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| source// Marvel |
As the first film in Marvel’s Phase Three, Captain America: Civil War has a tough job in front of it. The film needs to maintain a strong standalone story, but it’s also burdened with having to kick off an entire wave of new films for Marvel.
While picking up the pieces from Age Of Ultron, Civil War is going to have to slowly shift the focus to the looming threat of Infinity War. To make matters more complicated, there are plenty of upcoming solo films, many of which star characters also appearing in Civil War. Keeping all of that in mind, Civil War has a lot of ground to cover in order to adequately set up all of these upcoming adventures.
There are things the film could do that would tease some of these other films but none of them are things that Civil War outright has to do. In many cases, the other films could handle this work without a lead-in, but if threads are started in Civil War, it will give them time to develop and help flesh out the bonds between the films of the MCU.
Civil War has a lot to handle on its own, and even if it’s occupied with Cap’s personal struggle, there are still plenty of easy ways it could hint at the future of the entire Marvel Universe.
10. Introduce Another Infinity Stone
It’s no secret that the climax of Phase Three will be a massive celestial showdown against the mad titan Thanos. He’ll presumably be armed with the Infinity Gauntlet but in order for it to function, he’s going to need all six infinity stones, the problem with that plan is that they haven’t all been introduced yet.
The soul stone and the time stone are both unaccounted for and one’s introduction in Civil War would go to great lengths to shoring up the set up for Thanos. The obvious problem is that neither of these objects would seem to belong in the more grounded, Earth-bound narrative of Civil War.
Whether it plays a prominent role in the proceedings or simply appears in a stinger during the credits, these objects might be the most important thing in the MCU at the moment. As such, it’s hard to imagine Marvel putting out a film this big and not addressing the upcoming importance of the stones.
9. Mention Some Cosmic Rumblings
Civil War looks to be a very Earth-bound film, as it should be. Steve Rogers is just a kid from Brooklyn, and though he may be super-strong, he certainly wouldn’t survive in outer space. That said, the MCU is much bigger than our planet, and even if Cap isn’t about to go off into space just yet, it’s important that this massive film acknowledges what’s out there.
For instance, the Guardians of the Galaxy still feel like characters separated from everyone else in the MCU and the threat of Thanos is likewise distant at the moment. Civil War ought to find ways to start hinting at these beings, even if it’s a simple as Iron Man speculating on what other threats await them in the stars.
The cosmic side of the MCU is rapidly becoming an important locale, and with everyone on deck for Civil War, there seems to be no better time for the characters to address it. This is Marvel’s first chance to really start tying all of their properties together, both Earth-set and not.
8. Introduce Magic
Much as the cosmic side of things has recently taken off, the mystical realm of the MCU is about to be thrust into the spotlight as well. Though the focus is on Civil War right now, it will soon shift to the magical blockbuster Doctor Strange.
While that movie is certainly capable of introducing the magical dimension all on its own, a brief hint at it from Civil War could do a great deal of good to establishing credibility and start to build Doctor Strange’s World. It would signify that the other characters are aware of this key force in their universe and it would tip off audiences so that they’re ready for this more out-there take on a superhero.
Beyond actually introducing Dr. Strange in Civil War, Scarlet Witch could be a great conduit for this type of discussion. Though she’s not outright drawing her powers from spells, a more thorough investigation into her type of abilities could easily lead to hints at the presence of sorcerers like Stephen Strange or Karl Mordo. Civil War must tend to its own story first, but it would take very little time to do some very crucial world building.
7. Establish Ant-Man’s Next Mission
It’s hard to say just what kind of a film Ant-Man And The Wasp is going to be. The revenge-inspired heist narrative of the first film worked once, but it’s hard to see that working against without Scott’s learning curve or Hank’s vendetta. Thses story beats won’t really work again so how do they proceed?
They could continue down his original route and have an industrial espionage-focused story, perhaps against a saboteur like the Ghost. Conversely, he could star in a massive disaster film alongside the Wrecking Crew. Ant-Man doesn’t have tons of acclaimed villains or story arcs by himself to draw from, so it would be nice to get a sense of how the sequel is going to treat him.
It’s not clear at all what Scott Lang is going to be up to when we next see him and Civil War is the perfect opportunity to both hint at what he’ll be fighting, as well as what kind of personal growth he’ll be looking to achieve.
6. Tease Wakanda
Even though it’s only based on the trailers, there’s already a ton of hype for Black Panther. He could easily be the breakout character of the film, and there’s a lot of hope that he will be, since he’s about to spearhead his own solo movie.
We know his African nation of Wakanda is going to play an important role in the events of Civil War, with the opening shots appearing to take place there. It also looks like T’Challa’s father is going to be killed and the prince will have to step in to find justice for what’s been done to his country and his family.
The important thing in this case is to not give away too much. If they cover all the intricacies of this African monarchy in Civil War, there will be much less ground to cover in Black Panther. By instead teasing a few enticing elements about the fascinating country, while leaving the rest a mystery, it would really cause audiences to want to come back to see more Black Panther next year.
5. A New Version Of SHIELD
Ever since it was revealed that HYDRA had taken over SHIELD from the inside, the status of the peacekeeping organization has been in flux. It’s lost its power status in the MCU and seems like too important an entity to leave out of commission for the movies, going forward.
If anything were to bring it back into action, it’s an all-out war between the most powerful superheroes of Earth. There needs to be regulation and oversight and while Thunderbolt Ross is a good representative for those government ideals, but that role should ultimately belong to SHIELD.
Of course, with everything that’s gone on, the organization is no doubt in need of a shakeup. One popular theory, which echoes what happened in the comic, would be to end the film with Tony Stark assuming the role of director.
No matter how it would be done or who would be put in charge, SHIELD should come back into play and Captain America seems like the most organic place for that organizational rebirth to happen.
4. Masters Of Evil
Considering he’s being talked about like he’s the main villain of the film, it’s interesting that multiple people are already casting doubt onto whether this will be the last time we see Daniel Bruhl’s Baron Zemo.
Bruhl has spoken that one film might not be the end of his character, as is typical for Marvel villains, and producer Nate Moore suggested that he was being set up for the future. One plausible scenario which would see him escaping would involve him founding his notorious group of villains, the Masters Of Evil.
Together, these rogues could present a huge threat to the Avengers in Infinity War to complement Thanos. Perhaps leading the fight against the remaining heroes on Earth, Zemo’s group could also be a clever way to bring back old characters, including Frank Grillo’s Crossbones should he make it out of this one alive.
Setting up a big villain like this for Phase 3 could be an great element and thanks to the players involved in Civil War, it seems like the perfect place to set that villainous team-up into motion.
3. Tease Spider-Man’s Personal Life
Love him or hate him, it’s hard to deny that Spider-Man caused the biggest stir with his reveal in the newest trailer. So while we now know what his costume looks like and what his voice sounds like, we know very little else.
Civil War is likely to go pretty light with the web-head, but in his limited time, it’s important that we understand what kind of a Spider-Man this is. We know he’s in high school, but is he struggling with his powers, being mentored by Norman Osborn, in love with his neighbour Mary-Jane?
There’s so much going on with the character in his history that people are desperate to know which elements from his lore and character traits will be included in the MCU. Civil War certainly won’t provided most of the answers, but even a few hints at the type of Spider-Man film to expect ought to be essential.
2. Push Out The Original Avengers
As this is the beginning of a new era for the MCU, it’s important that Marvel begin passing the torch from their older generation to their newer one. Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, and Hawkeye are all likely to have key roles to play during Infinity War like they do In Civil War, but until that time, it’s imperative that they all lie low and give new characters the chance to shine.
One way to deal with these characters is obviously death. Especially considering how the Civil War comic turned out, it’s not hard to expect that one of the main players will meet their end. For the others, an emphasis on their personal lives and a semi-retirement to a new life could be enough.
With the stakes and the violence of Civil War, it’s not hard to imagine this as the perfect place to start thinning out the ground for the rest of Phase 3 to fill in the new spaces.
1. Push New Heroes To The Forefront
Of course, it’s not enough for the old roster of heroes to disappear, the new generation needs to step up and fill in their roles. While Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Ant-Man have all been previously discussed, it’s also characters like Vision, Scarlet Witch and the Falcon which will help to round out the MCU.
With some many characters crammed into Civil War, it’s going to be a wonder to see if some of them get only a couple lines of dialogue and some minimal screen time. If these are the future faces of the MCU, once the original heroes are unaccounted for and the actors have moved on, then they need to be given time to shine when all of the eyes would be on them.
Civil War is Captain America’s movie and it doesn’t need to devote individual subplots to every character who shows up. Nevertheless, it’s important that those characters designed to matter more down the line are treated properly and hyped up as they should be.
How do you think Civil War will influence the rest of Phase 3? What hints would you like to see at the future? Let us know in the comments.
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