8 Ways In Which Captain America: Civil War Could Be A Total Letdown

Captain America: Civil War is easily one of 2016's most highly anticipated movies, and while Marvel has yet to release a single official still, fans are already chomping at the bit to see Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's 2006 comic book event series finally brought to the big screen. Based on interviews, the few pieces of information which have been revealed all point to Captain America: Civil War being great. But what if isn't? It's not nice to think about, and while Marvel Studios certainly knows what the hell they're doing, there's nothing to say that Phase 3's opening movie is going to live up to the hype. Here, you will find eight reasons why Captain America: Civil War could be a letdown. That's not to say it will be (based on the talent involved, it could just be 2016's best superhero movie), but there's still enough evidence out there to give us all at least some cause for concern. Agree? Disagree? As always, be sure to weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below. 8) Spider-Man's Role Little is known about what Spider-Man will be getting up to Captain America: Civil War, though it appears as if he'll have a much bigger role than initially expected. Despite initial reports that Tom Holland would only be spending a few days on set in Atlanta, he's since been spotted in Germany and it's been revealed that both his home and Aunt May will be making appearances at some point. Rumours also point to Peter Parker being on Iron Man's side of the conflict, with him receiving a new costume from Tony Stark by the time the credits roll. That all sounds great, but Marvel and Sony made that deal at such a late stage, it's hard to imagine Spider-Man having anywhere near as big a role in the movie as most of us would like him to. Instead, it seems like Captain America: Civil War will be a introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the hero, with him likely taking on a much larger part in Avengers: Infinity War. Spider-Man unmasking to the world is a comic book moment which most definitely won't be recreated then (had he been around as long as the other Phase 1 heroes, it's easy to imagine them working that into the story), and it seems doubtful that the Russos will be able to squeeze in the subplot of him switching to Captain America's side when he realizes he's done the wrong thing by teaming up with Iron Man. Seeing Spidey here will no doubt be amazing, but whether his role is going to be as spectacular as we'd like is somewhat up in the air right now. 7) Too Many Characters While Captain America: Civil War has frequently been referred to as "Avengers 2.5," it's important to remember that it's still supposed to be a Captain America movie. Robert Downey Jr. being involved is great, but as arguably Marvel's most popular hero, it wouldn't be too surprising for him to receive as much screentime, if not more, than Steve Rogers. Throw in the other heroes - who will no doubt have their own story arcs as they decide which side of the conflict they fall on - and there's a very real chance that Captain America will be overshadowed in his own movie. The Russos told such a satisfying story with the patriotic Avenger in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, that it's a little heartbreaking to think that they may not get the opportunity to do the same here. It's not hard to trust that they'll be able to deliver a satisfying plot (especially with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely back on writing duties), but they have a lot of characters and plot beats to handle here. Remember that Captain America: Civil War will need to introduce both Black Panther and Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while also continuing to tell Bucky's story. If they don't get this one just right, it could end up being a mess, and may have ultimately been better off being an Avengers movie if Cap doesn't get the spotlight. Of course, if he does, there will be those who inevitably complain that the rest of The Avengers aren't getting enough focus. It's a delicate balancing act, so fingers crossed... 6) Lack Of Fantastic Four Marvel cancelling the Fantastic Four's comic book series was apparently done in a bid to hurt the movie, but Josh Trank's reboot (which he disowned on social media the day before it was released) wouldn't have gained much from as many as a dozen monthly series based on the critical reception to Fox's messy take on Marvel's First Family. Fantastic Four took such a hit at the box office and soured moviegoers on the franchise to such a large extent that it's now difficult to imagine Marvel Studios wanting the rights back. Of course, even if they do regain them at some point in the near future, it's now far too late for them to factor into Captain America: Civil War in any way. Their role in the comic book version of the story was great, and it's hard to imagine how the movie will replicate the split between the team because of the unique family dynamic they obviously share. Had Quicksilver still been alive, there may have been the potential to play on the rift between him and his sister the Scarlet Witch, and while it's no bad thing that the focus will likely be kept on The Avengers and their decision to side with either Steve or Tony, there's no denying that the Fantastic Four could have added something very interesting to this already pretty busy movie. However, it's the fact that there's already so much going on which means that it's far from the end of the world that Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny haven't made the cut. Still, it's hard not to think about what might have been. 5) The Teams Are Too Small It may seem like a contradiction to moan about the size of the teams after pointing out that Captain America: Civil War is a pretty crowded movie which runs the risk of not paying enough attention to the titular superhero, but seeing Steve and Tony's pretty small sides of five or so heroes each in that leaked footage felt more than a little underwhelming when you compare it to the source material. In the comic book series, they each had dozens of heroes fighting for them. As a result, the vast majority of characters were little more than background extras who may not have had more than a line of two each throughout the course of the series, but there being such a vast selection of them ensured that the battles between Team Captain America and Team Iron Man felt truly epic. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to make this a reality, and you just know that even if there were, critics would have a field day tearing the movie apart for not devoting enough time to each and every single hero. From an entirely practical point of view, it's easy to see why Marvel has gone for smaller teams then, but it also means that this movie simply won't be the Civil War adaptation that many of us spent years dreaming about. Had Kevin Feige and company saved this for Phase 4, then at least the likes of Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and The Inhumans could have got involved (not to mention The Defenders and perhaps even Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Secret Warriors). Instead, it appears as if fans will have to just settle for a scaled down version of the amount of heroes who go to war over the Superhuman Registration Act. 4) It Could Be Another Iron Man 2 When Marvel Studios finally got The Avengers off the ground, they didn't have many movies left to set it up. Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor really had to focus on introducing those characters, so it was left up to Iron Man 2 to set the stage for the "Avengers Initiative." The jam packed sequel - which balanced Iron Man's story with the introduction of Black Widow, major ties to Captain America and the Tesseract, and Nick Fury's plans for a superhero team - ended up being a mess, but does the same fate await Captain America: Civil War? The threequel is going to establish the tone and status quo for all the movies between it and the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, and will have to find a way of balancing that with the introduction of a number of new heroes, a lead villain in the form of Baron Zemo, and revealing what's next for all the Avengers involved in this war. That's certainly doable, but there's so much going on, it's hard not to be a little concerned about Captain America: Civil War suffering from many of the criticisms which have been made about Iron Man 2. If the movie ends up spending too much time focusing and teasing what's next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it runs the risk of letting the main narrative be overshadowed by world building. Marvel has done it before after all, so this should definitely be one of the biggest concerns for fans going into the highly anticipated 2016 release... 3) There Hasn't Been Enough Build Up While there were certainly lots of hints about the very different world views of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, there's been relatively little in the way of build up to Captain America: Civil War. Now, in fairness, the war kicked off quickly in the comics too, following the destruction caused by the New Warriors, and a similar incident (especially following the destruction of Sokovia) will no doubt occur in this movie. Even so, this still in some ways feels like the movie which should be finishing Phase 3, not kicking it off. At this point, it's foolish to doubt Kevin Feige's vision, but rushing Civil War just to set the tone for what's next is a real waste of a great storyline. This lack of any sort of real build up may not hurt Captain America: Civil War if it's a great movie, but it would have no doubt definitely been at least somewhat enhanced by there being a little more background going into it. Whether that makes a huge difference to the movie itself is something we won't find out next year, but it still feels like war is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe a little sooner than it probably should be. 2) Batman V Superman Will Overshadow It While it was a smart move by Marvel to square off in a battle of release dates with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, they may end up regretting their victory - which generated a lot of "Marvel Won!" type press coverage - next year. After backing down from Captain America: Civil War, Zack Snyder's Man of Steel follow-up and Justice League prequel will now be released before the first Phase 3 movie. That means moviegoers will get to see those two DC Comics icons squaring off on the big screen a good couple of months before The Avengers go to war, and that's something which is inevitably going to lead to comparisons and accusations (no matter how incorrect they are) that Marvel is "copying" their Distinguished Competition. After seeing Batman and Superman fighting each other, will people still be as interested in Captain America and Iron Man's spat? For that matter, if Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is amazing, will Captain America: Civil War be endlessly criticized for not being anywhere near as good? Time will tell, but following the clash of those two icons may not have been a smart move on Kevin Feige's part... 1) Captain America Isn't Going To Die To be 100% honest, I don't want Chris Evans to go anywhere. He's a great Captain America and while he may not be quite the box office draw that Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is, he deserves the kind of massive pay rise which will ensure that he remains part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the foreseeable future. However, like many of you, I would love to see Bucky take over the mantle of Captain America. While that's something which could happen without the death of Steve Rogers, his murder at the hands of Crossbones (and Agent 13, but things gets a little complicated with that...) was a huge exclamation point on the Civil War comic book and is arguably the kind of moment which Captain America: Civil War could do with to shake up the MCU going into Phase 3 in a huge way. Evans has already confirmed that he starts shooting Avengers: Infinity War next October though, so that points to Cap making it out of this movie alive. Not only does that put the breaks on a major piece of character development for the former Winter Soldier, but it points to Captain America: Civil War being without yet another key moment from the comic. Now, this admittedly isn't a straight up adaptation, and Cap's death didn't actually take place in Civil War itself, but this is still a little disappointing. Of course, there's every chance that Marvel will surprise us all, but for now, that doesn't appear to be the case!