Thomas Roach on whether Marvel Studios could follow the Civil War storyline for Avengers 3….
There has been a great deal of talk amongst fans recently about Marvel adapting Mark Millar’s Civil War to the big screen, with some offering criticism as to why it can’t happen, and others eager to see this story arc adapted into a live action movie. Is there is a chance that Avengers 3 could actually be an adaptation of that storyline?
Some people will immediately jump to the fact that Thanos will likely be the villain for Avengers 3, so the Civil War storyline would be redundant. I say that Thanos may not be the villain until Avengers 4. This may sound stupid to some, but remember we all assumed that Thanos would be the villain for the second Avengers movie. During the end credits scene in The Avengers we saw the Mad Titan and thought this was a tease to the character being the next threat to the Avengers. Yet we are getting Ultron instead. Not that that is a problem.
I now have a feeling that Thanos will be the main villain for the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 instead, having appeared in the first film this year. Chances are we will get to see a great deal more of him before he takes on the Avengers. Thanos at the moment seems more linked to the Guardians rather than the Avengers, so letting some development play out for a few more years yet could be a possibility.
The fact that both Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans’ contracts expire after Avengers 3 means that this may be the only time that Marvel could do a Civil War movie. Many fans assume that the two actors will extend their contracts with Marvel, but that is no guarantee. There has been talk of recasting and replacing the characters but I don’t think that would go down too well with fans. Marvel could keep Civil War for if and when the rights to other characters revert to the studio, but at that point these actors may no longer be involved with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. People would surely prefer the current actors in the roles, rather than replacements a few years from now. This may be the best time to do it.
Some people doubt that Civil War will happen until the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man return to Marvel. Some of the characters from these franchises play a major role in the story, but frankly I think Marvel can work around it fine. By the time Avengers 3 comes along the Marvel Cinematic Universe will have been expanded even further and there will be plenty of characters to use. Most of the characters in the MCU do not have secret identities, which means that some fans feel the story would be redundant, but with new characters being introduced in the films and the Netflix shows, we can still have heroes with secret identities who would play into the story well.
I will admit that Avengers 3 being a Civil War movie is unlikely, but I don’t think it’s out of the question either. Avengers 3 is likely to be released in 2018 or possibly a year or so after that, so we just need to wait and see.Personally, I would love to see a Civil War adaptation and if you are not familiar with the story, read it and see what you think.
Do you think that Avengers 3 could follow the Civil War storyline? Let us know…
Thomas Roach
Originally published September 16, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
