5 Observations From Captain America: Civil War Trailer

The trailer for Captain America: Civil War has been released, and naturally fans are already picking it apart for any possible hints at unrevealed plot points or other bits of interest about the upcoming film. So to join in on the fun, here are five important observations from the trailer.

1. Thunderbolt Ross Is Back

One of the most significant and overt reveals from this first trailer is that General “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) is back in the MCU. For those who may have forgotten, this is the guy who basically sought to destroy the Hulk through the entirety of The Incredible Hulk, back when Bruce Banner was played by Edward Norton. And now he appears to be the one attempting to impose regulations and restrictions on superhero activate—which Captain America doesn’t seem to like, and which will lead to the schism that becomes the “Civil War.” But is Ross’s presence also a hint that we may see the Hulk after all?

Hulk has not been listed as one of the characters appearing in Civil War. Even if you feel like Marvel might just be sneaking him in, these comments from Mark Ruffalo seem to confirm that there are bigger and better plans for everybody’s favourite big green monster. But Ross, even just in the context of the modern MCU, is unmistakably linked to the Hulk, so one has to wonder.

2. Black Panther Looks Significant

Black Panther, being played by Chadwick Boseman, has long been known to be among the cast of characters for Civil War. Although, with the character also slated for his own solo film in the near future, most expected his role in this project to be limited. That may still be what happens, but he may actually play a significant role based on the action in the first trailer.

Black Panther is thought to be on Iron Man’s side of the conflict, and the trailer supports this theory in showing a glimpse of him delivering a beating to the Winter Soldier, who’s most certainly on Cap’s side. Then again, there weren’t too many indications that Iron Man actually has a full “team” formed just yet. Which brings us to the next observation….

3. Iron Man Might Go Solo

More than any other Avenger, we’re used to seeing Iron Man solo. He has a sidekick and some friends, but he’s the one who flies off on a mission on his own or disappears into a garage for some kind of major experiment. He’s also the closest thing to a single defining face of the Marvel films, and thus possibly the strongest character on his own.

Even in some of Marvel’s video games, Iron Man is lonelier than the rest. Most Marvel games feature numerous characters either battling together or against each other. This is particularly true in the game collections at online casinos, which often feature entire teams with officially licensed images. But in this selection of games, you’ll see a contrast in that an Iron Man game features Iron Man—and Iron Man alone. Simply put, in films, publicity or gaming, there just hasn’t always been a need to surround him with other characters.

That’s been expected to change in Civil War, where there will clearly be competing factions of heroes as Iron Man and Captain America battle it out. But in this trailer, we see a few major hints that Iron Man will effectively be going it alone. For one thing, there’s a shocking shot that makes it look as if War Machine has been killed or seriously injured. And right after that, we see Iron Man taking on Winter Soldier and Cap at the same time—and it doesn’t look like a fair fight.

4. Bucky’s On The Run

We’ve known for a long time that the Winter Soldier, or Bucky Barnes, would factor into Civil War in one way or another. But by the look of the trailer, there’s a good chance that some sort of escape by Barnes, from authorities pursuing him for past crimes, will be a major aspect of the plot. Looking through this detailed list of hints and reveals from the trailer, there are seven or eight shots of Barnes either running or attempting to disappear. In fact, if there’s one prevailing theme from the entire trailer, it’s that Bucky is on the run. Might this actually function as the entire setup?

The foundation for Civil War is that government officials want to regulate superhero activity. Cap doesn’t like the idea, while Iron Man sees its necessity, and thus the stage is set. But looking at these first scenes from the film, one has to consider if an escape by Barnes might be the event that actually brings the two sides to blows. The idea that Cap helps Barnes escape and that Iron Man and his team are directed to track Barnes down certainly looks like a feasible starting point for this plot.

5. There’s A Lot Of Plainclothes Action

Another very noticeable aspect of the trailer is that it’s more about Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Tony Stark than their superhero counterparts. Sure, there are plenty of shots of the heroes in action (and in uniform), but there are also numerous indications that there will be some more toned down portions of this film featuring the main characters in plainclothes.

The clearest sign is that we see a few scenes of Rogers and Sam Wilson (aka Falcon) trying to go incognito, wearing sunglasses and hats and likely hiding from government officials. However, another subtle sign of plainclothes action is that Tony Stark has a black eye within his Iron Man suit for pretty much the whole trailer. That means someone’s punching him in the face without his suit (or at least his mask) on, which speaks to the personal nature of the conflict.

Altogether, there’s a lot to be excited about, and this looks like it could be Marvel’s best release in a few years.