(PCM) In a slew of announcements that effectively obliterate Warner Bros./DC recent movie release schedule announcement, Marvel has continued to do everything right in its cinematic universe.
In this article we’ll cover Civil War. What is Civil War?
Let’s get the news details behind us first. Civil War will be the next Captain America film which Robert Downey Jr. recently revealed ahead of the Marvel press release October 28th 2014. That film will hit theaters May 6, 2016.
Now for the back story of Civil War. And it is one that changed the Marvel Universe in a big way. For this reason, doing a film will serve as a good shake up to Marvel Studios current superhero line-up. Be prepared for some serious changes.
Civil War will introduce many many new Marvel characters that will sensibly fill the places left open from current actors and actresses leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe if for no other reason than their contracts are up and either can’t or won’t be renegotiated. Marvel made it clear in their October 28, 2014 press release we will get new films from new characters which will include Ms. Marvel and Black Panther. In Civil War, Chadwick Boseman will play Black Panther.
Black Panther is a black character who is based out of secretive African nation known as Wakanda. It is home to some of the most advanced tech known to man. It’s also home to the most rare ore, vibranium.
Also announced was Captain Marvel to be released as a stand alone film on July 6, 2018, yet the actress to portray Ms. Marvel has not yet been determined.
Where did Civil War come from?
In 2006/2007 Marvel execs wanted to return to the tried and true method of having superheroes battle each other. It’s a simple premise, but Marvel needed a relevant reason for modern superheroes like Captain America and teammate Ironman to fight.
The politics of civil liberties was a hot issue in US culture and it made good sense to center a story around that issue which divided every character in the Marvel universe. Keep in mind, we are talking print and most people that love comic book super heroes don’t read the books, they watch movies.
Yet the success Marvel is experiencing on film is largely if not wholly due to drawing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from what comic book faithful refer to as ‘canon’. The original print stories.
Civil War should involve many many superheroes but what may make Civil War not so enjoyable to fan faithful is that it most likely will be a largely hollow story due to being unable to include many many superheroes and super villians.
In fact, it’s fair to say that Civil War is a film that is not yet ready to be made as more Marvel characters through other films should have been established first.
Marvel Civil War with Spider-Man
Civil War was a 7 part story that not only divided superheroes, it divided villains. Yet of the superheroes that chose sides, many were from the same teams. The Avengers were fragmented, as were the Fantastic Four. Note that while Civil War had a primary story that was 7 issues, every character had a cross over into the story making it an impossibly hard read if you wanted to follow the story through each character’s own title.
Spider-Man was at the absolute center of it all. The story had a huge foundational element that superheroes must register with the government, and for Spider-Man to register it meant unmasking. We could parse the subject and say that in theory he never had to unmask, as according to the story he only needed to register with the government, not reveal his secret identity publically. But that doesn’t make for a great story does it?
In the end, this means that with current rampant rumors that Sony and Disney are in serious discussions of having Spider-Man guest in a Marvel Studios film, it is highly likely Spider-Man will be in Civil War. That is if the story wants to stick to canon.
And as mentioned earlier, canon is why Marvel is making great films and all the films to date, play so well together. They do so because these great stories have already succeeded with readers.
For more on the back story of Civil War read the recent article: Spider-Man in Marvel Movie? Civil War!
In the meantime it will be interesting to see if Marvel unveils additional films with more characters especially Spider-Man. If not, Civil War may be Marvel’s first failed attempt.
The post What Is Marvel’s Civil War Movie About? also appeared on PCM Reviews.