Captain America: Civil War will be released on May 6, 2016. But, despite arriving in less than 3 months, the movie's marketing campaign still hasn't kicked in – at least, not in a manner worthy of such a big event. Thus far, we’ve had just one trailer and one Super Bowl TV spot (marketed as a trailer, even if it was just 30 seconds long). So, there are quite a few unknowns about the third installment in the Captain America trilogy.
But there are also some things that we can guess, given the interviews, the promo art, the trailer(s), and even the comic book source (though Marvel isn't necessarily known for the faithful adaptation of the comic book storylines).
So what do we know and what do we assume about Civil War? How do we believe the story will unfold? This list is all about that, so check it out!
Be warned, though - there are spoilers!
Captain America dies at the end
It should be of no surprise that at the end of the Civil War, Captain America dies, killed by Crossbones and a betraying Sharon Carter. But this happens in the comics and, as previously mentioned, Marvel isn't too faithful when adapting storylines for the big screen. Usually, we might add - because in this one the most intense debates are on the subject of the biggest deaths of them all.
The rumor started when Frank Grillo (who portrays Crossbones) said, during an interview, that he'd love to shoot Steve Rogers. Then word came out that the Russo brothers have already shot three major death scenes for Civil War, with the intention of dropping two of them on the cutting room floor. Lastly, an even more recent scoop from Geek.com says that Sebastian Stan (who has a nine-movie contract with Marvel, Civil War being his third) has already been fitted for a Captain America suit.
This was becoming obvious from the time that The First Avenger appeared, with Bucky Barnes picking up the shield and deflecting some bullets (the scene was repeated in The Winter Soldier, while the Civil War trailer shows both Bucky and Steve wielding the shield).
But we can rely on something other than speculation - we can rely on the trailer itself! In it, there is a shot in which the Winter Soldier tries to rip the arc reactor from Iron Man's chest. If you look closely, Bucky says something (you won't hear it, though). And you don't have to actually be a professional lip-reader (if there is such a thing) in order to realize what he's saying.
Look closer - do you hear him?
Focus on the Winter Soldier
It’s been said many a time that Captain America: Civil War is, basically, Avengers 2.5 - and for good reason, we might add, since the movie will feature more main characters than any other MCU flick before it.
But it isn't necessarily so. And the first thing to show this is the fact that Civil War will be focused on Captain America, along with the Winter Soldier. As the trailer has shown, the two of them are now, basically, inseparable. Furthermore, the entire Civil War is set off by the Winter Soldier's previous actions. After all, he was an assassin, and now Steve Rogers backs him up.
The Avengers movies were all about the dynamic between the Avengers - obviously. And all of them were main characters. In the third Captain America flick, the accent will be on just three characters: Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Tony Stark. While the war will be a political one, and will involve all of the superheroes and heroines, the story will be told with the relationship between these three in mind.
And this is a more than interesting approach, since in this way the movie won't feel overcrowded (as it happened with Age of Ultron, for example). We know who the main players are, and we know who supports them, we just have to wait and see how it all goes down.
Did you choose a side? It's a bit tricky"¦
Iron Man's mindset
In the comics, it was pretty easy to choose your favorite team, since Iron Man was basically a douche. This time it isn't that easy - The So was I scene kicks fans right in the feels, especially since the MCU's Iron Man isn't at all dislikeable. If it weren't for him, the MCU would probably not exist at this point (at least, not as we know it and not as successful).
But this isn't the point. The point is that Tony's allegiance is highly understandable. According to him, all superheroes should answer to a higher power. These enhanced individuals shouldn't act on their own; they should be deployed, just like any other peace-keeping organization. Granted, they are reduced to just being foot-soldiers - but they would at least be kept accountable for their actions.
And, ultimately, this is what everything is about: accountability. The third act of any MCU movie laid waste to entire cities. Age of Ultron completely obliterated one. Who answered for these? Even if Tony Stark's relief fund built the cities back up from the ground, there were still lives lost. Who answered for them?
By having the UN in charge, the foot soldiers won't be the only ones to blame. By having a global organization in command, their skills will be put to better use. And we can understand why the Sokovia Accords need to be respected by everybody.
Captain America's mindset
On the other side of the barricades, Captain America is completely against the Sokovia Accords. And we understand him too, especially if we take into account his most recent history. The Russo brothers did a perfect job with The Winter Soldier, because they created the premise for the entire Civil War. If it wasn't for the events of that movie, then Civil War wouldn't have had a political background (or, if it had one, Steve Rogers' option would have seemed a little out-of-place and would have fallen behind his more subjective reasons).
Thus, the previous Captain America flick revealed that even the most powerful, secretive, and trustworthy organizations can be undermined by those wishing to do so. In this case, SHIELD may be said to have had the best intentions (though we won't say that). However, since the road to hell is paved with them, it ended with the exposing of HYDRA within SHIELD.
Basically, the need for safety (which is one of the primordial needs) was used against those who needed it (and this is quite a controversial and contemporary issue). And Captain America saw this - as he later said in Age of Ultron, a war cannot be ended before it begins.
From his point of view, the history seems to repeat itself. If before it was SHIELD, now it is the entire UN promising to maintain the peace and end all the destruction. Who’s to say that HYDRA hasn't infiltrated here too? Who’s to say that these good intentions won't lead to something worse than even the previous HYDRA plan?
As said, it is pretty difficult to choose a side during the Civil War.
Baron Zemo
Who is he? Or, better yet, where is he?!?
All that we know about this character is that he is portrayed by Daniel Brühl and that he won't wear the iconic mask. Other than that"¦
Other than that, it is expected for him to actually appear in subsequent movies, something which is very rare in the MCU (as far as villains are concerned).
Now, we can suppose that he is the mastermind behind the Accords. We can suppose that he knows from the start who will oppose the Accords and that he counts on such a Civil War. It is as simple as divide and conquer, but even better - this time, the split factions of the Avengers will battle and wear themselves down all by themselves. All that Zemo needs to do in the end is appear and deliver the finishing blow.
Obviously, this will convince the two warring factions of the Avengers to unite against the common threat, thus ending the Civil War. Or, at least, this is what many fans want. To be honest, we'd be more interested in a different approach - namely, the villain actually winning and disbanding the team until the bigger threat arrives (yes, Thanos).
In this way, Zemo will indeed survive and, maybe, he will get to wear the mask in a sequel.
The end of the trilogy
What we also know for certain is that Civil War will be the end of the Captain America trilogy - or, at least, the end of the Steve Rogers portion of the Captain America franchise. We have little doubt that Marvel is planning on transforming the former HYDRA assassin known as the Winter Soldier into the new Captain.
We say that we are certain because, one way or another, the Civil War is the perfect ending to Steve Rogers' saga. The First Avenger saw him all in for the government and the powers that be. Back then, apparently, they shared the same ideology and, because of that, Steve underwent the enhancing procedure, became the poster-boy of the US army and, ultimately, (seemingly) defeated the Red Skull.
The Winter Soldier marked the beginning of doubt. Steve didn't believe that instilling fear is the path to take - one cannot know who will end up being a villain because of the fear, or who will end up dead without any reasoning (other than some statistics). So he rebelled and this led to the fall of SHIELD, which (basically) represented those to whom Steve answered.
And now comes Civil War, in which the current Captain will take it to a whole other level. And it isn't his paranoia that pushes him toward disregarding the Accords and going against Iron Man. If the UN supervises the heroes, who supervises the UN? As said, there is always the risk of corruption.
What better ending could there be to Steve Rogers' story?
The newcomers
Besides the already known Avengers, Civil War will also mark the first appearance in the MCU of other heroes. And these heroes were very much awaited by the fans. As a matter of fact, we have no idea which one's appearance will be more exciting.
Actually, we don't have any idea what the fans expect the most: Spider-Man or Black Panther. What do you think?
As far as we are concerned, only one of these two can be called the most-anticipated superhero. And that hero isn't Spider-Man. We've seen him before in other franchises, for better and for worse. And while we cannot wait to see how Marvel presents him (we have no doubt that it will be better than the previous versions), Black Panther is the hero we've been waiting for.
Civil War will mark the first time he appears on the silver screen. And knowing that Chadwick Boseman will bring him to life is even better.
We already saw him in the trailer - and he looks kick-ass!
Furthermore, it is said that his solo movie (which is due on the 16th of February 2018) will lead straight into the Infinity War (and that is the next MCU movie after Black Panther). So you can expect even more excitement on our part.
The missing heroes
What is again very, very certain is that some heroes will skip the Civil War. The first one is Thor himself, who was last seen in Age of Ultron. Being the only Avenger who can finally find something out about the Infinity Stones and the villain who is out to get them, he went back to Asgard - so his next appearance will be in Thor: Ragnarok.
The other very notable absence is the Hulk. Last time we saw him was also in Age of Ultron, when he realized that he is too big a threat in order to remain part of the team. At the ending of the movie, it was said that his Quinjet crashed somewhere near Fiji. But the thing is that it was actually an open ending, since we don't know whether Fury had any idea of his whereabouts or not - as it was later revealed, Hulk didn't end there.
As everybody knows, Hulk is now on another planet, most likely transported there by Loki (or even Hela) - so he won't get in the way of Thanos' plans.
We could also mention the other heroes who aren't present during the Civil War - the Guardians of the Galaxy. But, come on, nobody expected them to be there in the first place. The same goes for Doctor Strange, who will be introduced into the MCU (with his own origin story) later this year.
Death in the Civil War
Unfortunately, we don't really think that Death exists in the MCU - however, people can still die in here (unfortunately, as it appears, it is permanent only for the villains). And the Russo brothers have teased the level of destruction plenty of times before.
As we’ve mentioned, multiple death scenes have been shot.
But let's take care of the giant elephant at first - will War Machine die? Well, most people believe that he won't, simply because it is shown in the trailer. But maybe that was the whole point of it all - to throw the fans off track and make them believe that he is safe.
Actually, among all of the Avengers, he is the most disposable one. Falcon has become a fan-favorite, while Hawkeye has moved up in the ranks.
The other ones aren't safe either - Scarlet Witch is also rumored to die (especially because of her immense power levels from the comics), which will prompt Vision to leave Earth. We can bet that Ant-Man, Black Panther, and Spider-Man are totally safe, just like Iron Man, Bucky Barnes, and even Black Widow.
Captain America doesn't die at the end
On the other hand, here is what we know: Captain America (Steve Rogers, to be more specific) is set to appear in one of the Infinity War movies. Killing him in Civil War, only to bring him back, would undermine his sacrifice and, once again, will show that there aren't actually any stakes in the MCU. Of course, you completely disagree with this. But death should be the final act in a character's story, the one which brings closure and, ultimately, defines that character. If Steve Rogers dies and is brought back, who is to say that it won't happen with any of the other characters?
Knowing that these movies are adaptations of comic books means that we have an idea, beforehand, of what will happen. These deaths are necessary, since they also bring in the unexpected (yes, even if they occur in the comic books as well).
Furthermore, Chris Evans has expressed his availability to appear in more Marvel movies after his contract expires. And who can say that he won't? The Winter Soldier is arguably the best MCU flick and Captain America has become more popular than even Iron Man. Marvel knows this and we can bet that Evans' contract will be renegotiated.
Nonetheless, the problem is that the trailer actually sees Bucky uttering, Steve is dead. So we will get yet another fake death - and, just like with Nick Fury, this death will be revealed to be false in the same movie.
Captain America dies in the Civil War, but at the same time, he doesn't.
Source for the featured image: DVD Plaza
