Image from marvel.com
Civil War has been one of my favorite events in Marvel, which I read several times. I simply love the idea of conflicting ideologies, former comrades confronting one another and other characters choosing sides based on their own issues and motivations. It’s a storyline leaving no space for the simple black and white creed and a ton of room for all hues of gray. With the upcoming movie, Captain America: Civil War there are a few things from the graphic novel that I’m looking forward to on how they will be adapted to the story given the stark differences the movie has with its source material. There’s quite a lot of things I have in mind but I’ve trimmed the list down to 5 key items.
Before we begin, I’d like to point out one important issue… SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven’t read through the graphic novel, this may be a good time to turn back if you’re planning to read it anytime soon. And although they have their differences, there are some details here which may spoil the movie for you. You have been warned! Sooooooooo… are you still there? Good! Let’s do this!
5. Captain America VS Iron Man
Right off the bat we see how these two Avengers go head-to-head. How would Captain America’s abilities stack up against Tony Stark and his formidable tech? As anti-climactic as it seems, Iron Man easily takes this battle despite the Captains hand-to-hand combat prowess. But it may not be in the way you expected, like Iron Man via a firepower advantage. In their first major battle, Tony Stark reveals that his armor had memorized Cap’s fighting moves, allowing him to easily read and predict Cap’s moves, countering him with ease and ends the first meeting with Cap beaten into a pulp. “Game, set, match!” you say? Not Quite. Down the line, the two find themselves facing each other once more but this time, Cap enlists the aid of the Vision to sabotage Iron Man’s armor (Yep, the Vision is on Cap’s side in the graphic novel), neutralizing his advantage. As a result, Captain America comes up on top! However, winning one battle doesn’t mean winning the war…
We’ve seen the friction between these two in several scenes in the past movies. So how would this iconic face-off play out in the big screen? Would it go down the same way? Would Tony’s armor be as advanced as to read Cap’s movement? If so, what would be Steve’s counter to this now that he is Vision-less?
4. Tony Stark enlists Super Villains
The reason for the Civil War event in the graphic novel revolves around the super human registration act. In a nut shell, the US government wants all the super-powered beings as well as vigilantes to register with them so they can essentially facilitate their activities and instill a greater sense of responsibility among the heroes. Of course, not everyone likes this as it compromises a lot of things with freedom being one of them. Naturally, a lot of the heroes opposes Iron Man and this pro-registration faction. To bolster up his army, Iron Man enlists the aid of super villains “on a leash.” Yep, he did it. But truth be told, he had little choice on the matter.
Tony strikes a deal with Baron Zemo.
So would Mr. Stark resort to the same measures (we know that Baron Zemo will be in the film)? Though I honestly find this unlikely as the two sides appear evenly matched based on the trailers thus far. Well, unless…
3. Switching Sides
Have you answered that question on the movie posters? So are you with #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan? Would it matter if you knew that in the graphic novel, several members switched sides mid-way. They didn’t like their side’s methods, they had a change of heart and didn’t believe in their cause any longer, or it wasn’t as profitable now. Whatever the reason, they switched sides. Perhaps the highest profile turncloak among them was the posterboy of the pro-registration, Spider-Man! After a few skirmishes between the two sides, Peter Parker finds himself questioning his side and leading him to have a major disagreement with Tony Stark, where he barely escapes with the help of a certain black-clad lunatic (and I’ll get a hell of a kick out of it if he at least makes a cameo in the movie!).
There have been speculations going around now as to who will be switching sides in the movie and a few theories merit a second look. So who would be turncloaks? Will Spider-Man do the same in the movie?
2. Sharon Carter
Sharon Carter from Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Okay, you know that “nurse” who turned out to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent that Cap had a crush on back in the second movie? Her name’s Sharon Carter A.K.A. Agent 13 (Notice that she has the same last name as Cap’s first girlfriend. Okay, now Google it!). She actually plays a major role in Steve Roger’s life in the graphic novels, being a love interest and all. Upon seeing her in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I had my hopes up on how she would impact the whole storyline. See, in the graphic novel, she plays a very important role which changed the landscape of the story, specifically during the aftermath of Civil War. Wanna know what it is? We’re getting there…
1. Captain America Dies
Yeeeeeeeep! Cap gets fatally shot a few times and guess who did the shooting? Well, there’s Crossbones who shot him through the shoulder. That’s nothing for quick-healing Cap right? But as the chaos ensues, Sharon Carter finds her way to Cap’s side… and shoots him point-blank in the abdomen, THREE TIMES, resulting to his death.
Honestly, I’m looking forward to how things will play out in the movie, especially if they will do something to this effect. And fine, in the graphic novel, Sharon Carter was brainwashed by the Red Skull at the time and Steve Rogers doesn’t really die… But imagine if these scenes are shown in the movie. How moving can they potentially be? And quite honestly, would the Marvel Cinematic Universe be bold enough to kill off one major character?
Let’s get ready to rumble!
There you have it! Aside from finding out which side will win, I’m looking forward to these and how they might shake the plot up if ever they do get incorporated to the story… well, especially the last one. Honestly though, I’m quite disappointed that there are only a few characters appearing in the movie when it could have been EPIC like how it is in the graphic novel. But, let’s see. I’m still hyped about the movie and all the showdowns waiting to happen! (Scarlet Witch VS Vision anyone?) Will Cap kick some iron butt? How will Spider-Man be incorporated in the story? The more important question though is… Whose side are you on?
Captain America: Civil War kicks off in Philippine theaters on April 27.