Seven Things I Loved About Captain America: Civil War

Now that the smoke from opening weekend has cleared and I’ve had time to process everything I saw, I want to lay out seven things I loved about Captain America: Civil War.

WARNING – THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AHEAD!

1. Spider-Man: First and foremost, I loved Spider-Man. This was easily the best Spider-Man we’ve ever seen on screen. Unburdened from a retelling of his original story, Spidey did what Spidey does best: he spun around, cracking wise and kicking butt. I’m really looking forward to Homecoming now.

   

2. Black Panther: Easily the biggest reach of any character in the movie, Marvel hit a home run with the big screen version of T’Challa. Chadwick Boseman brought a brooding regality necessary to make the character work. The suit was great. The character’s arc, from vengeful warrior to benevolent ruler, makes me want to see what they have cooking for his solo movie.

   

3. Ant-Man: I’m pretty sure they cast Paul Rudd as Ant-Man so they’d have a smart-aleck hero in the mix with all of the brooding. Of course, they did that before they got Spider-Man back. Still, in a sea of OMG moments during the big airport battle scene, none were more enjoyable than when Ant-Man blew up into Giant-Man. Anybody got any orange slices?

   

4. Bromance: One of Civil War’s unexpected bonuses was the budding bromance between Falcon and Bucky. The pair had a very Lethal Weapon kind of chemistry. Whether they were nodding knowingly as Captain America kissed Sharon Carter, or dissing one another as they laid webbed to the airport floor, the duo clicked. The MCU could use more of them.

   

5. Black Widow: As the big boys picked teams and drew lines in the sand, Black Widow suddenly became the voice of reason.  She knew things were going to end badly and she was right. That she ultimately played for both teams didn’t matter. That she had to go on the run because of her actions also didn’t matter. We know she’s got a solo movie coming and the opening set piece gave me visions of a Bourne Identity-type spy flick with ScarJo kicking butt and taking names.

   

6. Hawkeye: Finally! Finally, Hawkeye has a personality! After spending The Avengers under Loki’s thrall and Age of Ultron being a family man, Civil War was Hawkeye’s coming out party. This time out, the MCU’s resident archer got to develop as a character. He’s going to need that personality if he’s going to hold his own against Iron Man and Spider-Man.

   

7. Vision and Scarlet Witch: Civil War teased us with growing feelings between the synthetic man and the Inhuman woman. They end up married in the comics, but we aren’t there yet. They are still flirting and trying to figure out their feelings. A deeper look at his unconventional relationship could add some interesting textures to Infinity War (or whatever they’re calling it now).