It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? At last! It seems that Kilgrave told Kevin Feige to finally release the trailer for next summer's headline event, Captain America: Civil War, set to be released on May 6th 2016. The scope of this film may not mirror the Civil War run in the comics, but it still looks like an amazing FILM based on the character drama exhibited in this wonderful teaser.
It naturally begins with the post credits scene from Ant Man. It shows that Cap and Falcon's "missing persons case" has come to an end, with them locating Cap's estranged friend Bucky Barnes, formerly the HYDRA vigilante The Winter Soldier. The effects of HYDRA's brainwashing are clearly fading and Bucky is regaining memory of his friendship with Steve.
And that right here proves to me that this film isn't the simple liberty and freedom vs. authority and regulation struggle like we all thought it would be. Civil War is essentially a personal story of the friendship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. This movie's emotional weight will come from their relationship, and the trailer clearly indicates that the reason Cap is willing to go rogue from the government is for the sake of his friend. He's caught in a clear moral dilemma but he's doing the right thing, and this is why audiences will connect with him.
It was great to see William Hurt back as General "Thunderbolt" Ross as it finally gives currency to the 2008 Incredible Hulk film that Marvel has willingly forgotten about up to this point. General Ross is the voice of the government in this instance, delivering the news to the New Avengers that the world has had enough of them operating free of government supervision. The superhero registration act from the comics is known as "The Sokovia Accords", which makes complete sense after the chaos caused in the final act of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Friends are going to become enemies as this film removes the barrier between heroism and villainy. Old alliances will be broken based on ideological grounds. I love Black Widow's involvement in this trailer and I'm excited for the direction they are taking her character. It seems her alliances lie with Tony Stark and the government. But she has such a great relationship with Steve that her allegiances may come into question. She says "Stay out of this one...please!". She's practically begging Steve not to go after Bucky, but knows he will, which also means that she will have to side against him.
That's why I think this film is destined for greatness. There are so many characters in this film yet so many opportunities to create a multitude of different inter-related conflicts. Hawkeye vs. Black Widow being one, Scarlet Witch vs. Vision being another. But the main conflict-based relationship of Civil War (just as it is in the comics) is Captain America vs. Iron Man. Stark gives a great line which sums everything up; "If we can't accept limitations... we're no better than the bad guys".
Quickly wanted to mention Scarlet Witch who looks awesome and hot as hell in her new costume. Also, her allegiance to Captain America is now confirmed. When they released concept art showcasing the 2 teams, Wanda was nowhere to be seen so that made people speculate. Well speculate no more, she's Cap for life. It only makes sense for what Tony did to her parents, as well as what his creation (Ultron) ended up doing to her twin brother (Quicksilver).
Us lucky people got a look at Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther, the King of Wakanda himself, in full vibranium gear. I must say, he looks perfect. The design of his costume and the way in which he runs and fights is as close to perfect as I think we are ever going to get adapting a superhero from the pages to the screen.
The trailer does really well at showcasing Tony Stark's humanity as well in what is ultimately a very heavy trailer on Bucky and Cap (which it should be, it says Captain America in the title...). I love the shot of him over Rhodey after he gets his arc reactor destroyed. The look on his face just says it all. And I love the response he gives to Cap; "Sorry Tony, but he's my friend". "So was I". The line just says it all, highlighting the slightly humorous yet ultimately the tragic nature of this conflict.
And that final shot is glorious. It isn't some shaky cam bullshit with multiple, quick cuts and angle changes. It is one wide take of 2 pals laying the smack down on Iron Man's candy behind.
Now onto things that aren't in the trailer, because believe you me there are a lot of things they didn't put in which I'm glad they didn't. Firstly, Ant Man. Well... at least not at full size.
Crossbones, Baron Zemo, Sharon Carter and even goddamn Vision aren't in this trailer. But perhaps the biggest omission is that of a certain web-crawler...
Yes, we didn't get a look at Spiderman, and J Jonah Jameson isn't happy! But to be honest I am quite happy they didn't show him. I think what they're planning on doing is copying what they did with Vision in the marketing campaign of Age of Ultron; they'll wait until the final trailer and give us a minute glimpse at him. I'm excited to see Spidey back where he belongs, but I have to be honest when I say I'm struggling to see how he's going to fit in to this overall story, which again seems to be a personal tale of the strength of Steve and Bucky's friendship.
In the wider Marvel Universe, ordinary people with extraordinary abilities are popping up everywhere (the Inhumans, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage etc.). Maybe this is another factor which causes the government to release the Sokovia Accords, the fear they have of humans with super-human powers. Maybe one of these people is a 15 year old Peter Parker who Tony Stark takes under his wing as his protégé. It's all speculation at this point, but it's fun to speculate.
Long story short: loved the trailer, can't wait for May 6th! Watch it now:
Thanks for reading,
Matt
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