Captain America: Civil War is doing phenomenal at the box office. As a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe myself, I’m happy that this next installment is doing well financially. Seeing these numbers, however, also leads me to believe that a lot of people have already seen the movie at least once, so I have confidence that I’m not going to be spoiling a lot of the movie for people. For those reading that have not seen the movie, or Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, be warned, this article contains details about both movies involving plot and characters.
I am, unapologetically, a DC Comics fanboy. I’ve been reading DC Comics for years now and have drawers of comic books to prove it. So, imagine my bursting-at-the-seems excitement when Batman v. Superman was announced back in 2014. My hype for the movie continued to build all the way until the opening sequence of the movie started up in the theatre. And I loved that movie. Down to every last second. Again, I’m unapologetic about my love for DC. After I watched Batman v. Superman, my thoughts immediately went to the next comic book movie coming out; Captain America: Civil War. I went into the theatre expecting nothing more than a fantastic movie, and walked out feeling completely satisfied. Except, one thought kept coming into my mind. Why, I thought, can’t superheroes just fight each other by themselves?
During the build up towards the release of Batman v. Superman, the film was very open about the involvement of the main villain, Lex Luthor. I had heard reports of Luthor being the grand puppet master behind the overall conflict between Batman and Superman, and so was not surprised to find him masterminding the whole fight while I watched the movie. However, Marvel was not so open about the involvement of their villain for Captain America: Civil War, Baron Zemo. Yes, I had heard rumors of Zemo manipulating the events of the movie to play in his favor, much like Luthor in Batman v Superman, but I wasn’t ready to believe the rumors until I saw it for myself. And I have to say, I was a little disappointed by this reveal.
Why was I disappointed? Because that’s not what had happened in the comic book. Unlike Batman v. Superman, which has a combination of different comic book storylines put together, Captain America: Civil War takes its overall premise from Marvel’s 'Civil War' event back in 2007. The movie and the book share distinct features: a catastrophic event(s) propels the government to pass a bill that restricts superhuman activity, Captain America declines to follow the new law and becomes a fugitive along with other superheroes, and Captain America’s team and Iron Man’s team come to blows over this issue until someone wins. However, what the movie adds to the overall plot is the inclusion of a villain. The comic book event strictly had superheroes fighting each other because of their opposing moral views, villains barely had any panel time in the story. Yes, the film made several instances in which Captain America and Iron Man talked about the morality of the new laws put in place, and I loved those parts of the movie, but the inclusion of Zemo lessened the conflict for me.
Look through any comic book and you’ll find that no superhero is the same. Powers aside, they have different personalities. They hold some laws higher than others, they all have different moral compasses, they all will lean a certain way towards a certain topic when it comes up. The truth is, when a matter such as “how long can a superpowered alien stay on earth unopposed” or “should superheroes be put in check” comes into play, there shouldn’t need to be a villain somewhere hiding in the shadows manipulating what goes on. Lex Luthor even said, when he was explaining his agenda to Superman, that all he did was give Batman a little more incentive to fight the Man of Steel. Whether or not Luthor stepped in, the fight would’ve happened. The laws passed in Captain America: Civil War created tension between Captain America and Iron Man as soon as they were announced. Their fight, and ultimately the splitting of the Avengers, was going to happen even without the inclusion of Zemo.
Superhero movies have a very simple structure; hero vs. villain. I’m completely okay with that, if not I wouldn’t be the comic book lover that I am today. But sometimes, the villain in a particular situation doesn’t have to be some weird, evil person with a scheme to take over the world. Sometimes, it can be another hero who disagrees with the other. There’s no one manipulating what’s going on around them, there’s no one controlling the thoughts of one of the heroes, there’s only one hero vs. another. When are we going to get something like that?
