For the past number of weeks, rumors and speculation have been flying around about which superheroes align themselves with Captain America and Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War. Now, the footage Disney and Marvel showed off at D23 a few weeks back confirmed which sides at least a few take, but there were still a few that were up in the air. Now Hawkeye himself Jeremy Renner has taken to social media to reveal the line-ups for both teams, with without a doubt a few surprises.
Before I get started, beware of SPOILERS. Still here? Okay so just two weeks ago, Heroic Hollywood dropped an exclusive that revealed the teams for Civil War. Now for the most part, they were correct, but if these promo images are official, then there are a few changes from that initial report. The promo art below reveals that Captain America (Chris Evans) will be backed by Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Redwing (Falcon’s drone sidekick), Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Sharon Carter (Emily Van Camp). Whereas Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) will be teaming up with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Vision (Paul Bettany) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman).
Check out the epic new promos below:
Quick recap. The rumor we heard a few weeks back had Cap surrounded by Falcon, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Ant-Man. Whereas this promo art reveals that Scarlet Witch may very well not be included in the hero vs. hero battle, with Sharon Carter (Peggy’s niece) taking her place on the team.
That same rumor also had Iron Man teamed up with Black Widow, War Machine, Vision and the web-head Spider-Man. But as you can see, these images show no sign of Spider-Man but have Black Panther joining Stark and his team. That is the biggest surprise here because for the longest time, we’ve been led to believe that Black Panther would be the neutral party in the film, as Spidey was in the comic book. But here, it shows us that Black Panther will be fighting alongside Iron Man and his allies.
These new images bring to light a ton of new questions… Does Scarlet Witch bow out of the superhero showdown following the “international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage” hinted at in the synopsis? What about Black Widow? With her and Captain America’s relationship being positively built throughout the last few movies, what’s the deciding factor in her joining Iron Man? If the comic book has great influence of the film, one hero will be switching sides (or playing double agent), could Widow truly be working undercover for Cap? Could that be Black Panther? Cap and Panther have great ties in the comic books, and that should not be taken lightly… Or how about Spider-Man? Where does he fit into all of this? Still many questions to be answered.
Many across the inter-web have been pointing at that it sure as hell looks like Team Cap is hopelessly outgunned… And that may be what it looks like, but do not underestimate Cap and the allies he has. Iron Man and his team may have the bigger guns, but with it assumed and basically guaranteed that Cap and his squad will be operating underground for most of the film, do not count out the kind of damage this team can do, especially with the kind of black ops/war experience and intelligence on their side (Cap, Falcon, Winter Soldier and Hawkeye).
On a side not, Hawkeye’s new digs are awesome. If this promo image is an indication of the kind of updated live-action suit we’ll get for the character, great stuff. Also, I’m loving seeing Bucky (Winter Soldier) finally excepting who he is and not using a mask or any kind of face make-up to cover himself up. It’s a great evolution for the character, he’s going to be a powerful ally to Cap and his team.
Whatever kind of questions arise or whatever opinions you have about the teams, as of now these are the sides we’ll see clash in Civil War. What do you think of the line-ups? Are you happy with the way characters aligned? Does it feel to one-sided? Sound off in the comments below!
Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 6th, 2016 release date. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Emily VanCamp, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Martin Freeman.