Captain America: Civil War: Everything we know so far about Marvel's superhero brawler
**Possible major spoilers for Marvel's upcoming film within**
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Your support makes all the difference.With Batman v Superman having been seated atop the box office for two weeks, attention has once again turned back to Marvel’s upcoming superhero brawler Captain America: Civil War.
In the past weeks, news of Spider-Man’s reveal has dominated headlines, but there’s so much more to this film than just the web-slingers introduction.
To help you out, with just a month until release, we’ve rounded up everything we know about the film, from who is #TeamCap to release dates and exploring whether War Machine is really dead.
Why are Captain America and Tony Stark fighting?
Like how DC’s latest flick pitted Batman against Superman, the follow-up to Captain America:Winter Soldier sees Chris Evans’s Cap face-off against Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man.
The reason? After the events of Avengers, Winter Soldier, and Age of Ultron, the United Nations has decided that all super-powered beings need to sign the Sokovia Accords - legal documents that would regulate the Avengers, holding them accountable for their actions and leading to the government deciding when they may take action against a threat or not. (If you’re wondering about the name, Sokovia was the country dropped from the sky in Age of Ultron.)
While Tony Stark (Iron Man) believes political control is a good idea, Steve Rogers (Cap) doesn’t, as last time he was governed by an authority (SHIELD) they turned out to be corrupt (Hydra). The two have different principles; ones they are willing to fight for.
Who is #TeamCap/#TeamIronMan and why?
Leading Captain America’s side is Bucky Barnes, Rogers oldest friend who was brainwashed by Hydra after falling in World War II. Having now recovered (part) of his memory, the Winter Soldier also has the same problems with authority and Iron Man seemingly has a vendetta against him (more on that later).
Next up is Falcon, also a close friend of Cap, and Sharon Carter (Agent 13), who is Peggy Carter's daughter - Peggy being one of the founders of SHIELD and ex-lover of Rogers. There’s also Ant-Man, who we presume is anti-authority having been locked in prison for many years of his life.
Interestingly, Scarlett Witch is on Cap’s side as well, likely down to her hatred of Iron Man and Stark industries as a whole. And then there’s Hawkeye. Not 100% sure why he’s team Cap as his long-time friend Black Widow is on Iron Man’s side. The pair’s rivalry has already been teased in trailers, and will be interesting to see how it plays out, especially when you consider Widow was once very close to Cap.
As well as Widow, The Vision is fighting for Iron Man. As a humanoid with an Infinity Stone in his head who believe in the goodness of mankind, he probably believes leadership could not be corrupted and that the goodness of man will persevere. In the comics, Vision has a relationship with Scarlett Witch, and so their relationship opposing each other in the film will be another point of interest (plus, he acts as a worthwhile opponent for Witch's powers).
Iron Man’s good friend War Machine is also on his side, as is newcomer Black Panther, leader of Wakanda - but more on both their parts later. Rounding up the team is Spider-Man, who will be making his debut in the film.
Spider-Man’s role
Unfortunately, not much is known about Tom Holland’s incarnation of Spider-Man as the actor and Marvel have stayed tight-lipped over his role in the film. Whether it will be more than just a brief appearance is unknown, but rumour has it he’ll be aged 15 in the film and a small-time vigilante the Avengers are aware of.
According to previous reports, Parker has grew up idolising Tony Stark. Eventually, Stark asks Parker to join his side, offering an advanced Spider-suit to fight in. Of course, this being his idol, he signs on with Iron Man instead of Captain America.
Other non-villain characters: Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross, General Thaddeus Ross, Peggy Carter, Pepper Potts
Yes, alongside all the Avengers there will be other comic-book characters in the film. Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross is one of the big-names - the character being closely linked to Black Panther.
Meanwhile, General Ross is coming back from The Incredible Hulk - one of the few links within the Marvel Cinematic Universe to that film - this time as a spokesperson for the United Nations. Then there’s Peggy Carter, who was last seen looking frail and bed-bound in The Winter Soldier (not including her AMC spin-off series). According to reports **Major spoilers**, she will actually be dead by the time Civil War begins, and we’ll only see her funeral in the film **End major spoilers**
It has also previously been confirmed that Iron Man’s partner, Pepper Potts will play a “small but key role” in the film. Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t appear in Age of Ultron so will be interesting to see if she has those extremis powers from Iron Man 3.
Villains
Although the main fight may be between Iron Man and Captain America, two other main villains are set to appear in the film. The first is Crossbones, played by Frank Grillo, who also appeared in The Winter Soldier. Recovered from his wounds, Crossbones now has armour and is set to cause some havoc early in the film.
The second is Daniel Brühl's Helmut Zemo, or Baron Zemo as he may be better known. His role in the film will likely small, with it having been previously confirmed he is going to appear in future films. We are yet to actually see Zemo in action, so there's not a whole lot more to tell you about him.
War Machine, is he dead?
While we’ve seen Don Cheadle’s character being shot out of the sky and lying seemingly dead in Iron Man’s arms, fans are holding out hope that he will still be alive. However, the actor himself isn’t too hopefully, previously saying “He did hit the ground kind of hard” and how it “doesn’t look good for Rhodey”. Can they really kill him off and show it in the trailer? We’ll see.
Black Panther v The Winter Soldier
Chadwick Boseman’s character will be debut in Civil War on Iron Man’s side and seems to be spending a lot of time chasing down Bucky Barnes. How come? Well, many suspect Barnes killed Panther’s father - the king of Wakanda - while he was a brainwashed super-soldier for Hydra. This would give him a suitable reason to go after the Winter Soldier as he doesn’t trust that he is actually a good guy again.
Now, this also neatly brings us onto the scene where Bucky Barnes attempts to shoot Iron Man. Again, nothing is known for certain, but fans think he is acting out orders programmed into him during his time with Hydra, those orders being to kill Tony Stark. What may make Stark hate Barnes even more is that he possibly killed Howard Stark as well. So, to put it lightly, there’s some bad blood between the two.
Ant-Man
Again, **Probably major spoiler** Basically, a toy set released not too long ago showed Ant-Man not turning little, but actually turning big, i.e. Giant Man. This scene will likely take place in the airport fight we’ve already seen a lot of, as will a segment where Hawkeye fires Ant-Man soon an arrow - an iconic part from the comics. **End major spoilers**
Will there be a post credits scene?
Yes, there will be at least one. Possibly three. That would be excessive, but it is what the directors said may happen!
When is it out?
In the UK, Civil War is released 29 April, while in the US it is out a week later, on the 6 May.
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