CIVIL WAR. I went into the most recent Marvel movie with extremely high expectations, and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. My favorite Marvel movie thus far had been Captain America: The Winter Soldier but Civil War definitely ties for first place! I felt that it was well written and the acting was wonderful! Honestly I can't begin to express how much I loved this movie. It was everything I hoped for and everything I didn't know I needed.

There are major spoilers to come, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, this is the only warning you'll receive. If you have seen it or just don't care about spoilers, feel free to proceed.

For me, one of the main highlights of every Captain America movie thus far has been Sebastian Stan and his phenomenal acting. I'd loved the character of Bucky Barnes since the first movie and that hasn't changed. We saw so much more of Bucky in this movie, and that was exactly what I had been hoping for since the movie was announced. And just like the rest of the movie, I couldn't have hoped for better than what we got. Bucky had much more screen time than he'd had in either of the other two movies, and we got some much needed insight into the character.

Personally, the interaction between Bucky and Sam was definitely one of my favorite parts of the movie. I mean with classic bits like this:

And this:

How can you go wrong?

The scenes he and Steve shared were also some of the most enjoyable for me. Even though Bucky isn't the same as he was back in 1945, there's parts of him that haven't changed. And now that he remembers, those parts show through pretty well. We even see him smile while talking to Cap and it reminds both Steve and the audience of how things were between them back in 1945. Even though there are things that didn't change, Bucky isn't the same man he was before his time as the Winter Soldier. For better or worse, it's altered him and that's something Steve is going to have to come to terms with, though he seemed to be doing alright with it during the movie.

But Bucky Barnes wasn't the only fantastic character in this movie. In fact, everybody was really marvelous in this move.

I couldn't help it.

Anyway. Tony, though I gotta say I'm solidly with Team Cap, was just fascinating in this movie. They timed the character arc and the surrounding events perfectly for his choices in Civil War to make perfect sense for the character. Looking at the events and his emotions and reasoning during the last few movies he's been in gave me a complete understanding of his thought process behind his choices in this movie. I feel like it was really well written and very well acted as well!

Now I'll move on to a character that completely blindsided me with his awesomeness. T'Challa. As I've said in previous articles, I've never read the comics, though I have researched many characters and storylines. I didn't have a lot of interest in the Black Panther going into this movie. I was more excited about the other characters I was already familiar with, and I didn't really know what to expect from him. However, I knew from his first moments on screen that I was going to like this guy. And he certainly didn't disappoint! Though he spent most of the movie trying to kill my favorite character (Bucky), the sheer coolness of the guy overpowered any negative feelings I might have felt towards him! He's a very human, very relatable character, who makes easily understandable decisions. (Plus he's just ridiculously cool.) I mean let's face it. If you had his abilities, and somebody killed your dad, wouldn't you go after who you thought was responsible? The answer is yes. And that was what else I really liked about T'Challa. Once he found out he was chasing the wrong man, he admitted he was wrong, caught the real culprit, and made amends with Cap and Bucky. That solidified my admiration for the character.

Clint Barton has also been a longtime favorite of mine, ever since his tiny cameo in the first Thor movie. Honestly I was really worried that he might die in this movie, so you can imagine the relief I felt when he lived through it. I mean the guy has a wife and kids! Plus this guy is, in my opinion, kinda the emotional grounding rod of the Avengers. He seems to be the most stable one out of all of them and I really do think he keeps the team together. And lo and behold, just like he says, he retires for five minutes and everything goes crazy. This is not a character that needs to get killed. This isn't even factoring in his wit and and his skills. We need Hawkeye okay.

Ant Man, Vision, and Rhodes had smaller amounts of screen time than the other Avengers. However, we did get more insight into Visions character. We even saw the hints at a future romance between Vision and Scarlet Witch.

Also let me just say: the more I see of Sam Wilson, the more I love him. He's witty, sassy, generally upbeat and oh so loyal. He's solidly on Steve's side during all this, even when he knows it might land him in jail or maybe even get him killed. Plus, the fact that I'm sensing the beginnings of a banter filled friendship between Sam and Bucky just adds to how much I'm excited to see more of him. And hopefully sooner rather than later.

Just like Iron Man, Cap's actions in this movie come from completely understandable motivations. I don't have to look hard to see his reasoning. Bucky's place in all this, thankfully, wasn't the only point of contention between Tony and Steve, but it did play a part. I'm glad that Steve's fundamental disagreement with the Sokovia Accords was still the real reason the team split up and it wasn't just because Steve was trying to save Bucky from prison or something of that ilk.

Before the movie came out, many believed Natasha would switch sides sometime during the movie. While we did see her help Steve and Bucky escape on the jet, we didn't see her completely flip on Team Iron Man. However, as T'Challa told Ross what she did, she did still end up a fugitive. And there's one part in particular we shouldn't forget. Bucky's escaping custody after his programming has been reactivated by Zemo. He's beating up people right and left. Then he's got Natasha by the throat and she says, "You could at least recognize me."

If you know the comics, you know the history Winter Soldier and Black Widow had together. He trained her and they also had a bit of romance. SO THIS LINE IS A BIG DEAL. And we never do find out if he recognized her or what their history in the MCU is! However, I would wager he DID recognize her. But honestly closure on this is one of the major things I'm waiting on from the Marvel universe.

And last but not least, let's talk about Spiderman.

I had high hopes for the character from when he was in features in one of the previews for Civil War, but I didn't really know what to expect. I have to say, I really enjoyed seeing Tom Holland as Spiderman, even though he only had a small part in the movie. I look forward to seeing him in his own movie!

All in all, this was a fantastic movie! I'll definitely be watching it in the theaters again!