Tuesday, Marvel dropped a BOMBSHELL with the line up for the films that will be in Phase 3 of their Cinematic Universe. Of these films included: Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, The Inhumans, and Avengers Infinity War parts one and Two. However, The first film announced for this new phase was the third installment of the Captain America Franchise: Civil War.
To those uninformed, Civil War was an event in the Marvel Comics that had the government pass the Superhero Registration Act: an act that had all super powered characters reveal their identities and act under the government's orders. Tony Stark (A.K.A Iron Man) was all for the act while Steve Rogers (A.K.A Captain America) was against it. This led to a huge division among the superheroes in the Marvel Universe. Some on the side of Tony, while others were with the Cap.
Now this event will be adapted in the movies, which has a lot of fans of the Comics concerned as to HOW you do this event without two VERY key elements that made it what it was: The reveal of superhero IDs (All the heroes in the MCU don't have secret IDs), and Spider-man (Who's owned by Sony and Marvel can't have in any of their movies). But I believe I have a few solutions to remedy these issues.
How would the Superhero Registration Act work without the Superhero identities? Simple. The SRA wasn't just about people revealing themselves, it was about the people that either wanted to be aligned with the government or refuse to be on their leash. Marvel already planted the seeds for this in two movies: The first being Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where, spoilers to those that haven't seen it, SHIELD has been dissolved and all of the things that they have done was leaked out to the world, meaning the government knows ALL of SHIELD's dirt. The Second being the upcoming Avengers movie: Age of Ultron. If the trailer to this movie proves anything, then Ultron (Who was built by Tony Stark mind you) is gonna cause some MAJOR damage to the world. The events in this movie plus Winter Soldier will know doubt play a huge part into why the Registration Act is created so that the government has some type of control over these super powered beings. The setting might be different, but the concept remains the same.
The Second and probably more important element in this equation: Spider-man. Everyone's favorite wall crawler played a very important role in the event as the middle man. Not to mention him revealing his identity to the world was one of the biggest moments of the event itself. The problem now is that Spidey's owned by a different company and can't be used in Marvel Studio's movies. So now the question becomes How do you do this movie without Spider-man, well Marvel has the answer in two words: BLACK PANTHER.
Before his own solo movie in 2017, Black Panther will make his big screen debut in Civil War (Played by Chadwick Boseman) This already sends signs that Black Panther will no doubt take the role Spider-Man had in the civil war Movie and it could be argued that he would have more impact than Spidey would. In Cap 3, T'Challa is introduced as the king of Wakanda, a technologically advanced country that has cut itself off from the rest of the world because of the dangers and greed of the world. The country is also known for the number one source for Vibranium (The Material that Captain America's shield is made of).
As I once again reference the trailer for Age of Ultron, it's seen that Captain America's shield has been destroyed and he needs to find Vibranium to have it repaired (Let's say for argument's sake he needs it so he can duke it out with Iron Man). In comes T'Challa with a source of Vibranium and then he learns of the situation going on with the SRA. Long story short, deciding that he can't just sit back, T'Challa takes part in the Civil War and sides with Cap. (Thanks to the ComicBookCast for their indirect help with me coming up with this theory)
To put it simply, despite what people say about it, Civil War IS a story line that Marvel could seamlessly incorporate into their Cinematic Universe. All it takes is the right directing and writing, and since when has Marvel let the fans down in those two regards?
