Before the launching of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many fans only dreamed of seeing their favorite heroes on the big screen battling it out, as no comic book film ever achieved such a feat. Now looking back, Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige has shared how films like 2016's Captain America: Civil War were such a huge influence on other major MCU projects.
Following their Marvel directorial debut with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Russo Brothers' came back swinging with Captain America: Civil War, a film that kicked off the start of phase three in a big way. Instead of solely focusing on Cap's missions, the film featured a wide array of heroes in an epic showdown against each other after the Avengers were split into two opposing factions: one that sides with Tony Stark/Iron Man and the other with Cap based on disagreements of how the group should be overseen and controlled.
Now, Feige believes that the film's massive scope helped influence some of the MCU's other big crossover films. "I think that going back to [Captain America] Civil War, sort of having an idea for a movie that is based entirely on what actors and what characters that we can get to work together and shoot on a single day ...," Feige recalled to Collider. "When that worked, it gave us the ambition for movies like Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. I would include No Way Home into that level of ambition for sure."
Captain America: Civil War proved that an abundance of heroes on screen wouldn't take away from an engaging and thought-provoking story filled with mature political themes. This ultimately gave the necessary confidence to Feige and the rest of the Marvel Studios team to push the boundaries and move forward with even bigger projects like Avengers: Endgame. Now finding much success with Spider-Man: No Way Home, a film that brought back many beloved characters from other Marvel universes like Sam Raimi and Marc Webb's Spider-Man films, there's really no limit to what Marvel Studios can accomplish in future projects.
Moving forward with phase four of the MCU, it will be interesting to see how the future films look to top what came before. Although nowhere confirmed, rumors have been brewing that a new Avengers trilogy focusing on the Secret Wars comic storyline is in development, a large scale story that seems like a perfect fit at this point in the MCU, considering the buildup of the multiverse and the new additions like the Eternals and Shang-Chi.
But until that trilogy comes to fruition, fans will just have to wait and see how the cinematic universe continues to unravel in upcoming films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Captain America: Civil War is available to stream on Disney Plus.
Source: Collider