Warning: Spider-Man centric spoilers for Captain America: Civil War are contained in this article.
Of all the positive attention Captain America: Civil War is getting right now, one of the elements of the movie that seems to be unanimously praised is the handling of the all-new Spider-Man. Played by Tom Holland with near perfection, Spider-Man is finally a part of the MCU, and he’s great. In the film, Peter Parker is recruited by Tony Stark to join his side in the upcoming fight with Captain America and his allies. Tony tracks Peter down from surveillance videos of Spider-Man in action, but this has led people to wonder if Tony is aware of the existence of New York City’s other masked vigilante, Daredevil, and why he would recruit a teenager instead of him. The writers of Civil War have an answer for that.
Sitting down to speak with IGN, Captain America: Civil War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely were asked some questions about the Marvel movie. One of these questions was why Tony Stark chose to recruit Spider-Man over Daredevil. The writers had this to say:
I think he has been taking tabs on the world, and he knows about this one kid. I think in some ways, there’s a motivation of being accused of killing a young kid earlier in the movie to ‘maybe I can rebuild karmically some of what I’ve lost by helping this kid along.’ And he’s there and he’s available, and Tony’s desperate.
They kind of skirt the Daredevil part of the question, but they give a good answer about why Spider-Man was the best choice for Tony, and it ties nicely into his arc in the film. Early in the movie, Tony is confronted by a woman who blames him for the death of her son in Sokovia during the events of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. This serves as motivation for Tony choosing to side with the Sokovia Accords, and it also seems to fuel his desire to find Spider-Man. When Tony finds Peter, the teenager has to dumpster dive to find machine parts; he doesn’t even have a computer from this decade, not to mention his patchwork costume. Peter Parker definitely needs help and Tony is in the position to do it, and in turn find some redemption.
In terms of the Daredevil of it all, Matt Murdock doesn’t really have the firepower that Spider-Man provides. Team Iron Man needs a heavy hitter and Spider-Man has unique abilities coming out the wazoo. Daredevil may be a great fighter, but he doesn’t provide the advantages that Spider-Man does. Plus, I can’t really see Daredevil siding with Tony Stark on this issue, and he’s not quite as easy to convince as a 16-year-old. Hopefully, one day we’ll see Daredevil stand side by side with the Avengers (which doesn’t seem likely to happen soon), but for now, Spider-Man is a pretty good win.
You can see Spider-Man and definitely not Daredevil in Captain America: Civil War, in theaters now.
