Thomas Roach on how Marvel can still do a Civil War movie…
One storyline from the pages of Marvel comics that fans admire is that of Civil War, which was penned by Mark Millar. This iconic comic shows The Avengers and other heroes having a disagreement about revealing their identities following the Superhuman Registration Act, leading to a Civil War between the superheroes. On one side we have Iron Man all for superhero identities being made public, and on the other Captain America who opposes the idea of secret identities being revealed to the world.
There has been a call for Marvel Studios to do a Civil War movie eventually, but the idea seems to keep getting shot down. One of the reasons it is said that the story is not doable is because characters like Spider-Man and Wolverine feature heavily and their film rights currently belong to Sony and Fox respectively. Despite this there is no real reason that Marvel Studios could not do the movie without these characters. I don’t think that a Civil War movie will happen anytime soon, but it will happen. Marvel Studios may be waiting for the rights to return to do this iconic storyline but I say the characters that are missing are unneccessary.
If there was to be an adaptation of the comic book it would certainly not be a panel to panel adaptation. Adapting a comic book storyline can be very difficult as not everything can be included. Some comics rely on the reader already knowing the character from other stories so they need less time to develop. But Marvel has already established characters in their Cinematic Universe really well and the scenario that unfolds in Civil War could be introduced for the Avengers to tackle at some point.
Next year in Avengers: Age of Ultron we will be introduced to Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and The Vision, as well as Ant-Man in a movie of the same name. Over the next few years we are also set to be introduced to Doctor Strange in a movie in 2016 as well as Daredevil in a Netflix series. There is also a great deal of talk about Ms. Marvel and Black Panther getting their own movies, as well as the Defenders show which will feature Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones alongside Daredevil. Let’s face it, Marvel has no shortage of heroes that could be used in favor of the ones who belong to other studios.
Marvel has also talked about no longer doing origin stories for some characters in future films. Introducing new heroes that will take the side of either Captain America or Iron Man will allow a Civil War film to have a spectacular roster and a varied range of characters to take on notable roles and actions that featured in the comic story arc. Once these characters are introduced then they will be able to get their own movies and shows without origin stories. Essentially the roles that Spider-Man, Wolverine and even the Fantastic Four play can be given to other characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this in no way will compromise the story. Sure some fans will be upset that it is not a loyal adaptation to the comic, but frankly if you want to see a page-for-page adaptation then just read the comic and use your imagination instead.
Do you think that a Civil War movie could be done without some of the characters that belong to other studios? Let us know…
Thomas Roach
Originally published September 10, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
