With Avengers: Age of Ultron old news by now, attention is turning fast to next year’s Captain America: Civil War, an Avengers-sized cinematic event that will find the Cap (Chris Evans) facing off with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) over the issue of government oversight, which creates a serious rift in the superhero team. Today, JoBlo has some new details on the pic, and though these are rumors until we hear otherwise, the site does have a fairly good track record for this sort of thing.
First up, they report that Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman, making his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) will first be on his own mission unrelated to the conflict between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. It’s been speculated that the Wakandan hero will have the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) in his crosshairs over a past transgression, which leads to a showdown between the Panther and the Cap. The Black Panther’s costume will be coated in vibranium (the ultra-tough mineral that showed up as a key Wakandan export in Age of Ultron), which allows him to easily scratch the Cap’s shield during that fight.
T’Challa is apparently more on Stark’s side than Rogers’, and it eventually becomes clear that Iron Man needs the Panther if he’s to take down his one-time ally. In addition to the Panther’s all-black get-up, he’ll at one point slip into a high-tech Panther jet, possibly designed by Stark as a nice incentive for joining his side in the Civil War.
[zerg]Next up, there’s news about some costume upgrades for key characters. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) will reportedly have a more purple outfit with a full right sleeve. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) will see some major changes as well, with a modern look replacing the ’60s one he inherits from Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) in this summer’s Ant-Man. This also allows the superhero to grow to his Giant Man size (approximately 15-20 feet tall) and fight Iron Man and his team.
Civil War will also apparently see Ant-Man climb on top of one of Hawkeye’s arrows, ready to be launched, which is so perfect I can’t even put it into words. Finally, War Machine (Don Cheadle) will be upgraded to get a more tank-style outfit, complete with a shoulder cannon/gun that can also be detached and used as a kind of warhammer/baton. As for the Cap, he’ll don the iconic chainmail armor, which fans have wanted to see for a long while.
Finally, JoBlo reports a new member of the Avengers in a companion for the Falcon (Anthony Mackie). In addition to new wrist lasers and grappling hooks for the airborne Avenger, Falcon will get a sidekick in a new player called Redwing.
In the comics, this was a telepathically linked bird, but in the spirit of the more grounded MCU, Redwing will be a red, robotic drone that Falcon commands. That makes a lot of sense, and though the new piece of tech may only get a fleeting introduction, it’s still a nifty gadget for Falcon to be carting around.
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have their work cut out for them with one of the biggest MCU events to date, and though everything we’re hearing about the pic is very cool, my worry is that the film will suffer from the same overstuffing that plagued Age of Ultron. Fingers crossed that Marvel has learned something from that sequel’s middling reviews.
Captain America: Civil War opens on May 6, 2016. Until then, check out some recent set photos below and let us know what you think of these new updates in the comments section.
