‘Captain America: Civil War’: A Who’s-Who-in-the-MCU Guide
Marvel Studios goes all out with its 13th feature film, Captain America: Civil War, in which a dozen do-gooders put up their dukes for a grand collision of superheroic muscle. Squint just a bit and this Cap sequel looks more like an Avengers film, packed with familiar faces (Falcon, Black Widow, Iron Man) and new additions such as the long-awaited Black Panther. Oh, hey, and Spider-Man, too!
The comic-book company-cum-money-printing media machine has previously ignited massive team conflagrations to resolve and tweak storylines at the end of its first two storytelling “phases.” As Civil War is the kickoff for Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), one message is clear: This cavalcade of costumed heroes is the new normal. Box office returns and fan response have proven that audiences are at least willing to try wrapping their heads around enough characters to fill out a Major League roster.
The hyperkinetic studio will introduce more other new characters soon. (Doctor Strange, slated for November, is the next new kid on the block.) In the meantime, here’s a quick-and-dirty dossier on the current murder’s row — both the characters and the actors that play them — that should be helpful to anyone suiting up for this all-star throwdown.
Iron Man
Injured in an explosion, rich and brilliant young industrialist Tony Stark preserves his life by building the ultimate suit of armor. Effectively a one-man army, the arrogant but well-intentioned Stark expands his own arsenal (for specialized protection, natch) even as he attempts to corral military tech held by others. One creation becomes, oops, the insane artificial intelligence Ultron, making Stark complicit in destructive actions across the globe. Like Marvel’s own foreign policy czar, Iron Man begins to question the legitimacy of unchecked power.
Robert Downey, Jr.
Consider this for a moment: The near-ubiquity of Robert Downey Jr. since the 2008 release of Iron Man is actually the actor’s third career phase. As a promising tyro, the son of Putney Swope director Robert Downey Sr. distinguished himself in rich-teens-gone-awry films like Less Than Zero (1987) and had the guts to play Charlie Chaplin in a 1992 biopic. A well-publicized problem with drugs nearly destroyed him; treatment led to a rich comeback, with roles as a twitchy creep in A Scanner Darkly (2006) and charming loser in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). Then came his Marvel moment, after which he’s zoomed forward as if shielded by his alter-ego’s armor.