When you look at Captain America: Civil War, it’s easy to take one glance and figure it more for an Avengers film. Avengers 2.5, if you will. And in a way it is. It involves almost every key hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced thus far and even references Hulk and Banner, who were not present. Yes, Captain America is the protagonist, and everyone’s story arcs revolve around his story, but it’s a much grander undertaking than that, as revealed in the book Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years.
The studio’s other president, Louis D’Esposito, discussed the groundwork laid out for Civil War, such as the challenge of assembling all of the actors while also working on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Untitled. As he explains:
“At the beginning of Captain America: Civil War, I don’t think we were considering directors for Avengers 3 and 4 at that time. We didn’t know if we were going to film them together or not. I don’t think we’d ever do that again. It sounded fantastic in the room at the time. You have to do that because of the actors. There are so many actors and to go back in another year and try to get them all together again would be really difficult.”
But then, even with this massive task, coupled with the fact that the Russo Brothers would be taking on not just the continuation of Cap’s story from Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron, but the next two Avengers film as well, D’Esposito was confident in their storytelling abilities:
“The Russos bringing together the storylines in Civil War was quite a feat. It was a complicated ending because two of the most beloved characters fought each other at the end. How can we make the audience swallow that? …The Russos had to juggle complicated storylines from previous films, especially with the Bucky storyline and the death of Tony’s parents. I think they’re formidable directors.”
Indeed, between the praise brought on for both Winter Soldier and Civil War, it certainly explains how Marvel Studios saw the Russo Brothers as the right fit not just for those films, but the next two Avengers films as well. What did you think of their approach not just to Civil War, but their work after? Let us know in the comments below.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Captain America: Civil War stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Daniel Brühl.
The film is available now on Digital HD, Blu-Ray, and DVD.
