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Beware of spoilers for Marvel’s Civil War comic and all Marvel Studios movies!
While it’s certainly exciting that one of Marvel's most popular and polarizing comics will be adapted for the big screen in next year's Captain America: Civil War, we are a bit perplexed as to how Marvel Studios will go about adapting the story. Civil War's entire foundation utilizes many elements that currently do not exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so the filmmakers certainly have their work cut out for them. We've compiled a list of the core elements that they won't be able to feature.
Before we start listing them off, it’s worth noting that Marvel can certainly make use of these elements if they find a creative way to make them work. There's still one more Marvel movie to come out before Civil War -- July's Ant-Man -- so there’s a lot that could change between now and then. Therefore, this list is only based off of the Civil War comic and the MCU as it exists right now.
For those that haven’t read it, here’s the plot of Civil War.
After an incident where a team of amateur superheroes -- the New Warriors -- got into a fight with supervillains beyond their capability to handle, they not only lost their lives but were responsible for the deaths of over 600 civilians. In response, the American people demanded something be done to regulate superheroes.
Iron Man and a group of other heroes supported the Superhuman Registration Act that would see all heroes reveal their identities, register with the government, and be given appropriate tasks that suit their abilities.
In opposition, Captain America and other heroes went underground as the anti-registration Secret Avengers, fighting for the idea that superheroes shouldn’t have to reveal their identities in order to protect humanity.
CONTINUES
Now, here are seven things from the Civil War comic that Marvel Studios can’t currently do.
One of the main themes of Civil War is the value of a secret identity. Heroes debate whether it’s worth revealing who they are to the public in order to become a government-registered hero. One of the most polarizing moments comes when Spider-Man takes off his mask at a press conference (more on him in a moment) in support of the Superhuman Registration Act.
The thing about the MCU is that it doesn’t have any real secret identities. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige went on record saying that the movie won’t deal with secret identities, but instead the idea of superhero regulation, confirming that this element of the comic will not make it to the big screen. None of the Avengers have secret identities, anyway.
Thor never bothered with his Donald Blake guise. Iron Man revealed his identity with a smirk on his face. Black Widow’s whole history went public in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The fact that Bruce Banner is the Hulk is certainly public knowledge after his rampage in Africa. Steve Rogers wears a mask, but it’s no secret that he’s Captain America -- you’ve seen his museum. You get the idea.
Of all the MCU heroes, Daredevil is the only one with a secret identity, but there's no telling if he'll be in Civil War or not.
Now about Spider-Man: Sony made a deal with Marvel Studios for Spider-Man to be a part of the MCU, but revealing his identity wouldn’t have much of an impact considering he hasn’t been in the public eye for very long in the MCU. It was such a shocker in the comic because he had hidden his identity for years and, from J. Jonah Jameson to Doctor Octopus, there were tons of people who were surprised to see his true face. There’s just not enough time to pull that off in Civil War without making it a Spider-Man movie instead of a Captain America one.
Civil War was so heartbreaking because it took some of Marvel’s major teams and split them up, creating the same “brother versus brother” dynamic seen in the actual U.S. Civil War. The Invisible Woman’s letter to Mr. Fantastic that she was leaving him to support Captain America had us reaching for the tissues.
In the MCU, the likes of the Fantastic Four, X-Men, New Warriors, Force Works, and Spaceknights don’t exist. The one team that does exist, the Avengers, doesn’t have the same kind of family bonds forged over years of fighting evil together.
So while it will obviously be bad to see the Avengers splinter, it’s not the same as seeing longtime friends and family turn on each other to support an ideal.
In the same vein as the previous point, there just aren’t enough superheroes to make Civil War into, well, a war.
Let's count how many we have. Thor and Hulk are off the grid -- so we are assuming they won't be a part of the conflict. Cap's team at the end of Age of Ultron has six members, add Iron Man, Ant-Man Daredevil, Black Panther, and Spider-Man, and that's still only eleven heroes.
Unfortunately, it's hard to have a war with just 11 people. Even if you add in characters from Marvel's Agents of SHIELD TV show like Deathlok and Mockingbird, there just aren’t a large number of heroes to truly exploit all of the epic scenarios and battles that Civil War has to offer. Like this:
And while the Guardians of the Galaxy are a part of the MCU, there's no way they'd fly across the galaxy to take part in a superhero debate, so we're not even considering them.
While it’s certainly exciting that one of Marvel's most popular and polarizing comics will be adapted for the big screen in next year's Captain America: Civil War, we are a bit perplexed as to how Marvel Studios will go about adapting the story. Civil War's entire foundation utilizes many elements that currently do not exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so the filmmakers certainly have their work cut out for them. We've compiled a list of the core elements that they won't be able to feature.
For those that haven’t read it, here’s the plot of Civil War.
After an incident where a team of amateur superheroes -- the New Warriors -- got into a fight with supervillains beyond their capability to handle, they not only lost their lives but were responsible for the deaths of over 600 civilians. In response, the American people demanded something be done to regulate superheroes.
Iron Man and a group of other heroes supported the Superhuman Registration Act that would see all heroes reveal their identities, register with the government, and be given appropriate tasks that suit their abilities.
In opposition, Captain America and other heroes went underground as the anti-registration Secret Avengers, fighting for the idea that superheroes shouldn’t have to reveal their identities in order to protect humanity.
CONTINUES
Now, here are seven things from the Civil War comic that Marvel Studios can’t currently do.
One of the main themes of Civil War is the value of a secret identity. Heroes debate whether it’s worth revealing who they are to the public in order to become a government-registered hero. One of the most polarizing moments comes when Spider-Man takes off his mask at a press conference (more on him in a moment) in support of the Superhuman Registration Act.
Thor never bothered with his Donald Blake guise. Iron Man revealed his identity with a smirk on his face. Black Widow’s whole history went public in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The fact that Bruce Banner is the Hulk is certainly public knowledge after his rampage in Africa. Steve Rogers wears a mask, but it’s no secret that he’s Captain America -- you’ve seen his museum. You get the idea.
Of all the MCU heroes, Daredevil is the only one with a secret identity, but there's no telling if he'll be in Civil War or not.
Now about Spider-Man: Sony made a deal with Marvel Studios for Spider-Man to be a part of the MCU, but revealing his identity wouldn’t have much of an impact considering he hasn’t been in the public eye for very long in the MCU. It was such a shocker in the comic because he had hidden his identity for years and, from J. Jonah Jameson to Doctor Octopus, there were tons of people who were surprised to see his true face. There’s just not enough time to pull that off in Civil War without making it a Spider-Man movie instead of a Captain America one.
Civil War was so heartbreaking because it took some of Marvel’s major teams and split them up, creating the same “brother versus brother” dynamic seen in the actual U.S. Civil War. The Invisible Woman’s letter to Mr. Fantastic that she was leaving him to support Captain America had us reaching for the tissues.
In the MCU, the likes of the Fantastic Four, X-Men, New Warriors, Force Works, and Spaceknights don’t exist. The one team that does exist, the Avengers, doesn’t have the same kind of family bonds forged over years of fighting evil together.
So while it will obviously be bad to see the Avengers splinter, it’s not the same as seeing longtime friends and family turn on each other to support an ideal.
In the same vein as the previous point, there just aren’t enough superheroes to make Civil War into, well, a war.
Let's count how many we have. Thor and Hulk are off the grid -- so we are assuming they won't be a part of the conflict. Cap's team at the end of Age of Ultron has six members, add Iron Man, Ant-Man Daredevil, Black Panther, and Spider-Man, and that's still only eleven heroes.
Unfortunately, it's hard to have a war with just 11 people. Even if you add in characters from Marvel's Agents of SHIELD TV show like Deathlok and Mockingbird, there just aren’t a large number of heroes to truly exploit all of the epic scenarios and battles that Civil War has to offer. Like this:
And while the Guardians of the Galaxy are a part of the MCU, there's no way they'd fly across the galaxy to take part in a superhero debate, so we're not even considering them.
You knew Iron Man’s Pro-Registration side was going too far when they enlisted a group of supervillains to help them take down Captain America and his allies. A team of “reformed” bad guys known as the Thunderbolts were brought in to help out, showing how truly desperate Iron Man and company were to have a numbers advantage. Venom (Mac Gargan), Lady Deathstrike, Taskmaster, Bullseye, Jester, Jack O'Lantern, and Songbird were all enlisted, and even though they were heavily monitored and controlled, it just didn’t feel right to see heroes working alongside thieves and murderers.
In the MCU, there just aren’t enough villains to have this kind of twist. Most of the MCU villains are presumed dead -- Iron Monger, Whiplash, Aldrich Killian, etc. -- so that leaves just a handful behind like Abomination and Brock Rumlow aka Crossbones.
General Thunderbolt Ross has been confirmed as being in the movie, but he's more the face of the antagonistic U.S. military than a supervillain. Actually, he eventually becomes the Red Hulk, but that's a whole other story...
You might be wondering about the Winter Solider, but as hinted by his change of heart during his climactic battle with Cap, we're fairly certain he's going to make a heroic turn just like in the comics.
Bottom line: there's just not enough villains to pull off what's in the comics.
One of the more disturbing acts committed during Civil War was when Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic created “Prison 42.” It was a secret prison in another dimension called the Negative Zone, one created to hold superhuman prisoners. Anyone who opposed the Superhuman Registration Act was to be held there indefinitely, making Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and the rest look more like fascists than superheroes.
Yeah, they could just use a normal prison in the movie, but that’s not as twisted as sending objectors to another dimension ruled by vicious bug creatures.
In a storyline prior to Civil War, Thor died, so imagine everyone’s surprise when Thor showed up in the first big fight between the opposing superhero factions.
He turned the tide of the battle, but then shocked everyone when he fired a lethal lightning bolt through Goliath, killing him instantly. The murderous Thor turned out to be a clone engineered by Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Hank Pym -- one with obvious defects concerning his morality.
Not only was Thor showing up after such a long absence an incredible surprise, but his subsequent actions cemented the pro-registration side as the bad guys of the story and showed just how far they had fallen.
Possible solution: Last we saw, Thor went back to Asgard to deal with his visions glimpsed in Age of Ultron, so what if Iron Man cloned Thor (perhaps from the blood on Loki’s dagger, which conveniently was left on Stark Tower after their bout in the first Avengers) in order to make it seem like he has the God of Thunder on his side? It could happen.
While the main conflict of Civil War is a battle of ideas between Captain America and Iron Man, the true heart of the story comes from Spider-Man. He first sides with Iron Man in order to earn the benefits of being a registered hero (not to mention he also gets a sweet new Iron Spider costume), going so far as to reveal his hard-kept secret identity to the media in a bold show of support, as we mentioned earlier. It wasn’t until Goliath’s death and learning that uncooperative heroes were being imprisoned indefinitely that Spidey realized he was fighting for the wrong side. He defected to Captain America’s Secret Avengers, but it cost him a lot of pain.
Spider-Man was the character with the most to gain -- and to lose -- from choosing a side in Civil War. He’s an everyman, not a billionaire-playboy-philanthropist or a secret agent, so he became the anchor for the entire story. He had an elderly aunt and a wife at home to protect, providing real consequences for giving up his identity.
With Spider-Man not yet being established in the MCU, it wouldn’t feel right to bank the whole movie on his change of heart from one side of the conflict to the other. We’re thinking Spider-Man will get a glorified cameo at best, and he certainly won’t be as front and center as in the original comic.
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