10 Ways Captain America: Civil War Sets Up Future MCU Movies

Captain America: Civil War may be a Captain America movie in name, but for all intents and purposes it's really an Avengers flick - and potentially the one with the biggest ramifications for Marvel's shared universe yet. Where Avengers: Age of Ultron was pretty much business as usual for Marvel's super team, Civil War offers up two crucial new superheroes, teases a couple of villains and obliterates the Avengers initiative as we knew it. Moving into Phase Three and beyond, Captain America: Civil War is going to have a huge ripple effect on the MCU, and here are ten ways important ways that it sets up future Marvel movies. 10) Black Panther One of two major new MCU heroes to be introduced in Civil War, Chadwick Boseman's King T'Challa aka Black Panther is shown to fit comfortably into the Avengers ensemble, but the film also provides plenty of clues for how his upcoming standalone will turn out. Throughout Civil War, we get a pretty good feel for the character: hot-headed yet rational, a ferocious fighter yet a noble king, a quiet man torn between old traditions and new ways of thinking. Civil War also briefly offers us a glimpse of Wakanda (misty, verdant) and T'Challa's palace (opulent, tech-heavy), as well as T'Challa's ally in the comics, Everett Ross, played in Civil War by Martin Freeman as a shady government bod. Where will Black Panther go from here, based on what we see in Civil War? It's uncertain, but it appears that by the end of the film he's decided to break away from the Avengers, at least for now - meaning he'll likely be going it alone for Black Panther. 9) Spider-Man Taking over where Andrew Garfield left off, Tom Holland brings much the same energy to Peter Parker/Spider-Man as Garfield did, by making the character another geeky, bumbling teenager with a smart mouth. Holland still promises to be different in key ways, though. In the actor, we have the first cinematic Spider-Man to actually look and behave like a kid of 15, which could greatly affect the tone and content of the standalone Spidey movie, while thanks to Tony Stark, Holland's Spider-Man is set to be more technologically-advanced than before. We also know from Civil War that Spider-Man: Homecoming definitely won't be another origins movie, as Marvel's latest finds Peter already well into his secret career as a teen crimefighter. Perhaps most indicative of how Homecoming will turn out, though, is the tone of Holland/Parker's scenes: all self-deprecating humor, pop culture references and nods to his unusually attractive Aunt May. 8) Helmut Zemo Already both actor Daniel Bruhl and Civil War exec producer Nate Moore have confirmed Bruhl's Helmut Zemo will feature in future Marvel movies, with Moore commenting that Zemo's main purpose in Civil War is to set up another film. This means that we're going to be seeing more of Zemo later on, which is no bad thing for the audience considering how good Bruhl is in the role. One of the most pleasant surprises of Civil War, Bruhl's Zemo would on the basis of the film appear to be a chief new MCU antagonist, Joker-like in his cunning and savagery, and akin to Loki in how he elicits sympathy as he simultaneously inspires fear. He's captured by the end of Civil War, but everyone knows that Marvel villains don't stay contained for long. Expect him to reappear at a later date, perhaps broken out by another MCU baddie. 7) Old Characters, New Abilities Civil War isn't just an opportunity for Marvel Studios to introduce major new characters to its Cinematic Universe: the film is also a showcase for older characters and some of their new abilities. We see that Tony Stark for one is continuing the development of his Iron Man technology, hiding suits of armor in his private jets and repulsor blasters in his watches so he can be ready to battle at a moment's notice. Anthony Mackie's Falcon, too, has been given an upgrade, with his suit now packing a high-tech drone for spying missions. We also see Ant-Man collaborating with Hawkeye, by shrinking himself and hitching a ride on one of Clint's arrows, while one of the biggest WTF moments in Civil War finds Scott Lang doing something completely unexpected: using his suit's technology not to downsize, but to grow himself into a giant. This ability could, obviously, come in very handy in the Ant-Man sequel and elsewhere. 6) Fresh Connections As bonds are broken, new alliances are also formed in Civil War. For starters, Ant-Man, Spider-Man and Black Panther meet the regulars for the first time, though they all make separate connections with different Avengers: Spider-Man with Tony Stark (who provides Peter with a new suit and takes on a kind of mentor role), and Steve Rogers with Black Panther (who freezes and hides Bucky in Wakanda for Cap). There are also a couple of surprising developments, romantically speaking, in Civil War that look likely to develop further on down the line. Steve Rogers discovers Emily VanCamp's Agent 13 is actually Sharon Carter, niece of Cap's old flame Peggy, which doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest when they share a kiss midway through the film. There's a spark revealed between Scarlet Witch and Vision, too, though how that relationship is going to work from here is anyone's guess. 5) Rhodey's Injury Despite early speculation that Civil War would cull a bunch of MCU characters, clearing out the roster now that the number of heroes has ballooned, there isn't a single key character death in the film. By the end, everybody is more or less in the same shape they were in physically as they were at the beginning. Everybody, that is, except Don Cheadle's War Machine. Playing a bigger part in the fight than he ever has before, Rhodey pays for it by taking an accidental hit from Vision, crashing down to the Earth in the War Machine suit and becoming paralyzed. Tony, using some typically advanced Stark technology, has Rhodey walking by the end of the film, but his injury will no doubt impact his standing in future movies. Will it spell the end of his tenure as War Machine? Or will his new exoskeleton help Rhodey become more effective than ever? 4) Secretary Of State Ross As An Overarching Antagonist In Civil War, William Hurt's General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross is given a significant upgrade. Where in The Incredible Hulk he was the military man attempting to bring down Ed Norton's big green guy, in Civil War Ross reappears as Secretary of State - the Russo brothers bringing him out of the shadowy government operations and into the spotlight with much more power at his finger tips. Civil War stars Hurt as a more pragmatic kind of bad guy, armed with political power, but he's just as ardently anti-superhero as ever. Rather than taking Avengers on using force, Civil War's Ross now uses his new position as one of the most powerful men in the free world to shut Marvel's heroes down. The suggestion is that this new version of the character will be here to stay for a few more films to come, working in the background and using the law as his weapon of choice. 3) Avengers Divided The premise of Civil War necessarily has the Avengers fracturing and, ultimately, tussling, with Helmut Zemo and Thaddeus Ross sparking off the epic confrontation that leads to this titular war. This being an MCU movie, however, you might think everything would be back to normal by the final reels, with Stark, Rogers and all reconciling over some Shawarma. But this isn't the case. By the end of Civil War, the Avengers remain divided, with Rogers and Stark in particular failing to mend their relationship after their bruising final fight. It's as yet unclear how this will play out in future movies, though at present it seems Captain America is on the run, with other ex-Avengers including Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Ant-Man - all of whom Cap is forced to break out of prison - in tow. 2) Heroes No More? In Civil War, in recognition of the fact that the Avengers' actions have real-world repercussions, we see public opinion has begun to turn against the MCU's heroes for the first time. Alfre Woodard's Miriam Sharpe and Bruhl's Zemo represent the increasing number who have been adversely affected by Stark and co., with both of them losing family members in the battle of Sokovia. Understandably, they blame the Avengers, who didn't just save what was left of city Novi Grad - they created the villains that almost totally destroyed it, too. There's no reason to believe the public will be any more forgiving of the Avengers after Civil War. At the end of that movie, the people have witnessed our planet's greatest 'heroes' destroy an airport as they fall to infighting. Going forward, the MCU could take a page out of Batman V Superman's book and begin depicting these Earthbound gods as potentially dangerous to the world around them. 1) Bucky As A Secret Weapon...For Good Or Bad Bucky Barnes getting encased in ice at the end of Civil War by no means signals Sebastian Stan's exit from the franchise. The erstwhile Winter Soldier only allows himself to be frozen for as long as he remains brainwashed, but he still remains a powerful individual, hidden away as a secret weapon, until Cap or any of the other Avengers might call on him again. And that's only if they get to him first. In the wrong hands, Bucky is still highly dangerous - and who's to say he won't be found and again reactivated by one of Marvel's many bad guys? By keeping him alive, the Russos hint that Bucky will return to the MCU in the future. And as he has been before now, he could be either a force for good or a force for evil. Like Zemo, Bucky has most likely been put on ice with the idea of bringing him back for a later movie.