Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a little write up of the Captain America: Civil War footage that was just shown at D23.
Kevin Feige came to show off two projects: Doctor Strange and Captain America: Civil War. I'll talk about Doctor Strange in a bit, but let's talk about Cap.
Feige brought out Anthony Mackie, who couldn't stop talking about how awesome the Doctor Strange art montage that just played was. He said that he came all the way from Germany, where they're still shooting the film. They have one week left, but Mackie said he couldn't introduce footage from Captain America alone.
When Chris Evans came out, the audience went nuts. He joked with Mackie about editing the footage himself, using iMovie on his laptop, while flying in from Germany and they let the footage role.
The down to earth feel of Winter Soldier was evident from frame one. There's some kind of op Cap is on with Falcon and Black Widow. Falcon is on a rooftop in a fancy new duds (red and black outfit), Cap is peering out a window and Black Widow is in civilian clothes sitting at a table outside a cafe.
”Eyes on target, folks.” - Cap. They're looking at a particularly heavy vehicle in traffic. Falcon launches Red Wing, which is not a bird like in the comics but a winged drone that he can control. It flies under the car, gets readings and pings the guys inside. A battering ram is detected. Bad news all around.
The heroes converge on the car, disable it and Crossbones comes out with some goons. The first thing he does is throw some kind of sticky bomb on Cap's shield, forcing cap to throw it up and out of harm's way, so the rest of the fight is hand to hand. Falcon blocks bullets with his metal wings as he fights some guys, Widow does her running leap leg takedown things and Cap is focused on Crossbones, who is more than holding his own.
”This is for dropping a building on my face,” he growls as he punches Cap back into a brick wall. Crossbones raises a fist and a blade pops out. Cap blocks, knocks the gauntlet off of that hand and Crossbones answers with another blade on his left fist.
Cap pretty handily takes Crossbones out, helmet is knocked off and looks at Crossbones' disfigured face. The bad guy smiles. “You don't remember me, do you?” He mumbles something about “your pal, your buddy, your Bucky...” and we're quickly reintroduced to the Winter Soldier a few moments later. Before that we get a voice over and see official bureaucratic types (including a clean cut Martin Freeman) in government looking buildings. There's a voice over that was close to this:
”The world owes you an unpayable debt. While a great many people see you as a hero there are some who prefer the word vigilante. People are afraid.” I couldn't place the voice, but it might have been William Hurt.
Cap responds “This job... We try to save as many as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody.” That plays over some random destruction and post-battle imagery.
Then we find Bucky. His memory seems to have returned. “Do you know who I am?” - Cap “Your mom's name is Sarah and (with a smile) you used to wear newspapers in your shoes.”
That's when Stark is introduced.
”What would you call a group of enhanced individuals who inflict their will anywhere they choose?”
Cap: ”I know they're not perfect, but they're still the safest hands out there.”
Tony: “Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth. If we have no limitations, no boundaries, we're no better than the bad guys.”
The way the footage was cut that didn't come across so much as “I hate you and now we're going to fight,” but more an argument that goes from playful to deadly serious.
The footage did ramp up with the costumed heroes charging at other heroes. Looks like they're in an airport of some sort. I don't think we saw who was on the other side, but for sure Cap, Winter Soldier, Scarlett Witch and Hawkeye were on one side.
Hawkeye and Black Widow engage in a little fisticuffs. Hawkeye gets Black Widow on the ground. She says “We're still friends, right?” With a smile, Hawkeye responds: “Depends on how hard you hit me.” She smiles back and you get the feeling the fight is gonna continue.
There were some quick battle shots and a brief shot of Black Panther. His vibranium claws slide out of his finger tips and the crowd went bonkers.
They decided to end the footage on a comedic note. A van door is roughly slid open, revealing a sleeping Scott Lang. He wakes up and seems super happy to be there. He's starstruck by Cap. He shakes his hand and keeps shaking. And keeps shaking. And keeps shaking. “What an honor. I'm shaking your hand too long” (still doesn't stop shaking). Scarlet Witch is smiling behind him. He turns to her, while still shaking Cap's hand, “I know you, too. You're great.” Turns back to Cap. “Thinks for thanking of me...”
Sounds cornball, but it works. You know how likable Paul Rudd is and he oozes that all over this scene. Maybe I should have phrased that better...
Anyway, the footage came across as both fun and serious, but not as dark and dour as I was expecting. Which is a good thing. The stakes are real, but they're not afraid of a little levity.
Gonna grab a quick bite to eat and then get cracking on that Doctor Strange art description! Stay tuned!
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
Follow Me On Twitter
