At this point, anyone with even the most fleeting understanding of superhero cinema knows that the next big thing worth getting excited about will come in the form of Captain America: Civil War. The culmination of years worth of planning, the film will finally see Mark Millar’s iconic Civil War storyline brought to the silver screen for the very first time. It’s a legendary narrative, and one that promises to hold huge ramifications for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As excited as we are for Civil War, it’s clearly shaping up to become an incredibly loose adaptation of the beloved source material. Millar’s Civil War story arc encompassed so many niches avenues of the Marvel universe, so change was pretty much unavoidable for the Russos in their quest to bring the story to life. While they seem to have deftly handled the overall narrative, some things most certainly had to change for the upcoming adaptation. We’ve gone through the original storyline and picked out 10 awesome moments from the graphic novel that definitely won’t happen during Captain America: Civil War…
Team Iron Man Won't Enlist Villains
One defining moment from the Civil War source material that instantly solidified the moral ambiguity of the conflict came when Tony Stark and the rest of the pro-registration forces enlisted the help of known super villains to go after Cap and his Secret Avengers. As cool as it would be to see this happen during the movie, the simple fact of the matter is that there aren’t enough known super villains in this universe who could fill that role. The comic book used big names like Bullseye, Venom, and Lady Deathstrike as a sort of last resort, but considering the cinematic Iron Man and Cap’s predilection for killing their bad guys, at this point there are too few villains to bring in who would have a major impact. Maybe Tony could bring in Trevor Slattery, but that would be pushing it. Oh, speaking of Cap's Secret Avengers...
Cap Won't Form The Secret Avengers
At least not in the same way that he does in the original graphic novel. While Steve Rogers and the rest of the anti-registration heroes continued to fight crime in secret as the aptly named "Secret Avengers," Team Cap in the film seems much more focused in their objective. Rather than hitting the streets to fight crime in secret, it seems much more likely that they will focus their attention on protecting Bucky and protesting the Sokovia Accords. It’s a minor deviation, but it ultimately means that Team Iron Man won’t be able to use the same tricks to lure them out of the shadows.
Doctor Strange and The X-Men Won't Represent The Neutral Side
Although everyone likes to talk about how Civil War saw Captain America come to blows with his fellow hero Iron Man, some of the most interesting panels of the entire graphic novel come from the sides that remain neutral in the conflict. In particular, Doctor Strange extricates himself from the entire conflict and hopes that the titular war ends in favor of the side that spills the least amount of blood. Although Tony Stark tries to enlist the help of the X-Men in taking down the anti-registration forces, mutant Emma Frost similarly refuses the offer, asserting that the mutants will remain out of the fray and on the "reservation." Doctor Strange hasn’t premiered in the MCU yet, and the X-Men still very firmly belong to FOX, so the responsibility will likely fall on another member of the Avengers roster to personify neutrality in this war.
The Human Torch Won't Be Hospitalized
This seems like a fairly obvious one that won’t happen. Early on during the iconic Civil War arc, Johnny Storm a.k.a The Human Torch is hospitalized when he’s attacked by an angry, superhero-hating mob while out on the town. Of course, we all know that the Fantastic Four do not exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and as such we won’t get to see how this incident creates a serious fracture in Marvel’s first family. Although it won’t happen, it would admittedly be pretty fun to see Chris Evans pull an Eddie Murphy and return to his old role as Johnny Storm in addition to his duties as Cap.
Sue Storm Won't Leave Reed Richards
The events of the Civil War story arc arguably hit the hardest for the Fantastic Four. Following Johnny Storm’s hospitalization, Reed Richards pours himself into his work while Sue Storm refuses to leave her brother’s bedside. Their differences in opinion over the Superhuman Registration Act eventually becomes too much of a burden, and Sue leaves an unaware Reed one night while he sleeps in their bed. Although this sort of romantic conflict could still take place between characters like Scarlet Witch and The Vision, it won’t go down quite the same way as it did in the comics because Marvel’s first family remains nowhere to be seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Black Panther and Storm Won’t Get Married
The events of Civil War decimated numerous corners of the Marvel comics universe, but it also served as the foundation for the romantic entanglement between Black Panther and X-Men member Storm. This romance eventually led to nuptials that became a Royal Wedding-esque event for Marvel, and provided a replacement for Mr. Fantastic and The Invisible Woman’s romance, as they had just taken a break. Captain America: Civil War seems like a crowded enough movie as it is, and as such we have a feeling that Black Panther won’t find time for romance until his solo movie hits theaters in February 2018. Oh, and there’s that pesky little detail of Marvel not having the rights to Storm.
Cap Won't Attack The Punisher
During the latter portion of the Civil War story arc, some low-level bad guys decide they want to sign on to Cap’s side of the conflict. This doesn’t sit too well with Frank Castle a.k.a The Punisher, who takes to quickly gunning down any villain who joins on to Steve Rogers’ team. As soon as this happens, Cap begins to pummel Castle to within an inch of his life, but Punisher refuses to fight back because Captain America isn’t the sort of criminal he vowed to punish. It’s a brief moment with minimal bearing on the plot, but it’s endlessly cool to see how two different soldiers from two different eras use their moral codes. As cool as this moment could be on film, there’s sadly no indication that Jon Bernthal’s Punisher will show up on the silver screen any time soon.
The Negative Zone Won't Be Used As A Prison
The Fantastic Four and their corner of the Marvel mythos play a major role in the Civil War story arc. While Tony Stark is out doing battle with the red, white and blue Avenger, Mr. Fantastic is busy building a prison for villains and anti-registration heroes located in the Negative Zone – a parallel Earth located in an alternate dimension. While the trailers do seem to indicate that Tony Stark will devise a prison of his own, it looks like it will be located in the middle of the ocean and not use nearly as much high-concept sci-fi from the greater Marvel universe.
A Thor Clone Won't Kill Goliath
During the events of Civil War, everyone began questioning their respective side in the conflict as soon as Tony Stark’s Thor clone (named Ragnarok, confusingly) murdered superhero Goliath during a battle. We wouldn’t bank on this happening during the events of Captain America: Civil War if for no other reason than Goliath and Ragnarok don’t exist in the MCU. A major Marvel hero could die during the events of the film, and it could potentially be due to the actions of another hero. But we can pretty much guarantee that it won’t resemble how it went down during Mark Millar’s Civil War.
Spider-Man Won't Reveal His Identity
Spider-Man unmasking himself during the events of Mark Millar’s Civil War graphic novel instantly became one of the most iconic comic book moments in recent memory. It was major, it was Earth shattering, and it has no real place at this stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While secret identities have not represented a major aspect of the MCU at this point, Tom Holland’s incarnation of Spider-Man doesn’t have the sort of history or iconography to give this moment any real impact. He might find himself publicly unmasked at some point during the course of his tenure under the red mask, but it won’t happen during Civil War.
