The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building with each individual and group franchise to a point where Marvel Studios can begin to explore some of the more complex story arcs. In the past a superhero film series wouldn’t make it past the first few installments, making it nearly impossible to construct an ongoing cinematic universe, but over the past decade the situation has drastically changed.
The third solo film in the Captain America franchise, titled Captain America: Civil War, explores the recent 2006-07 Civil War comic book story arc. The film is shaping up to be the battle of the century, pitting hero against hero – even Avenger against Avenger. It’s far more complicated than good vs evil, according to Captain America star Chris Evans, who asserts that there is no clear good or bad side.
Salt Lake Comic Con is going strong this weekend, ripe with celebrities and fan favorites. The panel discussions are often held to promote movies and television shows, but sometimes its just a cozy question and answer session with your favorite actor or actress. Chris Evans was the subject of one such panel this past Saturday morning. He was able to interact with the fans on a far more personal level than he is used to, but of course questions about Captain America: Civil War were bound to surface. Evans had some interesting insights to share with the crowd about the line being drawn between heroes that choose to register with the government, and those that resist.
“Tony actually thinks we should be signing these accords and reporting to somebody and Cap, who’s always been a company man and has always been a soldier, actually doesn’t trust anymore. Given what happened in Cap 2, I think he kind of feels the safest hands are his own. And these are understandable concerns, but this is tough, because even reading the script, you think ‘I think I agree with Tony in a way,’ and I do agree that to make this work, you do need to surrender to the group. It can’t just be one person saying this is right and this is what we’re going to do.”
Evans goes on to elaborate on the complexity of the divide:
“But Cap has his reasons, he certainly has his reasons, and he is a good man and his moral compass is probably the cleanest. This is a tough thing. This is what made it so interesting while we were filming, and it’s hopefully what will make the movie great is nobody’s right, nobody’s wrong. There’s no clear bad guy here. We both have a point of view, which is akin to most disagreements in life and politics.”
The line that Evans draws between the fictional plight of the Marvel superheroes and the real world political landscape is one of the factors that will no doubt help this film to resonate well with audiences. The two factions in the film will be led by Iron Man and Captain America, with War Machine, Black Widow, Black Panther and the Vision joining Iron Man in his wicked Bleeding Edge armor, to fight for the side of the government registration. The opposition to fall behind Captain America includes Hawkeye, Falcon, Bucky and Sharon Carter.
Captain America: Civil War opens in theaters May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man – July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Black Panther – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – November 2, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019.
