The trailer premiered on Tuesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live (Marvel is a subsidiary of Disney, who also owns ABC, the network of the late night talk show) helping to usher in the Thanksgiving holidays with a blatant reminder that Marvel is still king of contemporary cinema. The trailer picks up events that occurred in the 2014 blockbuster Captain America: The Winter Soldier with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan, The Martian) returning to the fray. Events get complicated as Avenger teammates Captain America and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) draw battle lines as government regulations of superheroes become implemented- Cap is against them while Iron Man champions such legislation.
Anthony Russo and Joe Russo direct Captain America: Civil War– the sibling filmmakers previously directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a fan and critical favorite of the Marvel collection. Both are attached to direct the follow-up, two part Avengers: Infinity War; the other non-Marvel project on their plates is the thriller The Gray Man, with has Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road) attached to star. Marvel vets Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely penned Captain America: Civil War and are attached to script Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2 as well.
As for the cast, well everyone is here…again except Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Joining Evans and Downey Jr. are Marvel mainstays Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). William Hurt, who hasn’t appeared in a Marvel film since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, also returns as General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross.
But there’s more as Captain America: Civil War continues the Marvel world-building by introducing a handful of new characters to the fold. Most notably, Tom Holland (The Impossible) makes his first appearance as Spider-Man before swinging to his own standalone series. Chadwick Boseman (Get On Up) also debuts as Black Panther (the Black Panther standalone film is still pending as well)- the trailer gives us the tiniest of glimpses of him in costume. Daniel Brühl also makes his Marvel entrance portraying Baron Zemo as does Emmy winner Martin Henderson (Sherlock) in an unspecified role. It’s almost too stacked to believe.
This latest chapter in the Marvel Universe seems ripe to surely reinvigorate the series which is coming off a still mightily successful but not entirely seamless year. This past summer, Avengers: Age of Ultron blasted the box office but still came bit short of the tally of the original 2012 Avengers. The summer debut of Ant-Man was also on the lower end of Marvel’s profit line but profitable nonetheless. Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 6, 2016.
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