So it’s come to this. Two of the most iconic superheroes out there, Iron Man and Captain America, are at each other’s throats. And all because some heroes would prefer not to answer to bureaucrats.
That’s the gist of “Captain America: Civil War,” which is expected to crush it at the box office. While keeping in mind that there are traditional bad guys in the movie as well, the main draw is the bench-clearing brawl featuring 12 (mostly) good guys. Half of them back smartass inventor Tony Stark, and the other half support unfrozen war hero Steve Rogers. And some of the characters are making their movie debut as far as this thread of the Marvel universe is concerned.
That’s a LOT of storylines to piece together, so consider this your primer if you’re an Avengers newbie or don’t have all these films memorized (don’t judge me!).
TEAM CAPTAIN AMERICA
Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans)
Last seen: Training the latest incarnation of the Avengers at the end of “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
Motivation: Steve Rogers has grown increasingly skeptical that governments are motivated by doing the right thing. He spells out his stance in one of the “Civil War” trailers: “I know we’re not perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.”
Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)
Last seen: Evading capture after the mayhem in Washington, D.C., in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” (Though we learn in a post-credits scene of “Ant-Man” that Cap and the Falcon have caught up to him; this is actually a scene from “Civil War.”)
Motivation: Brainwashed for decades into carrying out assassinations for Russia and shadowy figures, Captain America’s best friend has made a lot of enemies and would prefer to stay off everyone’s radar.
Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)
Last seen: Becoming a dad for the third time and trying to focus on remodeling his house as opposed to shooting arrows at bad guys.
Motivation: This man kept his wife and family a secret from virtually everyone for years. He’s not about to register for some list if he can help it.
Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd)
Last seen: Trying to keep on the straight and narrow to make his daughter proud and prove worthy of the Ant-Man suit. He did stop a maniacal scientist, so he’s off to a good start.
Motivation: Lang discovered that the company he worked for was cheating his customers. He surreptitiously refunded the customers’ money, landing him in prison, so he’s not the biggest fan of the rich and/or powerful. Combined with the fact that Hank Pym, Lang’s mentor and creator of the Ant-Man suit, distrusts SHIELD and organizations like it, teaming with Cap is a no-brainer.
Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie)
Last seen: Preparing to raise his superhero game as part of the reconfigured Avengers.
Motivation: He fought side by side with Cap in “The Winter Soldier” and helped him find Bucky. Falcon also is a military veteran but has grown to like being detached from the system.
Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen)
Last seen: Learning to master her powers and be a team player after helping to take down Ultron.
Motivation: For most of her life, Maximoff wanted revenge on Stark for his role in ravaging her native Sokovia. She came to her senses after learning that Ultron planned to annihilate the planet, but she’s going to be hard-pressed to embrace Iron Man’s point of view on something like hero registration.
TEAM IRON MAN
Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)
Last seen: Passing the torch to the new team of Avengers and theoretically hanging up his armor at the end of “Age of Ultron.” He seemed relieved to get out of the superhero game.
Motivation: Stark has gone from arrogant war profiteer to someone who is more mindful of the damage war causes. At least until he creates an evil artificial intelligence. It has taken a while, but even he is starting to think power without supervision is a bad thing.
Natasha Romanov/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)
Last seen: Serving as Captain America’s top lieutenant for the “new” team of Avengers.
Motivation: She dumped all of SHIELD’s secrets onto the Internet in “The Winter Soldier,” indicating she’s not as protective of skeletons in the closet as she once was. Chances are she’s a bit burned out after living in the shadows most of her life and doesn’t want the burden of saving the world to fall on the shoulders of the few.
James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle)
Last seen: Swooping in to assist the Avengers in defeating Ultron and preparing for a role as permanent member of the team.
Motivation: Rhodes probably is relieved that Stark, his best friend, has embraced the notion that policing the world singlehandedly is unnecessary. As he told Stark in “Iron Man 2,” “You don’t have to do this alone.”
T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)
Last seen: This is his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Motivation: We see him shielding himself from a huge blast in one of the “Civil War” trailers at what looks to be a United Nations summit. He likely blames the Winter Soldier and wants to bring him to justice, which aligns him with Iron Man for the time being.
Vision (Paul Bettany)
Last seen: Preparing to take his cues from Captain America after helping to destroy Ultron.
Motivation: Shortly after his creation, Vision declares he’s “on the side of life.” Instituting checks and balances probably makes sense to him as a way to keep civilians out of the crossfire.
Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland)
Last seen: This is his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Motivation: Eagle-eyed moviegoers may have seen this scrolling headline in “Ant-Man”: “Stark Industries announces new scholarships for promising students from urban city schools.” The likely scenario is Parker and Stark became friends through the program, and the “genius billionaire playboy philanthropist” can be very persuasive.
PROJECTED MATCHUPS
If we were treating “Captain America: Civil War,” particularly the airport battle depicted in the trailers, as the most epic game of six-on-six basketball in history, these would be each hero’s defensive assignment.
Iron Man vs. Captain America
Tony Stark won’t miss a chance to punch Cap in his “perfect teeth,” and Steve Rogers knows taking down his most vocal opponent will be a priority.
War Machine vs. Falcon
Expect the two servicemen to go head to head in part because they both have tech that allows them to fly.
Black Panther vs. Winter Soldier
They have similar skill sets, and Black Panther’s suit is bulletproof, so it’s not as simple as Bucky aiming a gun at T’Challa and ending the fight that way.
Spider-Man vs. Ant-Man
The classic humanoid arachnid vs. humanoid insect matchup (or maybe just the first one). Ant-Man can hide from many heroes by shrinking, but he’ll have a tougher time fooling the wall crawler’s spider sense.
Black Widow vs. Hawkeye
The only two characters in this showdown without superpowers or a fancy suit. These two friends threw down in “The Avengers” when Hawkeye was brainwashed by Loki, though this time they might simply be trying not to kill each other.
Vision vs. Scarlet Witch
These might be the two most badass players on the battlefield considering Vision has an Infinity Stone in his head and the Scarlet Witch’s power is derived from it.
@redeyesportschi | chsosa@tribune.com
