spiderman_the_new_avenger of recent filming on a Marvel film.

It's indicated that this video is from the shoot for Avengers: Infinity War, which would be a logical conclusion, since it's currently in the midst of a long shoot. But on further inspection the costume seems to be close, if not identical, to the Homecoming costume. It's just as likely that these are the same "secret shoots" that Downey referenced in his post. However don't fret that any potential re-shoots are a harbinger of doom. The additional photography could be for something as insignificant as an additional camera angle to something as fun as a comedic end-credits scene. Fortunately, we only have a few short months to see the Killer Trio together on-screen.

Next: 2017 Summer Movie Preview

Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in theaters on July 7th, 2017.

Source: RDJ, spiderman_the_new_avenger