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| source// Marvel Comics |
If you were to pick any random two superheroes, chances are that they’ve probably had a brawl due to some form of misunderstanding or miscommunication at one point. It’s a common story beat in many arcs and a rite of passage for any costumed newcomer looking to make a name for themselves.
Civil War was a little different. Created by Mark Millar (known as the ‘high concept’ writer of Kick-Ass, Nemesis, The Secret Service etc), Civil War had heroes go head-to-head with both politics and one another. After a group of untrained heroes caused a catastrophic tragedy, the US Government passed the Super-Human Registration Act. The Act required all those with powers and abilities to reveal their identities, provide information on their powers and personal detail and register to work under the government. Failure to do so resulted in incarceration.
Tony Stark firmly backed the SHRA while Captain America rebelled, decreeing that the government will eventually start picking targets for them. The best part about Civil War was seeing which heroes would decide upon Pro or Anti Registration. It made for compelling political dialogue that was both contemporary and realistic; this is exactly what would happen if superheroes were to exist in our world.
Although the third Captain America film is sub-titled Civil War, it is not going to follow the plot of the original story-line. There will be bits and pieces taken here and there but some of the scenes and plot points that take place are going to be impossible to include.
Here are the eleven things they cannot show you from the original Civil War.
11. New Warriors’ Explosive Reality TV Show
Further refuting claims that reality television is the devil, the entire event is kick-started by the New Warriors trying to boost the ratings of their television show. A camera crew follows the C-list group around, capturing footage of them capturing bad guys. Notable members of the group include Speedball (which used to be Slash’s favourite pastime) and Night Thrasher, a person who… thrashes the night? Is that even a thing?
It seems that the second season of their show has been lacklustre and the only person they’ve managed to apprehend is ‘a bum with a spray can and a wooden leg’. Since capturing Hector Barbossa isn’t really that impressive, they eventually stumble upon a group of villains hiding out in a sleepy town named Stamford. Cue the sense of heightened realism we’ve come to accept as reality when the New Warriors taken on the villains, repeating one liners and asking for dialogue to be cut out in the process.
The New Warriors aren’t going to feature in the film in any capacity, for better or worse. If only we someone can convince the Kardashians that the best way to boost ratings is to throw yourself headfirst into dangerous situations where the possibility of death is very real…
10. The Destruction Of Stamford
Every revolution requires a tragic event and the one in Civil War is extremely so. Namorita, cousin of Namor, throws the villainous Nitro into a school bus that is perched in front of Stamford Elementary. You can probably guess where this is going.
Nitro, who can cause himself to explode and reform, isn’t the type of villain who should be taken lightly. He was responsible for the landmark death of Captain Marvel and reminds Namorita that she’s in over her head; “I’m afraid we’re not the bargain basement losers you guys are used to, baby. You’re playing with the big boys now”. Namorita just arrived in WCW and already has nuclear heat.
Nitro then proceeds to blow himself up, wiping out the entire school and a large portion of Stamford (an estimated 800-900 casualties). Even though Nitro could easily be replaced by another villain, it’s a safe bet that the destruction of Stamford won’t be the reason for a rift between the heroes. We know that Winter Soldier will be involved and he isn’t being brainwashed anymore, so he won’t be a scapegoat.
Also, when you compare Stamford to some of the incidents that have already taken place and involve superheroes (like the battle of New York and an entire town being reduced to rubble thanks to Ultron), it’s kind of just another drop in an ever-growing ocean.
9. Johnny Storm Gets Glassed
The Civil War very nearly tore Marvel’s First Family apart, with Reed being firmly entrenched as the brains behind the Pro-Registration side (making some very questionable decisions in the process) and the rest of the family being Anti-Registration.
After the Stamford incident, the positive public consensus against superheroes quickly begins to shift. Johnny Storm bears the brunt of this when he is accused as a ‘baby killer’ and is glassed and stomped outside of a nightclub. What appears to be a minor incident in the grand scheme of things sets the tone for the rest of the series and makes many of the heroes realize that this new societal attitude is not going to disappear swiftly.
This would have been a welcome scene in the reviled Fantastic Four reboot but it’s not one that will be happening in the Civil War film, what with FOX being content to keep throwing money at a franchise that they should leave well enough alone.
8. The Watcher… Watches
Shortly after the tragedy of Stamford, all the heroes are gathered in one place to discuss recent events and the governments decision to establish the SHRA. It’s obvious that many of the heroes are already conflicted and debate begins, with sides slowly being chosen. However, the mute presence of Uatu The Watcher causes them to pause.
The Watcher only turns up to record incidents of ‘great change and enormous upheaval’ and this final gathering of heroes (before the lines are drawn) is exactly that. His presence is not a welcoming one; it signifies that bad s**t is about to go down. Uatu is basically Marvel’s equivalent of Kanye West at an awards show.
The Watcher is considered part of the Fantastic Four franchise and won’t feature in any MCU films. If he did, he’d be hanging around in the background so often that the local police would know him by name.
7. Spider-Man Unmasks
One of the most monumental and memorable moments in Civil War is the unmasking of Spider-Man. Stark is entirely invested in policing the SHRA and knows that, in order for other heroes to be convinced, asks Peter Parker (on the Pro Registration side for now) to lead by example. Captain America’s rebels are slowly gaining numbers and Stark knows that having someone as well known as Spider-Man be willing to unmask will change a lot of minds.
In what many consider to be a moment of utter stupidity, Stark hosts a press conference and Parker unmasks, practically handing out his address to all the super villains that he berated while be beat-down.
Naturally, this comes back to bite Peter in the arachnid a** in a major way. It would make for a very interesting plot development but Tom Holland is not going to reveal himself as Spider-Man in the characters MCU debut. It won’t hold much impact when we haven’t even gotten to know this new Spidey yet and opens the possibility for a Brand New Day adaptation that would probably be the end of the MCU as we know it.
6. Tony Tries To Recruit The X-Men
During the time that Civil War takes place, the X-Men are vilified for their outsider status and the threat they present to mankind as our genetic superiors. Which, come to think of it, is basically how the X-Men are always treated.
It’s interesting that in Civil War, the X-Men do not necessarily get involved and directly influence the plot. They make appearances here and there (Wolverine is the man who tracks down Nitro) but they take a step back and allow the other heroes to knock each other senseless. Wolverine’s mission to ‘capture’ (‘kill’ in Wolverine speak) takes place outside the main story-line in Wolverine’s series and is not referenced anywhere.
The main scene that involves the mutants potentially taking part in the war is when Stark visits Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, hoping to convince Emma Frost, now one of the leaders of the X-Men, to back his Pro Registration side. Frost declines and asks him where the Avengers were during the slaughtering of Genosha, where sixteen MILLION people were killed due to the machinations of Cassandra Nova. Stark doesn’t really have an answer as she kind of has a point.
The involvement of the X-Men would have been a game changer for both the comic and the film but we all know why they can’t show up.
5. The Tyranny Of Ragnarok
Sadly, it doesn’t look like Thor is not going to be a part of the third Captain America film. He’ll be mentioned in passing and could possibly have a cameo but his attention has been turned to Asgard. Having him feature would have made whatever side he wasn’t on instantly weaker so it’s probably a good thing he isn’t around. Same goes for Hulk.
In the comics Thor is actually distracted by Asgardian upheaval during the original Civil War story-line, yet it is his clone (later dubbed Ragnarok), created by the collective minds of Reed Richards, Hank Pym and Tony Stark that makes his presence felt.
The first melee between the Pro and Anti Registration heroes was not initially intended to be a battle. Iron Man stages an attack at a chemical factory and Cap’s Anti-Registration heroes storm in (despite their status as criminals, they are still doing what they do best). Taking out Cloak and Wiccan (the transport for Cap’s team), Stark tries to convince Rogers that the rift between them should not continue. All seems to be forgiven until Cap uses scrambling tech on Tony’s suit.
Cap’s side are already getting a trouncing but it gets even worse when Ragnarok appears. Ragnarok murders Goliath. Right after Goliath goads him by saying, ‘Get ready for the shortest comeback in history’.
I wouldn’t put it past the MCU to have also stored a strand of Thor’s hair for dubious reasons but there won’t be any clones of Chris Hemsworth (four words that got at least half of you very excited) killing Ant Man after he goes giant.
4. Recruitment Of Villains
It will be a lot less curt in the movie but the comic book story-line of Civil War painted Tony Stark as the primary antagonist. He does a number of shady things that disgust his fellow heroes and peers, most notably the creation of the Thor clone and his willingness to fight against those he calls his friends.
One of the more deplorable actions that Tony takes is to recruit supervillains to help capture Anti Registration humans. As the war progresses, Tony notes that he can’t spend his time trying to capture Cap and the rebels whilst also maintaining his duties as an Avenger. He needs the heroes on the Pro Registration side to live up to their moniker and so he has the bright idea of enlisting incarcerated villains to hunt down the Anti Registration rebels.
It’s made clear that Stark has had them chipped, tagged and pumped full of microscopic nanobots but that doesn’t excuse the fact that characters such as Venom, Bullseye, Taskmaster and Lady Deathstrike are being used to capture good guys. Most notably, two villains were tasked with hunting down the turncoat Spider-Man and very nearly killed him. They even join in on the final, climactic fight, standing side-by-side with reputable do-gooders as if they actually belong there.
It would be a cool twist if this were to happen in the film but no one would want to back Iron Man if he started fist-bumping Red Skull. Coupled with the lack of enigmatic Marvel villains that aren’t dead (and even when they were alive, they were few and far between), you won’t see Tony Stark be this much of an idiot.
3. The Punisher’s Massive Role
Seeing some of the questionable choices being made, Spider-Man becomes conflicted about his decision to blindly back Iron Man. Renouncing his Pro Registration side, he takes off and is tracked down by two super villains who are now working for Stark, Jester and Jack-O-Lantern. They brutally beat him until The Punisher makes a surprise appearance and takes the baddies out, whisking Spidey to safety at Cap’s new HQ.
The Punisher lets it be known that, due to Stark recruiting thieves and murderers, he’ll be fighting on the side of Captain America. Naturally, the heroes are conflicted to have a man who they regard as a serial killer in their ranks but Cap eventually recruits him and they prove a very capable team, with Frank successfully infiltrating the Baxter Building to get information on where Stark has imprisoned captured rebels.
Naturally, because he’s Frank friggin’ Castle, it all goes to hell in a hand-basket when Frank guns down Goldbug and Plunderer, two villains who represent the super-criminal community and offer the help of their peers. This may not be a shock to you, but he did so by murdering the two unarmed crooks right in front of Cap and his cohorts. Despite subsequently being given an almighty beat-down by Rogers, Frank refuses to raise a hand against a fellow soldier.
It would be incredible to see The Punisher throw his black and white morality into the mix but the Civil War movie won’t have Jon Bernthal dishing his finite brand of justice alongside the others, if only because of TV rights.
2. Namor Turning The Tide Of Battle
Needing more troops for the upcoming and unavoidable battle with Iron Man and the Pro Registration heroes, Captain America sends Sue Richards to try and recruit Namor. Namor respects Captain America but refuses to get involved. He notes that it was a sly move on Steve’s behalf to send a woman who he has a ‘unique relationship’ with and pouts while pointing his hips forward in his tiny little speedos.
‘I can feel your heartbeat through the waters, Mrs Richards. And it tells a very different story from the lies upon your lips’.
Notice how he calls her Mrs Richards? He gets a kick out of trying to convince her to cuckold. Sue doesn’t bite, presumably because a woman whose husband can stretch any part of his body is much more appealing than a guy who has permanent tuna breath.
Namor has a change of heart and in the final battle between the Pro and Anti Registration forces, he arrives with an Atlantean army issue and turns the tide of the battle in favour of the Anti Registration heroes. However, despite basically having succeeded, Cap is forced by civilians to look at all the damage the head-butting heroes have made. Disappointed in himself, he surrenders.
Namor has been disappointingly absent from the MCU, though Kevin Fiege has stated that Marvel Studios and Disney do own the rights to the character. However, there’s a catch (isn’t there always?) so we may not see it happen for a while.
1. The Initiative
The culmination of the Civil War between the heroes revealed that Stark had launched the Initiative, a program created under the Super-Human Registration Act to train those with powers and abilities. A boot camp for aspiring heroes, passing training with the necessary results game them the chance to be assigned to one of fifty officially sanctioned government teams. Texas got the short straw with a team consisting of Armadillo Man and a cowboy that looks like he belongs in a cigarette commercial.
It’s a brilliant idea that opened up hundreds of narrative possibilities and allowed lesser known characters some screen time. Having said that, it should be obvious why the notion of having a superhero team for each fifty states of the U.S. isn’t a plausible one in the MCU. We barely have fifty heroes, let alone fifty teams worth.
I’m not saying it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have that many characters eventually, but Marvel already takes enough of my money and I kind of need to leave some aside to feed my daughter. Eating cereal for dinner is stunting her growth.
Like this article? What elements, if any, will make their way into Captain America 3? Have your say down in the comments.
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