Captain America: Civil War may have been released back in May, but that hasn't stopped fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from continuing the conversation theorizing about the events of the 13th movie in the franchise. And now that Civil War is available for home purchase, these conversations have only continued to grow. Before the third Captain America movie was released, many moviegoers wondered which one of the Avengers would be biting the dust during the film's events. A variety of different characters were rumored to have died, including War Machine, Iron Man, and even Captain America himself. So when they all survived the battle (even Rhodes), those waiting for a character death were completely gobsmacked. So why didn't the MCU raise the stakes and kill a character off?
Captain America: Civil War's directors The Russo Brothers recently did an appearance in Hollywood in order to publicize the film for awards consideration. When asked about the lack of character deaths in the film, Joe Russo said the following (via HitFix):
We talked about lots of potential characters dying at the end of the movie. And we thought that it would undercut what is really the rich tension of the movie, which is this Kramer vs Kramer. It's about a divorce. If somebody dies, it would create empathy, which would change and allow for repair, and we didn't want to do that.
Mind. Blown. Those disappointed with the lack of death (besides Peggy) in Civil War might change their tune after listening to the Russo brothers explain the reasoning behind this decision. Take that, haters.
Overall, the ending of Captain America: Civil War truly would have been impossible if one of the Avengers met their maker during the film's events. After all of the fights and heartache that we saw, the movie does end on a relatively hopeful note. Sure, Steve Rogers and his group have escaped the Raft and disappeared, but Steve makes it clear to Tony Stark that if the shit truly hits the fan they will be there to help save the day. The two groups have a very delicate alliance, and if someone on either side had perished during their quarrel, this wouldn't have been plausible. Anthony Russo also spoke up regarding the true point of Civil War, which isn't death:
The tragedy is the family falls apart. Not that the family falls apart and then somebody dies.
Touche, Mr. Russo.
Fans had been speculating about a possible death in Captain America: Civil War largely because of the promotional material. All of the trailers featured Don Cheadle's Rhodes falling from a high altitude in his War Machine suit. He sure looked like he was in bad shape, so many believes Rhodes would be dead at the end of Civil War, with Tony going mad and killing Steve Rogers out of revenge. Of course, none of this happened and Rhodes somehow survived his fall, although suspension of disbelief is necessary for us to believe he didn't get more messed up.
