Captain America: Civil War

**Captain America: Civil War** is a 2016 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the thirteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first film of Phase Three. It is the sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger and 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The film is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, with a screenplay by the writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America.

## Plot

In 1991, HYDRA operatives inside the Russian Armed Forces travel to their Siberian facility and revive the Winter Soldier from a cryogenic state. After using a set of conditioned trigger words to ensure the Winter Soldier's loyalty, Vasily Karpov orders him to intercept an automobile and execute its occupants.

In the present, approximately one year after the Ultron Offensive, public opinion of the Avengers has become increasingly divided due to the events in New York, Washington, D.C. and Sokovia. Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon and Scarlet Witch learn that Brock Rumlow plans to steal a biological chemical weapon from the Institute for Infectious Diseases in Lagos, Nigeria. After being cornered, Rumlow attempts to commit suicide with a bomb vest, trying to take Rogers with him in an act of revenge. Maximoff contains the explosion, but she loses control of her powers and inadvertently destroys a nearby building, killing several relief aid workers from Wakanda.

At MIT, Tony Stark demonstrates B.A.R.F., a piece of technology aimed to recreate and relive old memories and follows with a speech where he introduces a grant being awarded to all students, giving them all the proper funding to move forward with their own inventions and ideas. Before leaving the stage, he is shaken when the teleprompter refers to Pepper Potts, whom he has broken up with over his refusal to give up being Iron Man. Outside, he is confronted by Miriam Sharpe whose son was killed in the battle with Ultron in Sokovia, whose story shakes Stark.

One month after the incident in Lagos in their headquarters, the Avengers are visited by Stark and Thaddeus Ross, waiting for them. Ross explains that, due to the events in Lagos, the United Nations has decided they can no longer be allowed to operate privately. To that end, it has been decided that the Avengers will sign the Sokovia Accords, which will establish an international panel to control the Avengers' movements as well as monitor and police the rapidly growing number of enhanced individuals.

The team is divided over the act; Stark supports government oversight because he feels guilty for his role in creating Ultron and the devastation Ultron caused. He also feels that the Avengers need to take more responsibility for the consequences of their actions, as he did when he discovered Stark Industries was secretly shipping weapons to Ten Rings. However, Rogers worries that the Avengers may be compromised if it comes under the control of a nefarious third party, such as the infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. by HYDRA. Ross states that refusing to sign the accords will be seen as an act of resignation.

Meanwhile, retired Karpov is ambushed by Helmut Zemo, who asks for information regarding the 1991 mission. Karpov refuses, forcing Zemo to kill him.

During their debate about the Accords, Rogers learns that Peggy Carter has passed away in her sleep and abruptly leaves for her funeral in London. While there, he learns Sharon Carter was Peggy's great-niece as she delivers a eulogy about how one should never back down from what they believe in. This solidifies Roger's resolve not to sign the accords. Wanda finds herself confined to the facility by Vision, ostensibly for her safety since emotions are running high after what happened in Lagos.

In Vienna, where the signing of the Accords is to take place, a terrorist bomb kills King T'Chaka of Wakanda. When security cameras reveal the suspect as Bucky Barnes, T'Chaka's son, T'Challa, vows revenge. Against Romanoff's advice, Rogers and Wilson decide to go behind Ross' back and bring in Barnes themselves. Following a tip-off by Carter, and a gruelling chase, Barnes is captured, and Rogers, Wilson, and T'Challa are arrested for obstruction of justice.

While Barnes is in captivity in Berlin, Rogers and Stark argue about the Accords further, with Rogers nearly convinced to sign until he learns of Wanda's in-house arrest. At a power grid station outside the city, a box sent by Zemo contains an e-bomb, which explodes and shuts down electricity for the entire city, including the cameras and computers that we're monitoring on Barnes. Barnes is released by Zemo, who uses HYDRA's trigger words to send him on a rampage. Rogers and Wilson intervene just as Barnes is escaping containment, with Rogers attempting to calm Barnes while Wilson chases after Zemo, attempting to flee the facility. Zemo escapes, and Barnes nearly gets away in a helicopter before being caught by Rogers.

In a panic, he intentionally crashes the chopper, and as it falls into the nearby river, pulls Rogers in with him before being knocked unconscious by the impact. After coming to his senses, Barnes tells Rogers that Zemo is headed for the abandoned HYDRA facility in Siberia where he and five other Winter Soldiers were created using the Super Soldier Serum he stole in 1991.

Believing Zemo intends to release the other Winter Soldiers and unleash them on the world, Rogers calls upon Clint Barton for aid in freeing Wanda, which Barton agrees to since he feels he owes her a debt as her brother sacrificed himself to save his life in Sokovia. He manages to break into the New Avengers Facility and convinces Wanda to come with him, who uses her abilities to overpower Vision. Falcon decides to recruit Scott Lang to join the team as well, having been impressed by his abilities following their duel a few months prior. Lang, who is in awe at getting to meet Captain America, quickly and easily agrees to join Rogers.

Back at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre compound, Stark convinces Ross to give him 36 hours to bring his renegade comrades in and assembles Romanoff, T'Challa, James Rhodes, and Vision. Feeling he is still undermanned, Stark travels to New York City and meets Peter Parker, a high school student who has been using enhanced agility and tensile webbing of his own design to fight crime while disguised as a spider-based hero known as Spider-Man. When Stark asks him why he's doing this, Parker explains that he understands the price of not doing the right thing.

Trying to flee Berlin and reach Siberia before Zemo, Rogers and his team assemble at Flughafen Leipzig-Halle airport, where they hope to take a chopper out of the country. When sirens indicate the airport is being evacuated, Rogers instructs his team to suit up and travels to a chopper alone, where he is confronted by Stark alongside his allies. When Rogers refuses to back down, the Avengers get into a massive fight which destroys a large section of the airport.

During the fight, the Avengers decides to buy time for Rogers and Barnes to reach the Quinjet, at the expense of imprisonment. Ant-Man uses his suit to grow gargantuan, which tips the scales and creates enough of a distraction to allow Rogers and Barnes to reach a jet. The two are confronted by Romanoff, but she can't bring herself to take them down and allows them to leave in Stark's Quinjet, while the rest of the Avengers are captured.

As Stark and Rhodes chase the jet, Vision attempts to blast Falcon, who is following them, out of the sky. However, he misses and hits Rhodes, who plummets to the ground and is left paralyzed. Romanoff, knowing she will be arrested for acting against the accords, goes into hiding. Parker is injured in the fight, and a grateful Stark sends the boy back home, much to the former's dismay.

Stark finds evidence that Barnes was framed by Zemo and finds that the rest of the Avengers have been thrown into a top-secret prison called the Raft designed to hold enhanced people. He visits the dismayed former Avengers and temporarily disables security in order to learn from Wilson where Rogers and Barnes are going. He follows the two to Siberia and is shadowed by T'Challa. Rogers and Stark reconcile, and as they explore the facility, they discover that the other Winter Soldiers have been murdered by Zemo who had never intended to release them.

Zemo reveals that he is a Sokovian and wants to punish the Avengers for the death of his family during Ultron's attack. Zemo shows Stark a security video from 1991, which reveals Barnes as the assassin who murdered Stark's parents to steal samples of the Super Soldier Serum from their car. Rogers tells Stark that he knew the circumstances of their deaths, though not that it was Barnes himself who killed them. Stark see through the lie and Rogers admits that he knew it was Barnes all along. A disillusioned and enraged Stark then turns on Barnes, forcing Rogers to fight him to save his friend's life. While trying to crush Stark's arc reactor, Barnes' robotic arm gets blasted off by his suit's unibeam.

Rogers finally manages to disable Stark's armour and begins to depart with Barnes. As Rogers leaves, Stark bitterly reminds him that his shield doesn't belong to him, but rather his father, who made it. Accepting that he is no longer worthy of it or the title of Captain America, Rogers drops the shield and leaves with Barnes.

Having succeeded in his plans of ripping apart the Avengers, Zemo waits outside where he meets with T'Challa and the two discuss vengeance and the terrible things it can lead men to do. T'Challa has decided he will not let his desire for revenge consume him like it did Zemo and the Avengers and prevents him from committing suicide, content on sending him to prison. Under the custody of Everett Ross, Zemo hints that while he may be imprisoned, his grand plan wasn't as much of a failure as Ross suggests it was, knowing that the Avengers may now be irretrievably fractured.

Back at the Avengers facility, Stark builds an exoskeletal frame for Rhodes, to help him regain the use of his legs. Rhodes assures his friend that, despite what happened, like him, he still believes he made the right choice. Stark receives a package containing a phone and a letter from Rogers. In the letter, Rogers apologizes for everything that happened and for not telling him the truth about his parents, as well as noting his regret that he cannot accept the accords. He tells Stark that he knows the day will come when the team will need to assemble and act like one again. When that day arrives, Rogers and his team he freed from prison will be there.

Several weeks later, Barnes and Rogers are granted asylum in Wakanda by T'Challa. Barnes chooses to undergo cryostasis until his brainwashing can be completely removed or suppressed successfully. As Rogers warns T'Challa that the governments of the world will come to Wakanda if they find out Barnes is there, T'Challa dares them to try. Shortly after the clash, Parker discovers a portable holographic computer that Stark had programmed into his Web-Shooters.

## Cast

* Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America
* Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man
* Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
* Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
* Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon
* Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine
* Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye
* Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther
* Paul Bettany as Vision
* Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
* Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man
* Emily VanCamp as Agent Sharon Carter
* Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
* Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo
* Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow / Crossbones
* William Hurt as Secretary Thaddeus Ross
* Martin Freeman as Agent Everett Ross
* Marisa Tomei as May Parker
* John Kani as King T'Chaka
* John Slattery as Howard Stark
* Hope Davis as Maria Stark
* Alfre Woodard as Miriam Sharpe
* Kerry Condon as F.R.I.D.A.Y.
* Gene Farber as Colonel Vasily Karpov
* Florence Kasumba as Ayo
* Stan Lee as FedEx Driver
* Gozie Agbo as Theo Broussard
* Cornell S. John as Attaché

## Production

### Development

In March 2014, Anthony and Joe Russo confirmed that they had signed on to return as directors for a third Captain America film, along with Chris Evans as Captain America, Kevin Feige as producer, and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely as screenwriters. Markus and McFeely had been working on the screenplay since late 2013, while the Russo brothers began work in February 2014. The re-hiring of the directors, three months before the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, came as a result of Marvel executives being impressed with test screenings of that film. Evans earned $15 million for the film.

In an April 2014 interview, Joe Russo described the project as a continuation of the story from Captain America: The Winter Soldier: "What's nice about the film is that ... it's a two-parter. There's a journey that the Winter Soldier goes on that isn't complete yet." That month, Marvel announced a release date of May 6, 2016, and Trent Opaloch, who was the cinematographer on The Winter Soldier, said he would return for the sequel. In July, Markus and McFeely stated that they were midway through a first draft for the film, on which principal photography was expected to begin in April 2015. The following month, they stated that they were looking to make the tone of the film "an amalgam" of The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier, with the Russo's likening it to a psychological thriller, citing Seven, Fargo, and The Godfather as influences, along with westerns and Brian De Palma's films. The Russo's also stated that "a good portion of Civil War is actually funnier than Winter Soldier" with a more comedic tone and lighter moments throughout.

In August 2014, the Russo's stated that the film would be set "a couple years" after The Winter Soldier and would continue to focus on Steve Rogers' relationship with Bucky Barnes as well as the political themes related to Captain America. Anthony stated, "The character was invented for an explicitly political purpose. So it's hard to get away from that nature." The Russo's also said that they would be "bringing some new elements to the table that will give us a twist on Winter Soldier" and indicated that filming was scheduled to begin in Atlanta. They described themselves as "ecstatic" with a first draft of the screenplay submitted by Markus and McFeely, and also stated that the film's title would be announced "in a month or so at most", and that the concept and title for the film came from Feige, who had it "for a while". In September, Joe expanded by saying the film would have another "big idea that alters the universe as a whole in some way" similar to S.H.I.E.L.D. falling in The Winter Soldier. The rest of the film, such as the characters, story, and tone, would be left open to the Russo's and writers' interpretations.

### Pre-Production

By October 2014, Robert Downey Jr. had entered final negotiations to reprise his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man in the film. Downey was added in order for the film to adapt the 2006–07 "Civil War" comic book storyline written by Mark Millar, which pitted Iron Man against Captain America. At the end of the month, it was confirmed that Sebastian Stan would return as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. A few days later, Marvel revealed that the film would be titled Captain America: Civil War, confirming Downey's appearance and announcing that Chadwick Boseman would appear in the film as Black Panther ahead of his own solo film. Feige also confirmed that the film would be the first in the MCU's Phase Three slate of films. Anthony Russo stated that adapting the "Civil War" storyline was not always the intended storyline and direction for the film when the brothers initially signed on to return as directors. Markus expanded on this, saying the original concept for a third Captain America film "never got to draft", with Feige at some point telling the writing team to begin adapting "Civil War" around their original ideas. McFeely also added that, despite the shift in direction for the film, "The central theme, even the way Zemo is operating, are from that early iteration." The Russo's revealed that, had negotiations with Downey to appear in the film failed, they would have used the Madbomb storyline from the Captain America comics, which was eventually used as a plot point in the first season of the Agent Carter TV series. The premise for the film would have centred on Zemo detonating the Madbomb, which would "turn hordes of people into berserkers" to present a physical threat to Captain America, while still pitting heroes against each other, as some would be zombified due to the Madbomb, to satisfy an "emotional component" for the film.

McFeely said that the idea of basing a film on "Civil War" had "been on and off the table for a while" at Marvel Studios, explaining, "it's a challenge to do it and make sure that all the characters that we've established, and everyone's established in the MCU are serviced and sound correct. Because there's a difference between the characters in "Civil War", which was written in 2006, 2007. The MCU doesn't exist when it was written. There isn't a Robert Downey, Jr. or Chris Evans who has helped create the characters, so we need to make sure that that template gets adjusted". Joe Russo added that the "essence" of "Civil War" was used, such as "the concept of registration, the notion that heroes need to be either monitored or controlled because their power can be scary" being applicable. Anthony Russo expanded, "in a lot of ways [superhero registration] can be a political issue, and we didn't want the conflict of the movie to solely exist on that level. We wanted to figure out very personal reasons why everyone's relationship to this idea of registration is going to become complicated. That's what the relationship between Steve and Bucky allowed us to do, to get very personal in terms of why people would lean one way or the other." Executive producer Nate Moore added that "it felt like it was kind of the right time" to adapt "Civil War" given The Avengers, plus many of the Phase Two films (Thor: The Dark World, The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron), all dealt with "world-ending experiences. We felt like we had to tell the next step in that story, which is ... what is the world's reaction?"

In November 2014, Daniel Brühl joined the cast in an unspecified role, while Anthony Mackie and Frank Grillo were confirmed to return as Sam Wilson / Falcon and Brock Rumlow / Crossbones, respectively. Following the November 2014 hacking of Sony Pictures' computers, emails between Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal and President Doug Belgrad were released stating that Marvel wanted to include Spider-Man (whose film rights are licensed to Sony) in the film but talks between the studios concerning this were believed to have broken down. However, in February 2015, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios reached a licensing deal for the use of Spider-Man in an MCU film, and reports indicated that the character would indeed appear in Civil War. The Russo's stated they were lobbying for months to include the character in the film. In January 2015, Mackie revealed that, in addition to Atlanta, filming locations would include Puerto Rico and Berlin, while the Russo brothers confirmed that Scarlett Johansson would return in the film as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow. Editor Jeffrey Ford, who worked on The Winter Soldier, also signed on for Civil War. In March 2015, Jeremy Renner was revealed to be reprising his role as Clint Barton / Hawkeye. The next month, it was revealed that the film would be converted to 3D in post-production, and that Brühl would be playing Helmut Zemo. Additionally, Elizabeth Olsen revealed she would reprise her role in the film as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch.

### Filming

Principal photography began on April 27, 2015, in Fayette County, Georgia, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, under the working title Sputnik. Other filming locations in the Atlanta metropolitan area included the Buckhead district of Atlanta; the Peachtree Christian Church in Midtown Atlanta; Downtown Atlanta, including an area near Philips Arena known as The Gulch, which served as the market in Lagos; Norcross, Georgia; Porsche's headquarters in Atlanta at Aerotropolis Atlanta, which served as the Avengers' headquarters in the film; and the Atlanta Civic Center, which served as the IFID (Institute for Infectious Diseases) laboratory in Lagos; the latter's interiors doubled as MIT, and a third part was used for a Berlin location. Trent Opaloch served as director of photography, while Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, and Spiro Razatos were second unit directors.

In early May, Marvel announced that Martin Freeman was cast in an unspecified role, while also reprising roles in the film would be Paul Bettany as Vision, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, and William Hurt as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared as Nick Fury in the two previous Captain America films, said he was "surprised" to discover that he would not be in Captain America: Civil War, after "the Russo Brothers told him he was." Moore stated that Fury was not included "because he didn't add anything to the Civil War story they were telling", while Markus stated that they did not want him to choose any particular side because "that's not his place in the universe". On each of the character's ties to the plot, Anthony Russo said that each character was examined on a personal level to see how they would respond to the idea of registration. On the portrayal of each character, Joe Russo said that he and his brother had strong "emotional" and "psychological connections to these characters" as children, adding, "We want to reach into that and understand what elementally motivated you to love the character. That's what we try to bring out in the characters now." He also mentioned that they were "trying to honour the feeling of naturalism and to honour the feeling of reality with the film."

After the reveal of the film's full cast, many outlets and fans began referring to the film as "Avengers 2.5 ", given the variety and ensemble nature of the cast, usually reserved for the Avengers films, and the fact that the film no longer felt like a Captain America-centric one, as with The Winter Soldier. In response to this, Feige said, "What's fun about Civil War though is, as you know from the comics, it's a very simple story. And it really has to be, to accommodate that many players. It's very much a Captain America movie and it's very much a sequel to the Winter Soldier in ways I don't think people will expect.... It's a very simple structure that allows you to have these amazing character interactions in a way that I don't think becomes overwhelming." Feige also revealed that Hope van Dyne / Wasp was in an original draft of the film, after receiving the Wasp costume at the end of Ant-Man, but was cut because "there are so many characters in Civil War that we didn't want to do her a disservice," saying Marvel was "saving" the character for a better environment to reveal van Dyne in the Wasp costume for the first time and see "her dynamic with Scott Lang] in a way it could play out".

At the end of May, the Russo brothers, along with Feige and Pascal, held a screen test in Atlanta for six teenage actors that were being eyed for the role of Peter Parker / Spider-Man, with the actors testing against Downey and Evans for "chemistry"; Tom Holland was cast as the character the next month, to also appear in a solo film. The Russo's "were pretty vocal about who we wanted for the part", pushing to cast an actor close to the age of Peter Parker in the comics, in order to differentiate from the previous portrayals. They also praised Holland for having a dancing and gymnastics background. At the time, Marvel did not confirm his involvement in Civil War, due to being contractually obligated not to talk about his inclusion publicly. The Russo's discussed this, saying that the various business deals and agreements stemming from the sharing of the character rights, such as on a promotional and commercial level, "were always lagging slightly behind how we were using the character. We were always in danger of upsetting the deal, there were still sensitive issues going on between the two studios that they needed to agree on." Holland was confirmed to appear in the film in July 2015, by Jonathan M. Goldstein, one of the writers of the solo Spider-Man film, and later by Entertainment Weekly from a set visit. Jon Watts, director of Spider-Man: Homecoming, was on set for the filming of Spider-Man's scenes, in order to "see what they were doing with it, and that informed where we eventually took it," and provide "ideas about this and that", such as what Parker's wardrobe and bedroom should look like, "to make sure we were all on the same page so that Homecoming transitions seamlessly with theirs." Anthony Russo stated that, despite Marvel telling them to have a "plan B" should the deal with Sony fail, the Russo's never created one because "it was very important to us to reintroduce" Spider-Man in the film, adding, "We only have envisioned the movie with Spider-Man."

By the end of June, filming reached the halfway mark, with production moving to Germany in early August. Filming locations in Germany included the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, and the Leipzig/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz. Additional filming also took place in Puerto Rico and Norway and was scheduled to in Iceland. Principal photography wrapped on August 22, 2015.

Captain America: Civil War was the first film to use IMAX's digital 2D cameras, made in partnership with Arri, which was a customised version of the Arri Alexa 65. According to Joe Russo, approximately fifteen minutes of the film, the sequence where the two factions fight at Leipzig/Halle Airport, which was described as having "incredible scale to it" and referred to by the directors as the "splash panel", were shot with the cameras. Opaloch noted that there were discussions late in pre-production to shoot the entire film with the Alexa 65 cameras. However, because of how close it was to the start of shooting as well as the idea being "such a large-scale undertaking", it was decided to only use them for the airport sequence, with the rest of film being shot on Arri Alexa XT digital cameras. For the airport sequence, Opaloch rigged the Alexa 65s to a Technocrane, a Steadicam, a dolly as well as a drone for flyover shots, which had its own dedicated team operating it. Because of the amount of resolution the Alexa 65s offered, Opaloch chose to use medium close-ups instead of close-ups, and for his wide shots, hold the shot a bit longer, "maybe with a slight camera move that allows the viewer to take it all in."

### Post-Production

In September 2015, Mark Ruffalo, who plays Bruce Banner / Hulk in the MCU films, stated that his character was originally in the Civil War script, but was removed due to the end of Age of Ultron, as Marvel did not "want to reveal where he is and why" in this film. Markus added that as soon as the Hulk joined a side, the fight would be quickly over, saying, "You've got to kind of choose your roster of characters depending on what kind of fight you want to have." He later explained that he contemplated having the Hulk appear at the very end of the film, but decided against it, feeling that he was over-stuffing the film with characters, adding, "The Hulk has clearly gone somewhere at the end of Age of Ultron, and that's a story. Don't blow it off and put it in a little tiny chunk just to put in a little extra filigree on our movie." Additionally, Ross' alter ego, Red Hulk, was also considered for inclusion, but the Russo's felt that part of the character would need a proper backstory which they could not afford to give in the already crowded film. They felt that Ross "was there sort of as the government's agenda and not to add another complicated super powered character to the mix." Spider-Man's Iron Spider suit was also considered.

That November, Joe Russo stated that the theme of the film was betrayal, calling it "extremely emotional. The film hinges on that emotion, and on a very personal level we didn't want it to become about politics and people arguing about platitudes. The third act is built around a very personal moment between Captain America and Iron Man." The Russo's spent a great deal of time with Markus, McFeely, and Moore to ensure each character's emotional arc tracked through the entire film correctly, though realised that at some point "you have to sacrifice logic for expediency". Speaking about the post-production process in January 2016, the Russo brothers said, "This has been the easiest post process we've ever had on a film. We're very happy with how the movie was. Everyone is very happy with where the movie was. For us, the tricky thing is the effects because it's a very complicated movie and there are some really big sequences in the film. The effects are on a much larger scale than the work we did on Winter Soldier. That's the part that becomes really difficult because you don't have a lot of time and everyone has very high standards. So everyone starts killing themselves at this point... we'll be done with the movie in two and a half months." They also stated that the film would be doing "a few re-shoots" in mid-to-late January.

In February, Freeman's character was revealed to be Everett K. Ross, and Gwyneth Paltrow was reported to have joined the film for the January reshoots, reprising her role as Pepper Potts; however, in April 2016, it was revealed that Paltrow does not appear in the film, with Anthony Russo explaining that Paltrow's contract with Marvel had ended after Iron Man 3, and "we decided early on that we could make Pepper's break-up with Tony Stark have an emotional impact without actually having a scene with her." On March 16, 2016, the Russo's stated the film was "about a week and a half away from" completion, with Joe adding that the film would have a post-credits scene, with the possibility for two or three total. The film was completed on April 4, 2016. Later in April, Alfre Woodard and Jim Rash were revealed to be cast in the film, while Feige explained that Black Panther director Ryan Coogler contributed some dialogue for Black Panther in several scenes during reshoots. At the film's premiere, it was revealed that Marisa Tomei appears in the film as May Parker, Peter Parker's aunt.

#### Visual Effects

Nearly 20 visual effects studios worked on Captain America: Civil War including Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Lola VFX, Method Studios, Luma Pictures, Dneg, Image Engine, Trixter, Cinesite, and The Third Floor amongst others. Lola VFX de-aged Downey Jr. in a scene that involved a younger holographic version of himself. Lola VFX's visual effects supervisor, Trent Claus said, "In this case, we analysed footage of Mr. Downey at the approximate age that we wanted to target, which was around the time of the film Less Than Zero when Downey was in his early 20s." He also noted the difficulty of the scene, due to it being close to 4,000 frames, and the fact that Downey was moving his head from side to side multiple times. Lola also worked on visual effects for the Vision. The Third Floor extensively previsualized the film including the fight scene at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Gerardo Ramirez, the Previs and Postvis Supervisor for The Third Floor said:
Method Studios, which worked on 440 shots, was responsible for the helicopter sequence in the middle of the film and the climatic fight between Iron Man, Bucky, and Captain America. The original intent for the helicopter sequence was to place the scene next to the Paul-Löbe-Haus, where the Bundestag meets; however, the location was not allowed to be shown in the film, resulting in Method needing to create a full CGI background. For the climatic fight, one of the challenges for Method was getting the colour of Iron Man's suit correct, opting to go with a more "classic Iron Man look versus the really glossy car paint look" that Iron Man had in the previous Avengers films. ILM was primarily responsible for the visual effects during the large-scale fight sequence at the airport, along with creating the digital assets for all of the characters. VFX supervisor Russell Earl, stated that the 20-minute scene grew to be an almost fully digital sequence explaining, "We ultimately ended up replacing 99% of everything that was shot with the actors being lifted from the background. Originally both Spider-Man and Black Panther were planned to be photographed elements, but we ended up almost completely replacing them." Luma Pictures, who also worked on Winter Soldier, was assigned with completing shots of Bucky's arm and his metal brainwashing chair. They also worked on Bucky's escape from the task force lobby and designed Iron Man's new hybrid nanotechnology armour, which was an homage to the character's Bleeding Edge armour from the comics. Their work totalled approximately 200 shots.

Design firm Sarofsky once again worked on the film's main-on-end title sequence, having done the same for Winter Soldier. The sequence used "muted and mottled, burnt umber and steel blue and cold grey" colours, which were stark contrasts to the sequences for Winter Soldier and The First Avenger (the latter created by Method Design) which were "a minimalist graphic approach, reducing the key players to silhouettes and paring the palette down to three colours" and "vibrant and iconic propaganda art comes to life, enticing the viewer to join the fray", respectively. Creative director Erin Sarofsky noted one of the challenges for Civil War's sequence was "to make it feel like a Captain America title sequence and not an Avengers sequence" given the number of characters in the film.

## Music

See Also: Captain America: Civil War Soundtrack and Music of Marvel Cinematic Universe

Henry Jackman returned from Winter Soldier to score the sequel. He found the movie to be totally different from the previous one, which necessitated a much more symphonic and orchestral score. This culminates in the final fight between Captain America, Winter Soldier, and Iron Man, the music for which Jackman described as "somewhat operatic and... almost classical in its style". Though Jackman reprised and developed his themes for Captain America and the Winter Soldier from the previous film, and introduced motifs for the new characters Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Zemo, he was wary of pushing the audience to one side of the central conflict or the other by using character-specific music; Jackman composed a new main theme for the film to represent the Civil War, "a generic theme to balance everything out", "toward which all the characters can gravitate. It wrapped them all up and it helped to bind the movie together rather than do endless disparate themes." Jackman also wrote a thriller theme that appears whenever the mystery surrounding Zemo's plan is explored. This was inspired by the works of Jerry Goldsmith. The score was released on a soundtrack album by Hollywood Records on May 6, 2016.

## Marketing

### Promotion

In early July 2015, Marvel began a viral marketing campaign for Ant-Man featuring Leslie Bibb, reprising her role from the Iron Man films as journalist Christine Everhart, reporting for the faux news program, WHIH Newsfront. In one program, Everhart discusses events leading to Captain America: Civil War. The post-credits scene for Ant-Man featured footage shot by the Russo brothers for Captain America: Civil War, showing Wilson and Rogers with Barnes in their custody, and unable to contact Stark because of "the accords"; Wilson mentions that he "knows a guy", implying Lang. Feige explained that when the post-credit sequence appears in Civil War it may appear with "different takes... different angles." Stan said the scene was shot in early May 2015 and would appear in the middle of Civil War. The first footage of the film debuted in August 2015 at the D23 Expo. Additional footage was shown in September 2015 at the Asia Pop Comic Convention. The footage shown at the D23 Expo and 2015 Asia Pop Comic Convention received an overwhelmingly positive response from the audiences.

The first trailer for the film debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on November 25, 2015, and within hours became the number one trending topic on Twitter. The trailer was viewed 61 million times in the first 24 hours of release, surpassing the 34 million views of Avengers: Age of Ultron's in 2014. Scott Mendelson of Forbes called the trailer a "doozy" and noted that the early debut ahead of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a "good show" on behalf of Disney as it was "a way to not get lost amid the 8,000 other trailers debuting with Star Wars". Mendelson also noted that based on the trailer's content, the film was being "sold as Captain America 3, as opposed to Avengers 2.5 or Iron Man 4," which could help keep the film's box office expectations in check.

On February 4, 2016, Marvel released their own version of the Facebook "#FriendsDay" video for Captain America. The video mirrors those created by Facebook for users to celebrate the anniversary of Facebook's founding, and features images of Captain America's "friends" the Winter Soldier, Thor, Falcon and Hawkeye. The video concludes with an image of Captain America and Iron Man being torn in half. Jennifer Konerman of The Hollywood Reporter called the video "timely" and its contents "especially relevant considering the storyline" of Civil War. Three days later, a teaser debuted during Super Bowl 50, which received the most social media activity out of all the film trailers released that day. Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly said the footage "actually feels a little more like a teaser than a full trailer, since it shows some new shots, but really doesn't reveal much more about the story." Additionally, he felt the chanting "unseen voices calling out, 'United...We...Stand' and 'Divided...We...Fall'" had "a football stadium vibe", complimenting it appearing during the Super Bowl. Mendelson added that Marvel did not need to follow the model used for The Winter Soldier during Super Bowl XLVIII of showing a longer trailer after the teaser since Civil War was "frankly a higher-profile sequel." Overall, Mendelson felt the spot was "only a little less low-key and small(er)-scale as the trailer that debuted in" November 2015 and sold the "real world" aspect "with character drama and mostly real-world action between would-be superheroes."

Four days later, on Valentine's Day, the Facebook campaign was continued, with Marvel creating a "faux-status update" for Captain America, showing his relationship status had changed to "In a Complicated Relationship with Iron Man". At The Walt Disney Company's annual shareholder meeting in the Auditorium Theatre in March, CEO Bob Iger presented a clip from the film to "generous applause". From March 7 to 10, Marvel released individual posters for characters in the film, continued its Facebook campaign with two teaser videos showcasing the participants on "Team Cap" and "Team Iron Man", and released a second trailer. The trailer was viewed close to 95 million times within the first 24 hours of release, surpassing the views achieved by the first trailer. In addition, 240,000 social media posts across Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Facebook, among others, were made related to the trailer, surpassing the 81,000 the Age of Ultron trailer received in 2014. According to internet analytics firm ZEFR, the trailer was viewed over 62 million times from YouTube and Facebook over four days, making it the second most viewed trailer at the time, behind the 64.6 million views for the first Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. It also became the top trailer in 2016 through March 13, 2016, according to research firm ListenFirst, for receiving the most likes, retweets and other engagement on Twitter. The trailer continued to be the top viewed trailer on YouTube and Facebook for three straight weeks according to ZEFR, receiving more than 96 million total views since its release.

Mendelson called the trailer "a textbook case for unnecessary second pitches...Is there anyone out there who watched that first teaser back in December and said 'Hmm, it looks good and all, but I need more evidence'?" He added that he was "a little disappointed by the big Spider-Man reveal," having previously wondered, after a Spider-Man character poster was not released with the others, if Marvel would have the "courage" to not include the character in any marketing materials before the film's release, letting the "Peter Parker scenes the film has to offer be something that is a surprise for theatrical moviegoers and/or something that drives post-opening weekend buzz". Mendelson's colleague at Forbes Mark Hughes felt differently, noting that the trailer was targeting the general audience rather than just fans by giving "us more explanation and context of why a clearly major battle is raging between Captain America and Iron Man", and by including Spider-Man since "there are plenty of surprises in these movies, and since we all already know Spider-Man is in Civil War, refusing to let us see him would frankly be a bit weird and pointless ... it's common for average filmgoers to hear some final bit of information or see some final image and feel compelled, inspired, or otherwise driven to go out to the movies that day. There are any number of factors that can come into play...and the world needed to see Spider-Man because it's the sort of value-added element that can make [a] difference". Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter felt that the Spider-Man reveal "alone makes the trailer", describing it as feeling "like the comic book character come to life. That awkward, voice-cracking, 'hey everyone' was as humble, playing-it-cool and cocky as he should be."

With the film seemingly continuing plot threads first introduced in Age of Ultron, Mendelson wondered "to what extent the whole 'Consequences galore!' narrative of Civil War will improve Age of Ultron. As much great stuff as that movie has... it ultimately shows the main hero foolishly/recklessly bring a world-killing threat to Earth and lots of really bad stuff goes down and yet no one seems to care at the end... What does it mean if Civil War does retroactively improve Age of Ultron? Will we be at a point where we really can't judge a franchise instalment on its own merits because a future instalment may well fix the flaws a couple years down the line?" McMillan continued some of Mendelson's thinking, feeling that Marvel was "in an awkward place with Civil War" regarding superhero destruction moving forward. He wondered how superhero oversight would "actually prevent the kind of destruction that it's meant to stop ... unless the bad guys all agree to play by the new rules" as well. "Worse still... the destruction caused by superhero fights should now be foremost in viewers' heads... the audience won't be able to enjoy the sight of the Hulk smashing a random minion through a wall without thinking of the property damage and/or whoever was standing on the other side of that wall. After Civil War, can Marvel go back to pretending that everyone is okay after any large-scale event ever again?"

Also in March, Marvel, in partnership with the National Academy of Sciences Science & Entertainment Exchange, Dolby Laboratories, Broadcom, and Synchrony Bank, announced the "Girls Reforming the Future Challenge", aimed at females aged 15 through 18 in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education) fields, to submit projects they feel can change the world and have far-reaching effects. Five winners would attend the world premiere at the Dolby Theatre, and receive a tour of Walt Disney Studios and a $500 saving account from Synchrony Bank, with one grand prize winner receiving an internship at Marvel Studios. On April 10, Evans debuted an exclusive clip of the film during the 2016 MTV Movie Awards. Throughout the month, the Russo brothers and the cast promoted the film in Paris, Beijing, Singapore, Berlin and London. At the end of the month, Marvel released additional viral marketing videos of WHIH Newsfront, featuring Bibb once again reprising her role as Everhart. In the program, Everhart discusses with "political analyst" Will Adams, portrayed by Al Madrigal, the cost the Avengers bring for saving the world, and if they should have regulation from the government. Additional Newsfront segments saw William Sadler reprise his role as President Matthew Ellis, including an "exclusive" interview and his reaction to the incident involving the Avengers in Lagos. On May 2, 2016, Evans, Renner, and executives from Marvel rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange in honour of the film's theatrical release.

### Merchandise

At the 2015 Licensing International Expo, Disney Consumer Products announced that they would partner with licensees including Hasbro, Lego, Funko, Hot Wheels, Rubies, Mad Engine, C-Life, Jay Franco, Global Brand Group, Kellogg's, Hallmark and American Greetings to sell merchandise related to the film; Coca-Cola, Google, Samsung, Wrigley, Harley Davidson, Audi, Synchrony Financial, Pringles, Keebler, Pizza Hut, Pop Secret, Mouser Electronics, and Vivo, among other brands, were also licensees for the film. Paul Gitter, senior VP of licensing for Marvel at Disney Consumer Products said that they will build off the success of licensed products for Avengers: Age of Ultron, including a focus on a celebration of Captain America's 75th anniversary, female apparel, healthy living and travel, and on marketing newer characters such as War Machine, Falcon, Vision, Black Widow and Black Panther. "The Avengers team is both aspirational and hugely merchandisable, made up of multiple, unique heroes coming together with amazing skills, cool vehicles and a high-tech headquarters," said Gitter. "Captain America: Civil War not only gives us new storytelling for our favourite superheroes, but also introduces new ones allowing us to expand product lines for kids and fans." As part of the $200 million marketing effort for the film, Harley Davidson created two customized motorcycles for the film, Audi debuted a commercial directed by the Russo's featuring unreleased scenes from the film, while Pizza Hut debuted collectible boxes and Kellogg's, Pringles, and Keebler products featured virtual reality experiences. The lead-up to the film's release culminated in a massive online vote across Google, YouTube, and Twitter for either Team Captain America or Team Iron Man.

Marvel Comics released a four-issue comic prelude by writer Will Corona Pilgrim and artist Szymon Kudranski, beginning in December 2015, that adapted the events of Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. On February 10, Marvel Comics released another comic prelude, a single-issue infinite comic set between The Winter Soldier and Civil War. Written again by Pilgrim, the comic is told from the perspectives of Barnes, Rumlow, and Rogers, showing how each ended up where they begin Civil War. Art for each character's perspective is provided by Lee Ferguson, Goran Sudžuka, and Guillermo Mogorron, respectively.

## Release

### Theatrical

Captain America: Civil War premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on April 12, 2016 and was screened at CinemaCon 2016 on April 13. The film's Southeast Asia premiere was held on April 21 at the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, while the European premiere took place at Vue Cinemas in Westfield London on April 26. The film was released internationally starting from April 27, releasing in 61 countries its first weekend, including the United Kingdom on April 29. The North America release on May 6, took place in over 4,200 theatres, of which 3,300 were in 3D, along with 378 IMAX theatres, 480 premium large-format, and 161 D-Box locations. Internationally, the film opened in 955 IMAX theatres, while South Korea saw Civil War open in an "unprecedented" 1,989 theatres. In September 2014, TNT acquired the cable broadcast rights for Captain America: Civil War to air two years after its theatrical release.

### Home Media

Captain America: Civil War was released on digital download by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on September 2, 2016, and on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on September 13, 2016. The digital and Blu-ray releases include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and an exclusive preview of Doctor Strange. The digital release comes with an exclusive "mockumentary" short film, Team Thor, directed by Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, which was originally screened at San Diego Comic Con 2016 and showed what Thor was doing during the events of Civil War.

Captain America: Civil War was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on April 23, 2019.

## Reception

### Box Office

Captain America: Civil War grossed $408.1 million in the U.S. and Canada and $745.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.153 billion. By May 10, 2016, the film had grossed $737.8 million, surpassing the entire theatrical gross of its predecessor, Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714.4 million). It became the highest-grossing film of 2016, the fourth-highest-grossing superhero film of all time, and the third-highest-grossing film in the U.S. and Canada of 2016, behind Rogue One and Finding Dory. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $193.4 million, when factoring together "production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs, with box office grosses and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV," placing it eighth on their list of 2016's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".

#### United States and Canada

Two weeks ahead of its release, Fandango announced that the film outsold all previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films at the same point in the sales cycle, and by its opening week, had reached the highest advance sales for a superhero film, representing 90% of the site's weekend ticket sales. Captain America: Civil War earned $75.5 million on its opening day. The film's Friday gross included $25 million from Thursday previews, the second-highest Thursday preview gross among Marvel films, with $3.1 million of the $25 million coming from IMAX theatres, a new Marvel record. The film went on to earn $61.2 million on Saturday and $42.4 million on Sunday, for a total opening weekend gross of $179.1 million, the third-highest for a Marvel film and fifth-highest of all time. Of the $179.1 million, $16 million was from IMAX, the second best for an MCU film. Initial projections for Captain America: Civil War had it earning between $175–200 million on its opening weekend, with the projection being revised to $172–178 million after Friday. Box Office called it "the safest box office bet" since Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film remained at number one in its second weekend, and fell to second in its third, behind The Angry Birds Movie. In its fourth weekend, Captain America: Civil War became the highest-grossing film of 2016 in North America, and by June 17, 2016, became the first film of 2016 to surpass $400 million.

#### Other Territories

Captain America: Civil War's opening in 15 countries on April 27, 2016, earned $14.9 million, followed by $23.8 million the next day from 15 more countries, and $45.3 million two days later from 8 additional countries, for a three-day total of $84 million. Its first weekend brought a total of $200.4 million, after being projected to earn anywhere between $180–250 million, with $9.4 million coming from IMAX. The film debuted at number one in all countries except Japan. The film stayed at number one in its second weekend, earning $217 million, with existing territories seeing a 55% decline in earnings, while surpassing the entire international earnings of previous Captain America films, along with other MCU films. For IMAX in its second weekend, Captain America: Civil War earned $31 million, a new record for a day-and-date opening for a Marvel film. By its third weekend, the film remained at number one in some territories, being overtaken by The Angry Birds Movie in others, and became the top film of 2016 and fourth-highest-grossing superhero film outside of North America.

It set records for the largest opening day in Mexico ($7.3 million), opening day of 2016 in France ($2.4 million), the second-largest opening day in Brazil ($2.7 million) and the United Arab Emirates, the largest superhero opening day in the Netherlands, and the largest superhero opening in Turkey and Ukraine. It set opening weekend records in Brazil ($12.9 million), Mexico ($20.4 million), and the Philippines ($7.7 million), and was the second-largest opening weekend in Hong Kong ($6.9 million) and Thailand ($9.4 million). In the United Kingdom, the film earned the second-largest opening day and weekend of 2016 with $20.5 million, while France had the top 2016 opening weekend with $10.1 million. Germany had the best four-day opening of 2016 with $8.1 million, and Spain had the second-largest three-day opening of 2016 with $4.2 million. For South Korea, the film was the largest non-Korean opening and largest Marvel opening in history. China had the second-best IMAX opening ($9.5 million), as well as the second-largest opening weekend for a Hollywood film ($95.6 million), with the film eventually becoming the third-highest Disney release in the country after 10 days, and the second largest superhero film. Japan saw the film open third with $4.2 million, behind Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare ($5.3 million) and Zootopia ($4.8 million). The film's largest markets were China ($190.4 million), South Korea ($62.8 million), and the United Kingdom ($53.2 million).

### Critical Response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating with an average score of 7.72/10, based on 406 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Captain America: Civil War begins the next wave of Marvel movies with an action-packed superhero blockbuster boasting a decidedly non-cartoonish plot and the courage to explore thought-provoking themes." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 52 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an "A" grade on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 88% overall positive score and a 75% "definite recommend".

Justin Chang of Variety called it "the most mature and substantive picture to have yet emerged from the Marvel Cinematic Universe." Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter said, "Call it 'civil war' or call it brand extension; call it a 'cinematic universe' or a corporate behemoth, the latest Marvel extravaganza furthers the studio's cross-pollination of action franchises in a way that's sure to satisfy devotees." Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote, "This is the cinematic superhero showdown you've dreamt of since childhood, precisely because that's everything, and all, it wants to be." Catherine Shoard of The Guardian called it, "a huge aspartame rush of a film: a giant irresistible snack, not nutritious, but very tasty." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Kudos to co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo and the team of writers for juggling more than a dozen comic-book characters and nearly that many plot lines, and only occasionally getting us (and by us I mean me) lost in the geek weeds." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "If you live and breathe Marvel, this is one of the MCU's stronger offerings. If you are a spy coming in from the cold, the answer is not so clear." A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote, "Captain America: Civil War does not in any way transcend the conventions of the genre. On the contrary: It succeeds because it doesn't really try."

Conversely, Stephen Whitty of the New York Daily News said, "Although it's called Captain America: Civil War, the latest Marvel movie is actually a supersized Avengers picture, overstuffed to bursting. And sometimes during its two and a half hour running time, it just goes bust." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "As a work of thought, Civil War is compromised, but at least there are thoughts to compromise. As an action film, it has its moments, but aside from the big opening sequence, the action scenes are a bit flat." Andrew O'Hehir writing for Salon said, "Much of Captain America: Civil War is just the laborious working-out of leftover dangling plot elements from Captain America: The Winter Soldier two summers ago." While Nicholas Barber of BBC gave the film a generally favourable review, praising both its visuals and action sequences, he criticised the fact that there was "no cogent reason for any of the Avengers to be on one side or the other, which is why their inevitable dust-up feels like a game of dodgeball in a school playground." Mark Millar, writer of the "Civil War" comic storyline on which the film was based, felt the film "had a good opening twenty minutes, but then I honestly can't remember what the movie was about." He also felt the film lacked levity, especially considering the Russo brothers' background in comedy.

## Future

According to Feige, Civil War is the conclusion of the Captain America trilogy that began with The First Avenger. While it is the final standalone Captain America film in Evans' contract with Marvel Studios, Evans stated in September 2015 that he was open to extending his contract past Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the final films on his contract at the time. In November 2018, Joe Russo said that Evans was "not done yet" with Captain America after Endgame. In November 2019, when asked if he would reprise the role of Captain America, Evans responded, "You never say never. I love the character. I don’t know," and added, "It’s not a hard no, but it’s not an eager yes either."