Like everything coming out of Marvel these days, the reviews of Captain America: Civil War were pretty great. Marvel has consistently delivered, meeting high expectations and then some for their big tentpole superhero films. I kept seeing reviews that compared Civil War to Batman vs. Superman, with BvS not coming across well in the comparison. Basically, if you want to see an example of a comicbook universe doing “superhero war” films well, you need to go to Marvel, not DC. And the box office shows that – Civil War is the fifth-biggest American box office opening of all time. And it’s already made $700 million worldwide.
We’re hearing that Disney’s/Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War cashed in a $60M-$61M Saturday. This points Civil War in the $180M-$183M vicinity for its opening weekend, which would make it the fifth highest domestic debut of all-time, beating Avengers: Age of Ultron‘s $56.5M last year. Civil War is poised to hit $700M worldwide, and is well on its way to profit in its theatrical run after a $250M production cost and an estimated global P&A near Ultron’s $180M.
On ComScore’s PostTrak, which continually polls moviegoers throughout the weekend, Civil War has moved up to a total positive score of 88% and a 75% definite recommend to friends. That’s a tad under Ultron‘s 90% positive and 79% recommend, which isn’t a bad place to be. Audience make-up of Civil War per ComScore is 66% guys to 34% females, with 51% over 25. Ultron was more female at 38% and younger at 55% under 25. Ethnicity breakdown for Civil War was 48% Caucasians, 19% Hispanic, 18% African American and 16% Asian/other according to ComScore.
Other golden gooses for Disney this weekend include Jungle Book‘s fourth frame cashing in $20M-plus in No. 2 while Zootopia takes fifth place with $3.3M. The Disney Animated feature will overtake Warner Bros.’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as the second highest grossing movie of 2016 with $328M to the DC superheroes’ $327.4M. Disney also has the fourth highest grossing movie of the year with Jungle Book at $285.9M and the fifth highest with Civil War.
So, there you go. Kevin Feige has the Midas touch. Although I’ll always find it odd to think that a film has to make more than $400 million just to BREAK EVEN. While I don’t doubt that Marvel will continue to mint money for a long, long, long time, I really hope that we’re coming to the last gasp of spending $400 million on production and promotion. All it takes is one bomb and the whole model will be thrown out.
Meanwhile, Civil War has done one great thing: it’s made people really excited for Black Panther, which comes out in 2018. You can read some Civil War spoilers here for how Marvel is setting up Black Panther’s stand-alone film. Ten bucks says Marvel puts twice the amount of money in the new Spiderman movie though.
Photos courtesy of Marvel, WENN.
It was EVERYTHING. One of those rare blockbusters that are worth movie theater money.
Also, if we insist on comparing it to BvS, there are two takeaways PACING and CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS. I just couldn’t believe how SLOWWW that movie was. Surely this wasn’t helped by having to see Batman’s origin story one more freaking time. And after that entire 2.5 hour movie, I still feel like the introduction of Wonder Woman and the quick intro to the rest of the Justice League felt rushed!!! The way Civil War introduced Black Panther—Boseman was simply AWESOME– and Spiderman was PERFECT. Also, a movie review said it perfectly, “this was the Avengers film we were expecting with Age of Ultron.” I’m going to see the Justice League movies because I’m a geek, but certainly not because BvS made me excited for them. Whereas, I’m going to see Black Panther because I couldn’t get enough during Civil War.
Had to come back and reveal my inner geek for a longer review. Also, I’ll be seeing it a second time.
Also, just want to point out the “REALNESS” of the plot/reason for Civil War between the heroes. The idea of oversight really rang with me. After seeing so many super hero movies in the past decade, you just see people destroying cities with no regard, and we’re just supposed to say “OK, it’s movie, so whatever.” Even in that world, you can’t get past the extensive collateral damage being done, the cost to rebuild, and the civilian casualties. This movie addressed that and I’m so happy.
I know this is a fiction film and all. But the drama was so manufacturer ex. Like the scene where they call the Avengers out for destroying cities, and they show video and there is a freaking alien ship right there and they do not mention it, like it was invisible and the hulk and the rest were just destroying the city for sheer joy.
Only for the Ultron thing I’d believe the speech. I was like hello! They saved NY (as usual) and the rest of the world.
@Ennie – I hear you, but I can see the other side equally making the point that Loki attacked (both with the Destroyer and the Chitauri) because of Thor’s presence on earth, that Tony’s antagonists have been people who were rubbed the wrong way by Stark Industries’ past dealings, that Tony single-handedly created Ultron which lead to the mess in AoU.
I know that to us, it sounds absurd that the Avengers are the ones being blamed for collateral damage, while totally ignoring the issue of the larger catastrophes they prevented – New York overrun by aliens and nuked by their own government, 20 million Helicarrier-tagged dead people, planetary extinction…. I don’t think it makes any sense to order them to stand down in such situations, but maybe to hold them to a higher standard when dealing with civilians. (though if I were to be very blunt, the civilian damage is pretty limited considering the situations they were facing)
Yeah Teacakes, some of the situations were, as Loki put it, more or less you are being detected earth as strong enough for a higher form of war. With all the weaponry and stuff, not just the enhanced beings and demigods running around.
I just found the speech silly, no mention of hydra and the aliens. It made
Me not to like the movie enough. I prefer Winter soldier and some of the earlier movies. Hubby thinks the same we will wait for tv repetitions to watch it again.
@HH – YES, you said it. (I wonder if anyone’s going to accuse Marvel of bribing their way to positive reviews now, they way they claimed there were bribes for negative reviews for BvS?)
SPOILERS AHOY
I still don’t think Civil War is as good as Winter Soldier but it’s quite close. The Russos have done a champion job on these films, and done it twice – I just hope we see more of Steve/Bucky in IW now that the Cap trilogy is over. And some more character development for Black Widow, that ‘you could at least recognise me’ to Bucky as he’s choking her feels like a tease for something I dare not hope for.
@Teacakes – RE: “you could at least recognise me” >>> Why did I not catch that?! Ugh. Those action scenes can be (over) stimulating. Good thing I’m going to see it again.
“And some more character development for Black Widow, that ‘you could at least recognise me’ to Bucky as he’s choking her feels like a tease for something I dare not hope for.”
I was thinking the same thing but I just brushed it off to her meaning that they have had run-ins with each other several times. In Winter Soldier they fought and he tried to kill her and in that same movie she told Cap that the WS once shot directly through her to get his mark while she was covering him with her body.
The Winter Soldier and Black Widow had a couple of run-ins in Cap 2, and she’s been shot by him even prior to that.
@V4Real @HH – that’s what I thought too, that it was a reference to the previous times they ended as enemy combatants but I’ve seen speculation saying why would she expect him to recognise her (even as a joke/quip) from the time he shot her, since she knows he was brainwashed and wiped? Some fans are theorising that Nat actually did know or train with (temporarily) un-frozen Bucky as a young agent, but didn’t know he was the Winter Soldier back then.
But yes, the line is open enough to interpretation that Marvel can really just leave it there and go no further down the Bucky/Nat storyline (though the Winter Soldier trailer trolled us into thinking it was his corpse she was looking so emotional over at the morgue). But it would be interesting if they do, and I’d be way more into that than Hulk/Widow.
@teacakes: I agree with you. I loved civil war, but winter soldier is still my favorite.
@teacakes I think Nat and Bucky were a couple at some point or had a brief affair or something in the comic books.
AGREED. I came away from Civil War just thinking about the characters, the larger overall plot and the major themes. They did a really great job across the board with this one. It was deep and had layers. So kudos
Black Panther? Heck yes
Spiderman? I didn’t want to but Tom did a FANTASTIC job his first time out
Black Panther was amazing.
I was slightly worried about Spiderman because the teaser in the trailer was a little corny. But man, they executed his intro perfectly. I’m pumped for both of their franchises.
I can’t wait for Black Panther and Spider-Man now. Great intros, for both.
HH you nailed it (both comments). We just saw BvS a week or so ago. Even my 14 year old son wasn’t excited about it. So slow and boring and just stupid. By comparison, my 14 year old son had to see Cap on opening weekend, so we went Saturday night. Amazing. All of us loved it.
It was one of those good movies where there aren’t really right or wrong sides to take. You understand what both are trying to do. We had never seen Ant Man, but now plan to rent it, just because. The only disturbing part to me was that somehow Marisa Tomei is “hot” Aunt Mae. No. Just no. Tony Stark flirting with Aunt Mae is just all sorts of wrong. Give me back Sally Field, please.
I’m so looking forward to the Black Panther movie. He was fantastic. A superhero buddy film I would enjoy is Black Panther and Falcon. Both of them are pretty darn awesome.
Agreed. Civil War had great action + great plot. So rare these days. And Marisa Tomei as “hot Aunt Mae” did feel very awkward. As well as the kiss scene between Captain America and the Carter girl. The only redeeming aspects about both of those were the comedic scenes that happened afterwards.
But why is a hot aunt awkward? Like Aunt May said in the movie “we come in all shapes and ages.
Peter is only about 15 or 16, why does he have to have an aunt who is 60 and unattractive?
I don’t think a “hot aunt” is awkward. I guess it has to do with the history of women in Marvel/superhero/action films. Where if they can squeeze in more attractive women then the better, especially since the Scarlett Witch and Black Widow are just ripe for more character development. I felt like the “we come in all shapes and sizes” was an added last minute line so the scene didn’t have to feel too macho.
i kind of think the young aunt thing is odd because she has supposed;y been raising him since childhood and she only appears to be in her thirties so she cant have raised him for very long since he is so young. if he was any younger than 10 when she took him in that would probably make her less than 20 and i honestly doubt anyone would give a teen a child even if she is his aunt.
Well Tomei is 50, so definitely not 30. She could be 40 in the film and still be hot and old enough to raise him. And yes there have been 20 year olds raising siblings and nephews. It does happens. Also maybe Uncle Ben recently left the picture or maybe not dead yet. So you would have had a two parent household raising him.
Peter is approximately 16. If Mae was 25 when he was born, that would only make her 41. Still young, but old enough to be a reasonable guardian. I think with a teenage Peter, a young Aunt Mae makes sense.
And it is AWESOME!!! WICKED AWESOME!!! for my fellow Boston area people.
Chadwick Boseman needs to be in everything.
Agreed, it’s a great movie and Chadwick Boseman is seriously perfect (and gorgeous) as Black Panther!!!
I know I contributed to the success of that movie. I saw it twice. The first time I saw it I brought 20 tickets to take some of the kids that I work with to see it on Thursday. Then I saw it again with family on Sunday. It was everything.
That cat was sexy as hell. I love cats, especially Black cats, meow. Spiderman was a scene stealer and I’m looking forward to Spiderman Homecoming.
Me too! Right now I’m in an advanced state of MARVEL TAKE ALL MY MONEY PLEASE. I think at least three more viewings are in order.
I saw it Thursday with my great aunt and one of my cousins. My cousin whispered “who is that beautiful man?” When she first saw him and our 87 year old aunt replied “James Brown”
“When she first saw him and our 87 year old aunt replied “James Brown”
Now that’s special, I love it. Thanks for sharing that.
@teacakes, I’m going to see it again, I can’t help it.
The comedic timing was on point in this movie, from Black Panther, Spiderman, Ant-Man, Iron Man, Bucky and Sam.
Can you move your seat up?
No.
@Teacakes – “Right now I’m in an advanced state of MARVEL TAKE ALL MY MONEY PLEASE.” >>>>> This perfectly sums up my reaction. I was done with Civil War and thought, I could see that again, right the hell now.
The way he was moving in that panther suit was everything. Heck, he looked sexy in his regular clothes too. I can’t wait for Black Panther!
@lilacflowers – Is Chadwick Boseman, Bostonian?
No, he is from the Carolinas. Chris Evans is from the Boston suburbs
Understatement. I swooned when he came on screen. What a sexy man and that suit was everything.
Yes, MOAR BOSEMAN! Black Panther was a marvelous addition to the Avengers. And he is gorgeous to boot.
No lies detected here.
The movie was REALLY good and I am so so so excited for the Black Panther movies, especially because Coogler is directing it. I’m interested to see if Coates’ storylines are incorporated at all into the movie.
Haha. That picture. RDJ shoe game is crazy. Is he that insecure that he needs to wear lifts all the time? It just does not stick with his easy going attitude.
I know, his shoes are always ridiculous. And funny I don’t think of him as easygoing, he strikes me as high maintenance and probably exhausting, lol.
I’m not a Marvel fan but my son saw the movie and loved it and he’s not really a fan either. Said our local theater was more packed than he’s seen it in a while.
He’s always worn lifts, or platform shoes, sometimes even more feminine looking heels. Maybe, like many women, he just likes an extra bit of height. If he was insecure about his height I don’t think he’d wear such obvious lifts and otherwise attention grabbing shoes. Like Pacino with his Cuban heels, he’s not trying to make anyone think he’s actually that tall. Big difference compared to Tom Cruise, who does his best to hide the fact he’s wearing lifts.
He is standing on his wallet. 😉
The movie was OK but not great. Boseman, Brühl and Holland were the highlights for me. Marvel is just great at promoting. It also helps that mostly 13 year old boys like those movies and they tend to be not very critical.
@bolivia – RE: The movie was “OK”>>>> What didn’t you like? Not coming down on you, BTW, this is just me being curious.
Sounds like someone is trying to take shots at us adults who liked this film.
The critics are not 13 year old boys and they mostly liked it. In my theater both times I went the audience consisted of a lot of people over the age of 13.
The he is standing on his wallet line is funny; I use that myself.
Well, Spider-Man stole the show. Marvel made him the wisecracking kid jumping all over the place and he was awesome!
I kinda doubt anyone else here saw Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but the voice for Black Panther there was SEK-SI!
LOL! I saw the movie with my husband for date night, and our 11 year old asked if it was good. I commented to him about Black Panther’s voice was just too high compared to A:EMH, but the actor and accent was really good. I thought I was the only one who cared about that detail!
“Ten bucks says Marvel puts twice the amount of money in the new Spiderman movie though.”
While I did enjoy Black Panther in Civil War, I’m looking forward to the new Spiderman movie WAY more. Tom Holland was perfect as Spiderman. He was only in, what, three scenes and he almost stole the movie.
I went to see Civil War three times this weekend. I loved it. That airport fight scene was fantastic, and the way they reignited the fight between Captain America and Iron Man at the end was perfect.
The Russos are great directors and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely know how to write a Marvel movie. I am so glad that directors/writers combo is making Infinity War.
And Marisa Tomei. She almost stole this film and she only had two short scenes.
Marisa Tomei as Aunt May was wonderful. Won-der-ful!
“My Cousin Vinny” showcased her talents and she’s been great ever since.
See, that’s what I hated. Hot Aunt Mae? No way! Aunt May is Sally Field.
I guess I was the only one who had a flashback of “Only you” when Ms Tomei was sharing the screen with RDJ. My young self got so excited. I watched that movie so many times with my sister! Lol
IMDB Trivia says the scene with Marissa Tomei and RDJ started exactly how Only You ended… I hope that’s true. I love little inside touches like that!
I’m confused because “Only You” ended on the plane when she ran after him. Not with them sitting on a couch.
Some people forget they were also in Chaplin together.
It was a great movie but at the end, I walked away feeling that the only true hero was the Black Panther. He was the only person who put aside his pain to apprehend the true mastermind and reach a helping hand towards the falsely accused after he learned the truth while others were too busy hurting the people around them.
Totally agree! Iron Man’s thing is wearing on me at this point (I’m done with him). More Black Panther and more Black Widow!! And well Ant Man too just because Paul Rudd.
I agree. I loved the movie, but thought Iron Man (and maybe even cap) came out looking a little stale and past their sell-by date. The iron man schtick has definitely worn thin. I am definitely ready for some new storylines and characters.
Disagree totally about Iron Man, this was the most interesting he’s been in awhile. Really terrific. Also to the world in the movie he’s the true leader of the heroes which puts tremendous pressure on a character like him. It’s fascinating that to the rest of the world Steve Rogers is now a criminal who sided with a ruthless murderer. Where do they go from here? Really Black Panther should just smack some sense into everyone.
Spider-Man was absolutely adorable! What a difference making him an actual kid! I was actually worried for him. I was soooo relieved that Tony is crazy enough to recruit him but has enough paternal instincts to send him home when things get out of hand.
@Mia4s I agree with you. One of the richest Iron Man performances out there.
Yes Mia, you’ve said exactly what I thought. Iron man was so good in this movie and Holland absolutely stole the show. Can’t wait for the new Spidey film. Who would have known?
@Mia – Agreed. This is the one time I feel Iron Man evolved past his playboy billionaire schtick. Which, listen, I’ve enjoyed the other movies, but that’s been his personality throughout.
Yes Stark was great in this. He wasn’t the usual wise cracking person that he normally is. But like @HH said I enjoyed him that way as well. It’s how he is in the comics. This Stark showed more of a vulnerable side, full of regret for his, along with the team, past actions where there were causalities of war.
I loved the scenes with him and Holland, they were great together.
*SPOILERS*
I agree that he was the best he’s been in the past few movies, but that’s not saying much. I think that the character of T’Challah was more thoughtful, more interesting, and more nuanced. One of the things that this post suggests, and all the critics agree, is that the old punch-and-slam model is dead, and I think that when Iron Man responded by just wanting to kill Bucky, particularly as it was framed by Panther’s scene of not killing Zemo (?), was how unsatisfactory that model is. I think that there was an old school/new school binary set up in the movie, and, in many ways, the stage was set for a new generation of Avengers. Which I presume is Marvel’s plan, as they begin to phase in new people.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but that sounds good to me. The more grey characters and less typical heroes the better.
I think this is one of those rare films where you actually see the layers of shades of gray and don’t judge anyone too much for their actions.
I actually found myself empathizing with Iron Man more. The rest of The Avengers though they were trying to show they took it seriously were a bit too flip about the fact innocent citizens kept dying. For what are considered ‘American’ heroes to go all over the world and sure save folks but also leave a body count that individual countries have to explain to their people long after they board their jets was completely understandable.
Tony was trying to be the adult for the first time in his life because unlike the others he does truly appreciate the difficult balance between what he does in a costume and what others do everyday that don’t have a costume to help with their self-loathing. I thought that was really insightful in how he snapped at Clint that he didn’t force him to join the fight, he has kids and a wife, did he even think of them before he fought? That to me, while Black Panther’s story was also amazing, was truly the mark of a conflicted hero in ‘reality’.
Absolutely right. Clint could have stayed out of the fight.
Wanda should have never left the facility. She had just recently killed people in that building when they went after Crossbone. You would think she wouldn’t want to be responsible for any more casualties. But all Clint had to do was come knocking and she was ready to join the fight.
I could actually see both sides of it, even if Steve was the one who stuck to his guns all the way – considering his last neutral governing body turned out to be, well, HYDRA, I could understand his reluctance to sign the Accords with no input into their content, and to be placed in a position of literally just being a human weapon (which is essentially the same thing HYDRA/the Soviets did to Bucky). Like Tony said, sign first, amend later – but that’s not the way Cap deals.
And even then, he was eventually brought around to signing – he literally had the pen in his hand to sign – when he found out about Wanda and decided he wasn’t having that. I know a lot of his position seems plain personal and stubborn, but it’s actually a principled refusal to just go along with authority for the sake of not ruffling feathers. The thing he did wrong was not telling Tony the big secret of the 1991 mission.
As for Wanda, I really don’t think it was right to put her under house arrest dressed up as chill time with Vision – she was rightfully angry about Tony hiding that from her. Tony literally called her a weapon of mass destruction, which is pretty telling of the way he saw the other Avengers too.
Stark kept Wanda prisoner even though she wasn’t wanted for any crimes. It was basically a groundless citizens arrest, and Wanda, like Stark, would probably never react well to captivity – for similar reasons as him. It was a clear mistake by him.
I loved this movie -apart from two things.
Firstly, there were several oddly paced, choppy fight scenes. The teaser had some embarrassingly awkward fighting, bad fight choreography which they probably did a poor job hiding in post ed.
Secondly, why oh why did they not use the same actor to play Howard Stark as before? I loved him in The First Avenger and Agent Carter. Howard was only in two scenes, which should’ve been emotional gut punches. Instead, I sat there wondering why they’d chosen a new actor who looks or acts nothing like either his predecessor or RDJ. Disappointed!
@teacakes I think that was the best place for her. She had just accidentally killed innocent people. She is a weapon of mass destruction and she just proved that she didn’t have complete control over he powers when she killed and injured people in that office building. So if she joined Cap in that fight because she was angry at Stark, it shows that she has a lot of growing to do. You don’t join a fight because you’re angry at someone who was keeping you out of harms way and trying to keep you from causing harm to others.
@V4Real – here’s the thing, Wanda knew what she’d done – she spends the entire time at the Stark compound feeling like a monster. But what does make her angry is that Tony wasn’t above board with her about her needing to lie low, and instead leaves Vision to lie to her about the fact that she’s basically under house arrest.
and let’s not forget, Wanda was an antagonist in Sokovia – her trust in the Avengers is a very new thing. And considering how she was treated before (as a thing, not a person), it makes sense that finding that her new colleagues (or the main one, anyway) is lying to her, would lead her to treat that implicit trust as broken and go off with an Avenger who did treat her as trustworthy.
Re Howard Stark: The actor in this movie (John Slattery) was the first Howard Stark in the MCU with Iron Man 2. They realized they needed a younger actor (Dominic Cooper) to portray the younger Stark Sr. in CA:TFA because it just would cost too much to CGI John Slattery to fill that role. If I’m not mistaken, Dominic’s asking price is probably a lot less, so putting Dominic on Agent Carter would make much more sense than constantly CGI’ing John for TV or reducing/eliminating his role altogether. So eh – this Stark Sr is actually the first, but I agree that it is pretty jarring especially because they have very different takes on the same character.
@teacakes… Yes she seemed remorseful for what she did but as soon as Clint came knocking, she left her remorse at the compound. And let’s not forget Wanda knew Stark was keeping her there with Vision as her sitter before Clint came. She and Vision had already discussed that, she didn’t try to leave after finding out Tony’s reason for having her there. She didn’t have a problem with it until she saw an opportunity to join another fight. Like Clint, she could have stayed out of it. Or she could have left and went on her merry way. No, but she wanted to fight. She even attacked Widow because she told Clint he was holding his punches. Clint and Widow were not trying to seriously hurt each other but Wanda with that line made it seems as if she was going for blood. All because she is mad. And don’t forget in the comics it says she can’t fully control her powers. Another reason she shouldn’t be out there fighting against people she once called her friends because she is mad about having to stay in a luxury compound.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like her. I just think if anyone could have sat this one out, it was her, esp since her causalities of war were so recent and what pretty much made them move forward with The Accords. You know, sort of like the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Age of Ultron made money, but the story was a mess. Civil War was really, really good. Tight storytelling, great acting, really ethnically diverse and great action and effects. It packed an emotional punch, too. If Marvel can fix their female characters, it’d be perfection.
Agreed. Age of Ultron was a pile of pi$$.
I’m not a Marvel head – I’ve not seen Hulk, Thor, Antman or any of the Iron Man movies so this film felt more like an Avengers movie inspired by a Captain America storyline, than an actual Captain America movie, the way Winter Soldier was.
I enjoyed it though.
So Marvel will not have any say in the script, etc? Just the lending of Iron Man to Sony?
Were you addressing my comment below by any chance?
I think they will have some creative input since Spiderman is joining the MCU, an universe created by Marvel Studios. But they won’t finance it and won’t profit from it. Sony will.
They don’t just have creative input, Marvel has creative control according to Kevin Feige. It will be distributed by Sony but Marvel will also turn a profit off the deal they made. So yes, Marvel will profit. Keep in mind that though Sony is distributing this film this Spiderman will be the MCU Spiderman.
They have had and will have lots of say. Marvel chose Tom Holland
Do you have any link where Feige confirms they are getting profit from the Sony movie (besides free advertising of MCU and being able to use Spiderman, which we all know was part of the deal). I mean actual money from how much the movie makes? I’m really curious because this BvS vs CA:CW war has caused the internet to make wild claims about costs and profits of everyone involved.
But – as written below – I was only addressing the comment about how much more money Marvel will give for Spiderman’s film than Black Panther’s film, which I disagree with, because Sony is the main financier of Spiderman so it’s not really comparable. Other Marvel’s heroes, sure, but not Spiderman.
@Crocuta:
You are aware that Feige and Marvel were the ones that hired Tom Holland right, not people from Sony? Do you really think Marvel is just doing all this for some name recognition and free advertising? Marvel is money based and they are doing nothing for free. I agree with you that Sony is distributing the movie but you also said that Marvel will not be making a profit and that is not true. By the way Disney is distributing alongside Sony in Russia.
Kevin Feige words:
We’re working very much [together]. It is a— I don’t know exactly what the credits will be, but it is a Sony Pictures production of a Marvel Studios film. The agreement was that it is very much a Sony Pictures movie. Amy Pascal is co-producing it with us and [Sony Chairman] Tom Rothman is leading the charge for Sony and that we are the creative producers. We are the ones hiring the actor, introducing him in this film, and then working right now on the script and soon to be shooting the actual Spidey film.
Last paragraph of the article said “All things considered, it sounds like a pretty even-handed deal that will be creatively and financially successful for both studios.”
Here’s the link:
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/How-Much-Control-Marvel-Really-Has-Over-Sony-Spider-Man-Movie-124237.html
To me, all that still sounds like Sony is paying the majority and Sony is earning the majority. I said I don’t know ALL the technical details, only that accusing Marvel on how much money will be spent on Spiderman as compared to Black Panther is unfair because it’s not their call. Or not entirely their call if you prefer that wording.
And yes, I read Marvel hired Holland. I don’t know why that would make any difference. It’s their universe Spiderman is joining, so I presume they will also have a larger input on the story.
Thanks for the link.
The difference between Age of Ultron and BvS though is that I can still watch AoU and enjoy parts (like the introduction of Scarlet Witch or the badass fight scene at the end against all the Ultrons) despite the mess. There was nothing about BvS that was redemptive except for Wonder Woman, and she was in about five minutes of the movie.
Agreed. Also, AoU was disappointing, and that’s the key word. There were high expectations (that basically weren’t met until Civil War). BvS sucked so much to me because I went in as a blank slate. I had little to no hopes except for a decent intro to the DC/Justice League universe. And they couldn’t even live up to that.
Yes, they need Black Widow’s story and to do something with the Carter girl. Zero chemistry w/Cap similar to Thor and Jane.
Marvel won’t throw money into the new Spiderman film, Sony will.
Their end of the bargain was to lend them Iron Man and to include Spidey in the most successful franchise of all time, giving him a huge head start. But the money comes from Sony and the profit goes to Sony. Just like Sony didn’t give money for Spidey in Civil War nor they will get money from it.
You’re right except Marvel will profit as well from Homecoming. Though it is being produced and distributed mainly by Sony, Marvel has creative control. This will be a Marvel Studios film and exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Both agencies will make money but Marvel will not make what Sony is making.. They reached a deal where Sony still owns the rights to Spiderman but they licensed Marvel’s own character back to them to use in the MCU.
Yea, technically it’s probably very complicated. I was mainly addressing this, written in the article:
“You can read some Civil War spoilers here for how Marvel is setting up Black Panther’s stand-alone film. Ten bucks says Marvel puts twice the amount of money in the new Spiderman movie though.”
It’s unfair to hint they are playing racial preference, at least in this case. Also, Kaiser looses 10 bucks because Spiderman movie is mainly financed by Sony. 😉
“It’s unfair to hint they are playing racial preference, at least in this case.”
I agree, it’s much to soon to play the racial preference card. Especially with the reception the Black Panther has received, I think Marvel would be crazy to not give his solo film all that they can.
If you had told me five years ago that the best of Marvel’s superhero franchises would be the Captain America trilogy, I’d have laughed in your face. I mean, Captain America? The most boring superhero I could possibly think of?
And yet, here we are, TFA, Winter Soldier and Civil War later.
Literally the only thing I’d have excised from the movie was Sharon Carter. It’s a combination of poor development and bland acting, but you could practically feel the huge ‘AWKWARD’ thought bubble coming out of the heads of everyone in my theatre when that kiss happened (not least because p much anything of substance they ever said around each other, revolved around Peggy – her AUNT!) – the only thing it was good for wad the Sam/Bucky reaction shot, that one got a huge laugh.
I totally agree about the Cap/Sharon Carter thing. It was so rushed and forced and felt totally unnecessary. You could take out that whole storyline and it wouldn’t change the plot one bit.
The ‘that was a long time coming’ line felt so fake, because that really wasn’t true at all – they barely knew each other and CW makes it seem like he hasn’t seen her at all post-WS. Plus all they talked about was Peggy – they don’t have any connection in their own right, hell I’ll buy Natasha or even Wanda as more believable potential love interests for Steve. And Wanda/Nat could have done with the screentime they wasted on Sharon.
The thing is that Peggy (and Hayley Atwell) is so beloved by MCU fandom that following her up was going to be a very hard act. Marvel did not help matters by choosing the blandest actress out of the candidates for the role, either.
From what I can tell, she was supposed to have a more significant role in Cap 2 when they first planned it, but then the Russos made the wise decision to bring in Scarjo as the female lead for Winter Soldier and basically put Emily Vancamp to the backburner.
I can actually believe it was at least partly a reaction to fan response, because of all the Marvel franchise non-superhero leading ladies, she’s got the least role to play in the films she appears in. And I can also believe that if someone like Felicity Jones had got the role, we wouldn’t be nearly as indifferent to Sharon. (FJ is doing pretty well even without this, considering she’s the lead of Star Wars Rogue One)
@teacakes: I think that line was referring back to winter soldier where they did flirt a little when ahe was working underxover as his neighbor…
Sharon was kind of a bad-ass though in that **SPOILER** scene where she brawls with the Winter Soldier in Civil War.
0@Miss M – that awkward hallway flirting in WS had to be the most half-assed attempt to make two characters a ‘thing’, ever. They just couldn’t sell us on Sharon enough to make the audience care, either in WS or here – which was why the line felt spurious.
Rumor has it they had to play up the Sharon Carter thing because the overall vibe was to homoerotic between Steve and Bucky. Which is sad because a) they felt like that was necessary and b) it put an obvious flaw in the movie. There are better ways to handle this type of story line, and the Russos really botched it. Next thing we’ll probably get to see out of this relationship is an on-the-lam Captain trying to sneak kisses from Agent 13 while she’s battling Black Widow during some kind of over-the-top cat fight for the boys to ogle.
yeah, Sharon is so inconsequential I kept wondering why the Russos even had her in the movie at all. So she’s literally Steve’s token proof of present-day non-gayness? How lame. And the thing is, she actually feels like the token, in a modern setting, where Peggy didn’t even in the 1940s.
if they really wanted to give Steve a new love interest, Natasha would have been a near-perfect candidate – the characters have a far better-developed relationship, and Evans and Johansson actually have great chemistry. But from what they’ve said, that connection is platonic and likely to remain that way. Which I’m also ok with because I love that they can show two single people of opposite sexes genuinely being each other’s friends.
True but this wasn’t really a Cap movie. This was more of an Avengers movie IMO.
And yes the Sharon/Cap kiss was so not needed.
It wasn’t an Avengers movie because those are all about the team coming together whereas this is about an almost irreversible team breakdown.
I really liked the movie. I feel like Black Panther got the most development out of all of the characters and I love how finally someone called Bucky a victim (which makes me wonder if Sebastian is going to have a small part/cameo in the Black Panther movie).
Sebastian Stan has a contract for nine MCU films so I expect he’ll probably be in Black Panther and just about everything else.
It was very good but they really might as well have called it Avengers III IMO.
Well that redeems the wank that was Age of Ultron.
In that it had so many Avengers characters, sure. But it was Captain America’s film. Take him out and the film does not happen; the plot does not happen. Take any character out of an Avengers film and the plot still happens. There may have been a crap ton of characters in Civil War, but it is absolutely Captain America’s film.
I’m not a Marvel head, I know Hulk and some others official Avengers were not it.
But there was such a plethora of heroes and less of characters like Romlo, that yes Captain America inspired the events but did not dominate proceedings the way he had in his previous films.
With this film Iron Man ( I’ve not seen any of his movies ) absolutely should have appeared in the title as well.
So I have been reading Celebitchy for a long time but it’s the first time I leave a comment. I was not really interested in the movie before but now after reading the enthusiastic feedback, I want to. Problem is that I did not see the previous films, do you think I will still understand the plot? Thanks and sorry about the eventual mistakes, I’m French
I would recommend watching TFA, Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron if you have the time (not that I think Ultron is great) but if you have absolutely no time, just watch the youtube video ‘The Road to Civil War’ instead. It’ll catch you up on all the events.
Though I would still recommend watching the first two Captain America films just to understand the relationships in this one better.
Your English is fine. I think it might be a bit difficult to follow if you don’t know all the players but you don’t have to watch all of them. Maybe just Captain America: Winter Soldier and The Avengers as they lay out the relationships between most of the characters. The incidents here flow out of something in Age of Ultron but all you need know about that is Tony built a robot and it tried to destroy the world by lifting an entire city into the air and dropping it
I think you’ll be able to follow the plot, but some of the finer points of characterization may be lost on you. After all, some of these characters have been developing onscreen for nearly a decade. I think you could reasonably follow along, but a few of the inside jokes might go over your head.
You owe it to yourself to watch Winter Soldier, only because it’s a truly fantastic film on its own merit. It’s dark and draws glorious inspiration from gritty conspiracy thrillers.
Saw it as a family outing for Mother’s Day, loved it. Went into it Team Iron Man, as I find Capt. America beyond boring (who wants to get hot and bothered for a boy scout? Give me someone with a little edge, please). However, great storytelling had me dumping both Iron Man and Capt. America and left the theater Team Black Panther. So excited to hear he gets his own movie!! Spiderman was AWESOME. Writing was tight, action sequences were fantastic, agree that the Sharon/Capt. America storyline should’ve been cut. Thought Bucky was fantastic, too.
Bucky’s reaction when he hears Peter fanboying over his metal arm… the literal ‘oh sh*t this is a KID, wtf?!’) look on his face just killed me.
I don’t want to give away too many details but the little banter between Sam and Bucky was hilarious. The car bit and also the one with Spidey.
Is that stuff coming out of you?
“You couldn’t have done that in the beginning”?
“I hate you”
Soon these two are going to be fighting over who is Cap’s best friend.
Yes!
I remember whispering to my friend and V4Real has mentioned many of the good jokes that I now wanted to see a buddy cop film (Buddy superhero film?) with Bucky and Sam.
So much of the humor of this film was amazingly done with so little visual effort (no long speeches to set up a joke or awkward punchlines) that it seemed like you found yourself really appreciating how awkward and silly the whole thing is even for different members of the team.
I also have to admit I love how they showed the conflict between them all in terms of power. Sure Iron Man’s a billionaire genius and Black Widow is a reformed spy, but you have the newbies who are just shocked they’re going into the proverbial gun fight to find the other person has a tank.
Ant Man’s horrified expression when ‘that’ happened. Spiderman confusingly stuttering when trying to read another superhero their rights. Clint and Natasha doing a little, “So we don’t hate each other right? We just have a difference of opinion?” I LOVED their interactions.
@V4Real @ESE – oh yes, Sam and Bucky together just kill me. I like that the Russos just rolled with the actor chemistry on this one, because Stan and Mackie are great together even offscreen, so it’s even better to see that vibe brought to the screen itself. And I really want to see more of them together again, IW better take advantage of them both being signed to a nine-film deal.
I should also give Evans a shout-out here, I’ve never thought much of him but he really is the perfect Cap. It takes a certain something to play a character as essentially moral as Cap and NOT make him come off as a sanctimonious Ken doll, but Evans pulls it off – his Cap has heart and even humour, and he just gets Steve’s inner decency and conflict across so well, I really cannot see anyone else in the role. He makes me believe in Steve Rogers, which is something I never thought I’d do before these movies.
(also his little Brooklyn-boys moment with Peter was adorable, I totally saw it coming the minute Steve asked him where he was from but I still squealed a little at the response).
That whole airport scene was GOLD, more for the superhero interactions than the spectacular dose of people getting punched and things going boom and looking cool.
The airport scene was the best, I agree. So many one liners and I just couldn’t stop laughing. Ant-man was also gold. “I thought it was a water truck. :Something just flew through me. The best was when he went inside what’s his name, and what’s his name was like “who is this’ and Ant-Man was like, it’s your conscious.
Yes!
I also have to admit they did something special in making Spider-Man’s motivations feel fresh again. “With great power comes yadda yadda” has been repeated in infinitum to the point it’s become old hat and lost some of its impact.
But when Peter softly said how when you have these powers and the bad things happen they happen because of you. That was SO insightful. It’s much like we argue in our own lives when we see citizens walk past someone who has been mugged or hurt and do nothing we argue that even if they were scared or didn’t want to be involved that they had a responsibility to help.
Spiderman or any other superhero being in a position where they can see bad things happening but do nothing reminds us how hard it has to be to go out and try to help the world and instead have innocent people die because you intervened.
(…um. ehrm. hm. …clearing throat… if the boy scout is Chris Evan’s Captain America, then yes, I’ll get hot and bothered…)
I saw it this weekend and I thought that black panther was the best part of the movie, hands down. Chadwick Boseman OWNED it. Seriously well done, and his movements were remarkably catlike and elegant in the fight scenes (which I know was a stun person but still.)
Agreed! I remember being entranced while watching him fight because his body just glided and moved so elegantly.
The best Marvel movie to date. I saw it on Friday and would have gone Saturday and Sunday if I hadn’t had family obligations. It was awesome. Marvel can have my money. They deserve all the accolades being thrown at them. They did great balancing all the superheroes and their individual stances on the Accord.
Can we go ahead and skip ahead to Black Panther? Because when Chadwick showed up in that suit, my fist went up and my chest poofed out in pride. He was regal and powerful and he made me want to move to Wakanda.
Move to Wakanda gurl? You sure.
The power of Chadwick Boseman’s buns in that costume!
I’m half Nigerian, my mum’s from Lagos. That fictional Wakanda tribe bit was er…..funny.
And maddening that Lay-gos was pronounced as Laa-gos!!!
THANK YOU.
Since Nigeria doesn’t get a ton of love in American films like other countries it never occured to me how much I’d hate to hear Lagos mispronounced.
It is so weird how great the reception for BP is here amongst Celebitchers. I thought he was great but the two times I saw the movie, the audience on the theater laughed at the costume. Someone even called him Catwoman (which I admit, was who it reminded me the first time I saw it).
Well the two times I saw it, the audience loved the costume. One man even yelled out that he know knows what his Halloween costume is going to be. So it’s not just Celebitches, it’s other people as well.
I wasn’t implying it was JUST celebitchers, I was commenting on different perceptions. The friend I went with the first time loved all about BP, still, the audience in that theater laughed at the costume. It was just funny to me how people reacted in different ways. I have no strong opinion about it.
I think the people reacting to the costume negatively do not know the character. His costume was perfect, especially if you’ve seen any of the cartoons like Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The costume department really nailed this one – they interpreted the costume with modern materials without making it look like a campy rubber muscle suit. It’s a shame that this is the first time anyone has seen Black Panther on the silver screen. Should have happened long ago!
I know that black panther is really exciting bc of diversity and everything and he’s definitely really cool. they set it up just like they did Spider-Man but I must say that I’m much more excited for a movie about the latter.
Black panther is so dramatic and sad And serious, and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is SO CUTE AND FUNNY. Honestly the best Spider-Man yet because he is an actual teenager and we finally see it. God it’s amazing when a real teenager plays a teenager, right??????? His comedic timing is amazing, his personality is perfect, we aren’t going to have ANOTHER origin story thank god, and all around his is the movie I’m actually excited for.
Tl;dr: black panther is sad and serious, new young Spider-Man is funny and talented and cute. Spider-man will most likely do better at the box office bc Tom Holland is incredible.
Well, Black Panther does have reason to be very sad in this film. He won’t necessarily be sad in future films. And he’s a king.
And even Panther had a funny moment.
Hi, I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Clint
Panther: I don’t care
I hated how they shoe-horned Spider Man in there. I thought it totally ruined the pacing, and he was totally annoying. Not to mention, aesthetically it didn’t fit in the movie – Spiderman is almost entirely digitally rendered (because of the way he moves) and it was a jarring contrast with the rest of the cast and the filming. Everything else was blended so seamlessly, until you have cartoon Spiderman.
The movie was strong enough without trying to shoehorn in other characters to jump start their movies. I didn’t like that at all.
Spiderman was one of the best parts of that movie. They did a great job. I’m looking forward to Black Panther and Spiderman solo movies.
It didn’t fit at all tonally. You could tell they just put in that stuff to set up for the next Spiderman movie, and I don’t think it worked within Civil War.
Well Spiderman was in Civil War in the comics so it does fit.
Black. Panther.
I don’t even need to say more but I will. The costume. The actor. His fight scenes and movements. (Seeing so many black people on a screen at a given time). I had 0 expectations for him and walked away being READY for that upcoming black panther film.
Marvel seems to really understand what they’re doing. Superhero films, save for a few characters, are supposed to have that fun conflict and jumble of having different personalities and people interact without anyone feeling inaughentic or poorly written. This film was so well done EVERYONE (including the government and that’s a hard sell) had such clear motivations and you could not blame them for acting how their personalities dictated they would act.
I ended up really seeing how important it is to get tone right and (frankly ease up on the damn green filter) in order to properly make a film that actually touches audiences. The theater broke into applause after the film was done and I plan to try and see it again ASAP just to refresh my memory.
“(Seeing so many black people on a screen at a given time).’
Ok, so I did make a joke. With the three Black characters being on screen at the same time fighting I was like all this Black on Black crime.
I loved it, it was amazing. There’s this part that also stood out to me. It was clear that they didn’t want to seriously hurt or kill each other. If that was the case Vision could have wiped Cap’s entire team out. But the part that got me was “SOME SPOILERS’ when one of Iron Man’s teammates was free falling, not only did IM try to catch him but one of Cap’s guys tried to catch him before he fell as well.
@V4Real – about that fall, YES! And what really got to me was that not only was it one of Team Cap making to stop that freefall right along with Tony, it was the very member of Team Cap that Team IM was trying to take out in the strike that ended up becoming friendly fire.
At the heart of it, these people don’t hate each other, and they really don’t want to be fighting, even when they actually are.
I really liked civil war! It finally answered one of my questions that I’ve been asking myself since Iron Man: collateral damage. I mean the super heroes make almost as big as a mess as the bad guys so I always wondered how would they address that.I preferred Winter soldier the storyline was everything. Chadwick was amazing now I’m thirsty for Black panther and I didn’t even know much about the character till CW.
So we tried to take our two year old to the drive in theater on Friday to see this. We (silly us) thought he would fall asleep and we’d finally see a new movie. Ha! It was a disaster, he never fell asleep and we had to leave 30 min in. That was a bad idea all around. He kept trying to roll down the windows and yell “hi” at the other cars.
The first 30 min looked pretty good. Hoping to see the rest soon. Generally we don’t see anything till it comes out on DVD but this is one Id like to see on the big screen
It got off to a slow start, the first part needs an edit. The banter with the new recruits is funny. The black panther part was cool, but I don’t know how he gets his skills, wasn’t clear on that.
EO’s accent is still terrible. Thank goodness she didn’t have that many lines. Renner’s exchange with rdj at the end was excellent.
Overall a good flick.
The black panther part was cool, but I don’t know how he gets his skills, wasn’t clear on that.
T’Challa’s senses and physical powers have been enhanced to superhuman levels by a heart-shaped herb. He was already a master of all forms of unarmed combat whose unique hybrid fighting style incorporates acrobatics and animal imitation. Most likely they will go further into his skills and abilities during his solo movie.
God! Civil War was such a great movie. I don’t remember the last time a huge blockbuster had so many great characters perfectly juggling a movie. Everyone had a great arc. I loved that the movie, on a superficial level was about the Accords but on a personal level was about revenge, emotions, friendships and betrayal. This movie also subverts the derivative three-acts Marvel structure. In every Marvel film, even the excellent Winter Soldier, there are the same act one, two, three parts where the movie ends on a huge air/ground battle with the heroes fighting to save the world. Frankly, it had become a bit boring and repititive. This movie ends on such a deep, personal note that was so surprising to me.
I loved Chris Evans’ portrayal of Cap-how he becomes a fugitive in the end and totally goes against his very source of origin-being a government tool or a military propaganda. He amazingly portrayed a conflicted Cap, fighting to save the last breath of humanity left in Bucky’s soul.
RDJ was amazing too. His Tony Stark was flawed, self-destructive and deeply engulfed by loss. This was a darker Tony and I cannot wait to see him in the next Spidey movie.
Also, Cap’s open act of aggression in the end was so amazing, it was a complete ending of an amazing story arc that started in Cap 1.
I have watched this movie twice already and plan to watch it again next week. It keeps getting better for me.
If Winter Soldier had a more cerebral story, this one has a more emotional one, with the characters driving the plot rather than the plot driving the characters.
Watched it. And I prefer WS over Civil War any day. The movie was way too long and Iron Man is starting to bug me tbh. Loved Cap though. The one who I didn’t really like was Black Panther but it seems I am alone here. Liked Spiderman as well. Just a question: how old is Scarlet Witch? Because during a scene between Cap and Iron Man, Cap said: she is still a child. And Olsen was wearing those youngish clothes.
I am not a comics and I try avoiding super hero movies at all cost, we went to see Civil War because we had one evening off and there was nothing else on. But it was fun and entertaining. The story is well layed out so for someone like me not familiar with what happened before I wasn’t feeling like I had no clue what’s going on and that I needed to know the story. I think that speeks to the quality of the script. On the other hand it felt a bit like there are so many characters in the story it felt a bit rushed in terms of character development. For example it looked that there a quite a few layers to Sebastian Stan’s winter soldier, but the story moved along faster than character development. But that may be the same thing as saying an episode in a tv serier is not compelling enough in terms of character analysis
Ok, here’s my question: Marvel has been making good comic book movies for a while now, but I feel like they are starting to spread into different genres. I got a definite Science Fiction vibe from Guardians of the Galaxy, comedy from Ant Man, conspiracy thriller from Winter Soldier, maybe a Matrix type feel from Dr. Strange’s trailers. Even the DareDevil tv show slides into crime drama.
What do you think they are going to do with Black Panther? Straight up comic book movie? Or do you think they will go to a different niche they haven’t tried yet? What about Spiderman?
Black Panther will probably will be a sci-fi/mystical geopolitical movie. Wakanda is the most technologically advanced and the richest country in the MCU due to vibranium and advanced scientific research and technologies. It will also include mystical elements of the Panther God and herbs that provide T’challa with superhuman powers. It will be a nice blend of sci-fi/mystical/political action adventure along with family drama and themes of responsibility. I am very excited for Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman killed it!
We need to discuss T’Challa’s bad a** bodyguard! “Move or be moved” if she is not in the Black Panther movie in gonna be PO’d!
Thank you! I thought I was the only one stanning for that bodyguard. She’s literally there for like five seconds in the movie but she made such an impression on me. I’ve been quoting “Move or be moved” all over the damn place. She BETTER be in the BP movie.
She is EVERYTHING!
I didn’t really care about Black Panther to be honest. His costume was funny looking to me, basically he is the male version of Catwoman. Panthers are sexier I guess? People made him sound so awesome but when I saw the movie his whole subplot was avenging his father’s death which I wasn’t invested in enough to care.
The rest of the movie I liked well enough. Felt really bad for Tony Stark at the end, that was just awful. Really intrigued by Bucky (also because I love Sebastian Stan) and his days as a winter soldier. I also didn’t really care about Spiderman–he was funny enough but I’m kind of over the Spiderman reboots.