Captain America: Civil War Is Great But It Lacks Some Of The Comic Book Stakes

Pretty much every fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe agrees that Captain America: Civil War is one of the best installments of the franchise. It had a lot to live up to as the follow-up to the iconic Captain America: The Winter Soldier and had to incorporate so many heroes that it felt like its own Avengers movie. On top of telling that story, it was also tasked with introducing MCU audiences to Spider-Man and Black Panther, yet it managed to do it all pretty seamlessly.

Despite all those aspects of success, Captain America: Civil War had no real chance to live up to what happened on the comic book pages. What happened there spanned across the entire landscape of Marvel, meaning it involved characters who couldn't be used in the MCU at the time, like the X-Men and even a clone of Thor. It also featured some devastating consequences and stakes that would be extremely difficult to bring to the big screen.

Due to those things, for as good as Captain America: Civil War is as a movie, it lacks the things to allow it to hit the level of the comic books. It's also understandable why the comics couldn't be directly adapted, yet it's still interesting to know what could've been and if it would've made the adaptation even better.

The Fights In Civil War Never Feel Like Much Is On The Line

While there are plenty of differences between the Civil War storyline in the comic book and on the big screen, the big airport fight is a good place to notice one of the biggest. This battle pits Captain America's group, which consists of himself, Scarlet Witch, Bucky Barnes, Hawkeye, Falcon, and Ant-Man, against Iron Man's team of himself, War Machine, Spider-Man, Vision, Black Panther, and Black Widow. It's meant to be a huge deal because, for the most part, both sides are typically friendly and have a history together.

However, that's what makes it so the stakes aren't raised in this battle. It never truly feels like either side is actually trying to take the other out. When Ant-Man hits War Machine with a truck that causes an explosion, he immediately apologizes because he thought it was a water truck. While superheroes shouldn't be actively trying to kill one another, they don't even really feel like they're trying to hurt each other.

Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton even have a conversation asking whether they're still friends after this and that it depends on how hard they hit one another. That makes it so nothing about their fight feels serious. That's a missed opportunity because their friendship was well-established at this point and an actual battle between them could've held heavy emotional stakes. Even Wanda has to step in at one point and tell Clint that he was pulling his punches.

Things Are Much More Vicious In The Comics

In the comic books, things get taken to an extreme. For starters, the inciting incident is much darker. In the film, an explosion in Lagos sets things in motion but it's more of a culmination of things. The government wants to step in after so many human casualties and destruction were left in the wake of the Avengers defending the planet from various threats. In the comics, a group of young heroes known as the New Warriors was filming their reality show when one of them used a blast that killed the team and around 600 innocent civilians.

The aftermath of the Superhero Registration Act is also much darker. When the likes of Captain America go rogue, we get to see more of how they had to use new identities, hide in bunkers, and even get arrested by the government. There's also an important moment where Spider-Man, convinced to join Iron Man's side, unmasks publicly, which had major ramifications going forward.

The consequences of everything became even more dire when a Thor clone created by Tony Stark got involved. By shooting a beam of electricity, this clone killed Goliath (Bill Foster), putting blood on the hands of Iron Man's side. In the movie, the most devastating thing to happen to someone fighting is that James Rhodes gets paralyzed after falling from the sky. However, that impact got lessened by the fact that he's walking fine, albeit with assistance from leg braces, the next time we see him.

The Sokovia Accords Aren't Even What Causes The Film's Biggest Rift

The biggest difference in the stakes of the movie is that the thing that ultimately tears the Avengers apart isn't even the Sokovia Accords. While the members choosing sides on that subject split them initially, by the time the film's climax arrives after the airport fight, Tony Stark understands Steve Rogers' side and no longer wants to go after Bucky Barnes. Instead, he chooses to partner up with them to take down a group of super soldiers. That changes when Baron Zemo reveals that he killed the soldiers and has one final piece of footage to show them.

The footage reveals that it was Bucky Barnes who, while under the control of HYDRA, murdered Tony Stark's parents. Cap knew about this and didn't tell Tony, which resulted in a fight. Tony wanted nothing more than to get revenge and went after Bucky with the intent to kill, while Steve did everything he could to help his friend. The end result was Bucky losing an arm, Cap and Tony brutally fighting one another, and Cap leaving his shield behind to go off on his own.

Rather than the civil war being caused by the Sokovia Accords, it's actually more of a personal issue between Steve and Tony. Even after this though, the film ends with Steve saying he'd be there if Tony ever needed him. While that's a nice sentiment to end the story on and it's one that sets up their reunion later on, it also lessens the stakes and impact of what we just saw unfold. Captain America: Civil War is still obviously a fantastic movie, it just lacks some of the stakes that it could've had.