Team Captain America tells us why Captain America: Civil War is the most important Marvel movie to date
By Nicole-Marie Ng
Team Cap at the top of Marina Bay Sands, standing above the infinity pool.
“It’s a Steven Soderbergh level of cast,” says Joe Russo, one half of the Russo brothers directing Captain America: Civil War, referring to the director of the Ocean’s Eleven to Thirteen movies.
Civil War differs from the previous Avengers movies as the heroes are split into two camps — Team Iron Man vs Team Captain America (who’s played by Chris Evans) including Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).
To garner support for “Team Cap”, Chris, Anthony, Sebastian and Joe came to Singapore to share why fans should join their side as well as other insights on “the biggest Marvel movie to date”.
As actors, how do you keep the tone of the characters the same especially if you have to play the same role throughout so many movies, even with different directors?
Chris: There’s a really beautiful synergy between the actors and Marvel. Marvel is run by Kevin Feige, the puppetmaster between all of it. He really understands what fans are expecting and wanting.
There’s unity between where Marvel wants to push the characters and where we as actors want them to go. I’ve never felt in any way that they wanted the character to go somewhere that I didn’t want it to go.
In the movie, Falcon is described as wearing a “bird suit”. How would you describe what Team Iron Man is wearing?
Anthony: Iron Man’s should be described as a Coca-Cola can. Rhodey looks like a trash can and Vision should be described as a big red magic marker.
We’re not even going to talk about Black Panther; he looks like a Michelin car tyre. But Scarlett Johansson can be described as perfect.
Captain America: Civil War star Anthony Mackie making young fans’ day with selfies and kisses.
If you could pick any character, who would you choose to be Captain America’s girlfriend?
Chris: It’s tricky because in the comic book it follows a plot line where Captain America has a relationship with Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp). It follows the lineage of what Cap considers his home to be with Peggy Carter, and with Sharon Carter he sees something familiar.
With the way that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has unfolded, I’ve always felt that Cap has such a nice relationship with Black Widow. These are two characters from completely different worlds and backgrounds but they found comfort in each other in times of distress.
The men seem to be fawning over Scarlett Johansson, or Black Widow
I’ve always thought that was an interesting story to pursue but at the same time it’s very sweet and pure that they kept it platonic and found something else besides a romantic relationship to lean upon.
Would you say that Bucky is Captain America’s one true love, more so than Peggy?
Chris: You’ve got a guy who gave everything and he lost everything. As a result, there’s certainly going to be a direct allegiance and priority to anyone from his past. In that regard, it is a love story in the same way I love my brother and father.
In this film, I think it’s the first time where you see Cap prioritise that love over his love for the masses. He’s always put himself last for what other people need but, in this movie, Bucky means the most to him.
In Civil War, Bucky is both protagonist and antagonist. What’s it like playing with such a complex character?
Joe: It was important to us that every point of view be supported in the movie. Ultimately, the thing that is most interesting for the audience is to walk out of the theatre and argue about who was right. That was our goal.
We preferred that characters do alternately play both protagonist and antagonist and we worked very hard to balance that.
Sebastian: For me, Bucky is a hard character to play because he’s gone through so much and he feels a lot of shame and guilt. But one of the things that Marvel does very well is giving you the reality of the situation and relaxing you as a viewer as well by incorporating comedy.
We have to move Bucky’s character forward and he has to have a light at the end of the tunnel.
During the press conference at Marina Bay Sands, Chris Evans confessed that he’s always wanted Captain America to date Black Widow.
How important is Captain America: Civil War going to be in the MCU?
Joe: It’s incredibly important. Like how The Winter Soldier changed the struc-ture of the Marvel Universe with the dissolution of SHIELD, I think that this movie changes the psychology of the Marvel Universe in a very important way.
And the ramifications of Civil War are not over; they are going to carry over significantly into Infinity War. This movie is setting up the two defining films of the MCU, which is Infinity War, and puts all these characters in a very complicated place. It’s critically the most important Marvel movie to date.
Why should the world catch Captain America: Civil War?
Joe: I think it’s a very complex story that is a culmination of everything that has preceded in the MCU because it brings all the characters together in a big fight. The spectacle is enormous in the film and the performances are exceptional. We have this incredible cast.
It’s heart-breaking, but it’s also a great deal of fun.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of Weekender, Issue 151, April 29 – May 12, 2016, with the headline ‘Chris Evans wants Captain America to date Black Widow’.
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