The Road To Endgame – Part 13: Captain America: Civil War

And now we reach the final phase – the beginning of the end, one might say.

The final run up to Endgame starts here and we begin Phase Three as we mean to go on, with Captain America: Civil War.   This is a divisive film to say the least: is this as good as the previous instalment in the franchise, Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Has it earned its way in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let’s take a look at the film and find out.

From the offset, Captain America: Civil War finds itself in a different position than the first two films in the series. This is a post Age Of Ultron world, one in which the heroes must be controlled and monitored, and that’s where Captain America: Civil War starts.

It’s all about the Sokovia Accords and how these would affect the heroes involved. Various heroes have different reasons for choosing either the pro-registration or the anti-registration side and that’s where the conflict of the story lies. This is very much a story about Captain America vs Iron Man, dealing with their complex moral and emotional hang-ups, with a healthy smattering of other characters to give the story the scale it rightfully deserves.

This is the first film in 13 movie cinematic universe sequence that needs prior knowledge of the other films and you know what? I think by this point it’s earned the right to ask you watch a couple of films beforehand. And let’s be honest, if you’ve not seen a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie by this stage, I’d like to commend the excellent wifi signal you’re getting from under that rock.

The cast of characters is large and the performances varying, so I’ll give them a brief rundown here. In the forefront of the story you have Robert Downey Jnr as Tony Stark, giving one of his greatest performances to date. He’s so easily emotionally invested in here, it’s quite the show. Chris Evans is also at his peak here, it’s almost like he gets better with every movie he’s in. The rest of the cast can be discarded, they’re simply there to make the film feel bigger (which, to some degree, is to the films detriment, as a more interpersonal narrative might have felt better).

The ones to note here are Tom Holland in his first appearance as Spider-Man, and indeed, Spider-Man’s first appearance in the MCU.  I still remember the giant grin on the face when he first appeared in the Civil War trailer. Spider-Man has long been my favourite superhero, and to see him alongside my other favourite superheroes? It’s a euphoric feeling, helped more by the fact he’s great here. The lesser known introduction into this film is Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman. The character is good, the performance however feels slightly lacking in flavour. Still, it’s not bad for an character introduction.

As a film, Captain America: Civil War is a fun, frenetic ride through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one that has wide reaching consequences going forward. It’s also a deserving conclusion to the Captain America trilogy. On the road to Endgame, this is a very necessary, worthwhile stop.

8/10