Marvel Mondays: Captain America: Civil War

Hello again my Marvel lovers and welcome back to "Marvel Mondays!" 10 days from the time this is being written, Infinity War will be hitting screens around the world. I know my excitement is at a fever pitch, and I hope yours is as well! But that's next week, let's talk about this week! Today's feature film is my all time favorite movie in the MCU, Captain America: Civil War. Civil War warrants the coveted solo movie for a couple of reasons: it's my favorite MCU film, it lays the groundwork for the distance between heroes in Infinity War, and it brings in two new members of the MCU in Black Panther and Spiderman. So without further adieu, let's talk about Civil War!

Before we get started, here's a reminder of the upcoming posts before Infinity War:

April 23rd- Spider Man: Homecoming and Black Panther
April 26th- Infinity War Preview, Predictions, and MCU Review
April 30th- Avengers: Infinity War

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Civil War is the 13th film in the MCU and falls under the Phase 3 umbrella of the Cinematic Universe. Released on May 6th, 2016, Civil War garnished a huge $1.153 billion during it's box office run. With Civil War, the audience was treated to seeing Black Panther and Spiderman on screen for the first official time as part of the MCU; joining the two new heroes were returning heroes like Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Ant Man, War Machine, Falcon, Winter Soldier, and Vision. The audience was also treated to appearances by Thaddeus Ross (from The Incredible Hulk), Sharon Carter, and Crossbones (from Captain America: The Winter Soldier). The films quickly become the biggest hit of 2016, and finished as the 15th highest grossing film of all time. Civil War is one of the only films in Phase 3 to not include any references to an Infinity Stone, as the storyline for the movie isn't setting the stage for Infinity War as much as it is telling us how our favorite superheroes got to the point where they were fighting each other. Also, if the rumors are true, Civil War is the last MCU film we will see Steve Rogers suit up as Captain America until Avengers 4. It's also the beginning of Tony Stark taking Peter Parker under his wing and training him to be an Avenger, something that we continued to see in Spiderman: Homecoming and will continue to see in Infinity War. As I've said before, we're also introduced to T'Challa, and the Black Panther, and really can see what kind of damage he's capable of and what he is all about, a nice little tease for Black Panther. The film tells the story of how the Avengers are broken apart by the deceptive Zemo, who poses as Bucky Barnes and causes an explosion at the UN meeting, which kills T'Challa's father. At the meeting, the Sokovian Accords were supposed to be signed, a document that would keep the Avengers from running rampant and doing whatever they please, which was signed by Iron Man, War Machine, Black Widow, and Vision and refused upon by Captain America, Falcon, Hawkeye, and Scarlet Witch, resulting in the heroes who signed having to fight those who didn't sign. Will the Avengers be able to coexist in Infinity War is one of the biggest questions heading into the movie.

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In March 2014, the Russo brothers confirmed they would return to direct the 3rd Captain America film, bringing with them the majority of the same production crew they used for The Winter Soldier. In October 2014, Kevin Feige announced that Robert Downey Jr would be joining the film and that the film would follow the Civil War storyline from the comic books. Later in the same month, Feige announced that Chadwick Boseman would play T'Challa, or the Black Panther, in the movie and announced the title to be Captain America: Civil War. In November 2014, Daniel Bruhl was announced to be a part of the cast (he would later be cast as Zemo), as well as Anthony Mackie and Jason Grillo would be returning to play Falcon and Crossbones, respectively. Also in November 2014, Sony Pictures got hacked and out of the hacking came emails between Marvel and Sony about bringing Spiderman to the MCU. In February 2015, it was announced that Sony and Marvel had come to an agreement on Spidey and it was believed that he would make his MCU debut in Civil War. It was also announced in early 2015 that Scarlett Johansson would be reprising her role as Black Widow, while Jeremy Renner would be coming back as Hawkeye, and Elizabeth Olsen announced she would be returning as Scarlet Witch. In early May 2015, Martin Freeman was cast in an unspecified role (that he ended up doing amazing in) and Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, and William Hurt all announced they would be appearing in the film as well. Towards the end of May, the Russo brothers and Kevin Feige held screen test auditions for teenagers to play the role of Peter Parker, and they would be testing alongside Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans. Supposedly whenever Tom Holland did his audition, they sent everyone else home and immediately gave him the job of Spiderman, announcing it officially later the next month. Similar to the other MCU films, once production began, it went smoothly and the film released on May 6th, 2016 to outstanding reviews. 

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Now, let's talk some easter eggs! During the Lagos chase scene, Black Widow goes one on one with the guy who holds the vial that Captain America and Company is trying to get. The gentlemen playing that character is Damon Poitier, who also supplies the menacing grin for Thanos in The Avengers. That Crossbones bad guy during the Lagos scene, he's none other than Brock Rumlow, the same guy who fought Captain America in the elevator during The Winter Soldier. Lots of people, myself included, believe the words Zemo speaks to Bucky to activate his HYDRA self have a specific meaning. While most pertain to Bucky himself, I'm under the impression "homecoming" was a reference to the new Spiderman film titled Spiderman: Homecoming. We're also introduced to Okoye and the Dora Milaje for the first time when T'Challa is released from the prison cell. When Bucky is put in his cell, Deck 23, it's clear as day there's a Disney reference there as his cell only shows D23 on it. When Iron Man and Captain America are fighting in the cave, Iron Man is absolutely destroying Cap when Cap says "I could do this all day." It's the same line used in Captain America: The First Avenger when Steve is getting beat up in the alley. 

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The post credit scene for this movie are two of the coolest ones in the MCU, even if they aren't all that important. The first one shows Rogers, Bucky, and T'Challa in Wakanda as Bucky is about to froze again until the Wakandans can figure out what is wrong with his brain. This is our first look at the beautiful and hidden country of Wakanda and really gives us an idea of what we could expect in Black Panther. The other post credit scene features Marisa Tomei as Aunt May checking on a beaten up Peter Parker. As soon as she leaves the room though, Peter checks out the new web slingers Tony gave him and we even get to see the new and improved Spiderman symbol on the ceiling of his bedroom. It also tells us that Spiderman will return, which he does in Spiderman: Homecoming. 

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Like I've said before, Civil War is number one on my MCU list. It does a great job of actually giving us the story of why our favorite heroes are fighting against each other, and honestly, it feels more like an Iron Man movie than a Captain America movie. I like the way it built up Tony's character to follow the government's ideas, even if it meant fighting against other Avengers. Two of my all time favorite MCU fight scenes are in this movie as well. The tar mac scene is absolutely amazing, whether it be Spiderman's arrival, Giant Man appearing, or just seeing the Avengers fight each other (Tony's team won, btw), it was just awesome. And then seeing Tony take on, not only Captain America, but the Winter Soldier as well, and just completely kick their butts oddly brought joy to me in knowing that Iron Man really is the strongest Avenger (don't fight me on this, it's a proven fact.) If you haven't seen this movie, I'd definitely check it out before Infinity War. 

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Kevin Scott is a contributing writer for The Mouse Knows Best Podcast. He is self proclaimed Disney addict and oftentimes annoys his family with how much he talks Disney. He enjoys walking around all Disney Parks and taking as many pictures as he can in one day. When he isn't at Walt Disney World, he is working to get back or re-watching Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movie. His spirit animal is a mix between Simba and Kylo Ren with a dash of Tony Stark. You can find him on Twitter @doubleoh_kevin and on Instagram @waltdisneyduo.