‘Captain America: Civil War’: Why the heroes are on #TeamCap and #TeamIronMan

“Captain America: Civil War” will see some of the superheroes of the Marvel universe taking sides when Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) clash heads. The trailer reveals who among them have sided with Cap, and who have taken Stark’s opposing faction. The question is why they choose one from the other.

As the released clips from the movie have revealed, Steve, in an attempt to protect his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) from the government, has been labelled a wanted vigilante, bringing him into conflict with Stark. Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), Vision (Paul Bettany) and T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) are on #TeamIronMan, while Bucky, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Sharon Carter/Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) are on #TeamCaptainAmerica.

Falcon (#TeamCap), Rhodey (#TeamIronMan), Bucky (#TeamCap)

For Falcon and Rhodey, siding with Rogers and Stark respectively is an obvious choice. They are buddies with them. Rhodey is pro-government and Stark’s long-time friend, so it’s a no-brainer that he goes to the genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist’s team. Falcon, on the other hand, sides with Cap because he respects him.

“He respects and admires Cap because Cap earned his rank as opposed to sitting in an office and just delegating orders,” Mackie told USA Today.

Bucky, of course, is on Cap’s team. He’s the reason why there are two factions in the first place.

Black Widow (#TeamIronMan), Hawkeye (#TeamCap)

Unlike Falcon and Rhodey, Natasha and Clint’s choice of allies is surprising. The two best friends have rich history together (What really happened in Budapest, anyway?), and would likely give up their life for each other. So seeing them on different sides of the fence is a bit confounding.

Natasha didn’t appear to like Stark (“Iron Man 2”) as much as she liked Rogers (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier”), and if there’s anyone who knows what it’s like to be on the left side, it’s her. But apparently, this time around, she agrees with Iron Man.

“Either we’re going to fight it and lose or we’re going to go with it and make it work,” Johansson told the paper. “Regimes come and go but we have to pat the backs this time and shake hands and play nice.”

As for Clint, it was expected that he would side with the team where Natasha is. However, his reason for going to the opposite direction is much simpler: Cap has asked him first.

“Cap was the first guy who called. Let’s just get the job done so i can get home to the family,” Renner said.

Scarlet Witch (#TeamCap)

Still grieving her twin brother Quicksilver’s (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) death, Scarlet longs for stability. She’s still finding out her place, and perhaps that’s why she has taken Cap’s side. However, “she does have a few changes of points of view in this film,” Olsen warned.

T’Challa (#TeamIronMan), Vision (#TeamIronMan)

As the newest member of the Marvel film series, T’Challa is a bit of a wildcard. He will get his introduction in the movie, and that’s when viewers will know how his mind works. In the meantime, though, Boseman said his character, who is the monarch of the African nation Wakanda, is siding with Stark over a political decision.

Vision, on the other hand, is simply taking logic into the equation.

“The stronger you are, the more you invite challenge. Something has to rise to fill the vacuum,” Bettany said.

Marvel’s longest movie

With a star-studded cast, it just follows that the film should have a rich plot, which, according to a report, will be told in the longest running time ever. Comic Book Movie reports that the film will run for 146 minutes or 2 hours and 26 minutes, beating “The Avengers” by about 3 minutes.

Another question everyone is waiting to be answered is if Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) will ever make an appearance in the film. Marvel and Ruffalo have already denied the character’s involvement, but Mackie has appeared to have let it slip that The Hulk is indeed in it. Thor (Chris Hemsworth), meanwhile, will still be MIA in this film.

Read: The Hulk will be in ‘Captain America: Civil War’; Anthony Mackie says Mark Ruffalo is in

“Captain America: Civil War” will be released on April 29 in Australia, April 28 in New Zealand, and on May 6 in the US.