As one of the most significant comic book events in recent history, The 2006-2007 Marvel Civil War storyline (written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven) has laid the foundations for the conflict arising in Captain America: Civil War hitting theaters May 6th, 2016 (USA).
In preparation for the cinematic showdown between #TeamCap and #TeamIronMan, we’ve gathered 7 crucial events from the comic book storyline that you’ll be hard-pressed to find in the upcoming film.
01. The Trigger
The road to public outcry and ultimately the “Superhuman Registration Act” reached it’s final destination when a team of young superheroes (The New Warriors) encounter a group of supervillains during the filming of the 2nd season of their superhero reality TV show. The conflict that ensued resulted in the lesser-known villain Nitro producing an explosion that destroys an entire elementary school, killing hundreds in the process. Labeled “The Stamford Incident”, this event seems entirely too dark & graphic to appear on the big screen in the current Marvel cinematic universe.
02. Spiderman Unmasked
In the aftermath of the Stamford Incident, Tony Stark convinces Peter Parker to reveal his secret identity to the world to show his support for the “Superhuman Registration Act”. Ultimately, Peter chooses to leave Iron Man’s side and joins forces with Captain America, resulting in the full threat of public knowledge regarding his identity without any form of government protection. Given Spiderman’s age in the new film and a new series reboot in the works, it’s highly unlikely that Marvel will throw your friendly neighborhood web-slinger to the wolves like that.
03. Robo-Thor
If the God of Thunder is nowhere to be found and you have an agenda to push, what do you do? Well, if you’re Tony Stark, Hank Pym & Reed Richards, the answer is simple: You create Ragnarok. During it’s first outing, the half clone/half cyborg Thor lookalike flat out murders the superhero Goliath, causing a tremendous shift in sympathy towards Cap’s team and their cause. While Marvel has made no statements regarding Chris Hemsworth’s presence in the upcoming film, it’s a safe bet that he won’t be appearing as a cyber-clone abomination of his former self.
04. The New Face of the Thunderbolts
With Ragnarok in the shop for some moral “tweaking”, Tony & team come up with an even more brilliant plan, the new Thunderbolts. Comprised of classic villains like Venom, Lady Deathstrike, Radioactive Man & Bullseye, this nanobot monitored super-group is turned loose on the world to combat the threat posed by Cap ‘n friends. Considering the similar structure of this band of ne’er-do-wells and a certain DC universe team with an upcoming film (looking at you, Suicide Squad ), there’s just no way Marvel Studios would back this team in it’s Civil War fight.
05. The Punisher Punishes
The creation of the aforementioned Thunderbolts leads one Frank Castle to join the ranks of Captain America’s team, but not without a great deal of concern and hesitation from the group itself. The irony of a hardened & violent killer choosing a side based on the fact that their opponents let loose a team of hardened & violent killers is lost on no one. With the Punisher’s recent introduction into the Marvel cinematic universe via Netflix’s Daredevil: Season 02, fans will most likely see further development of the charter in that series well before he hits the silver screen once more.
06. The X-Men
Early in the comic storyline, Tony Stark approaches Emma Frost (the X-Men’s leader at the time) with plans to convince the X-Men to support his cause. While the team initially votes to remain neutral in the fight, the role of mutants in this story is far from over. Unfortunately for us, Fox currently holds the rights to any member of the X-Men appearing on screen. Outside of continuing to pursue the “inhuman” angle, Marvel Studios will simply be left without any of the components necessary to incorporate your favorite mutant team into their upcoming story.
07. Goodnight sweet prince
Without giving away too much, let’s just say that a certain someone meets a certain fate in a certain comic. While this less than favorable ending would appear to be a very possible conclusion to the Cap’s trilogy, We can only hope that directors Anthony and Joe Russo have something else in store for what they promise to be “a very dramatic ending that well be controversial for a lot of people”
What do you think of our list? Are there moments worthy of the film that we missed? Let us know in the comments section below. Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Twitter and check back with Boom Howdy for more up-to-date news, reviews & podcasts. Captain America: Civil War hits theaters May 6th, 2016 (USA)
