Marvel masters conflict management in ‘Captain America: Civil War’

Superhero fights are going to be all the rage in 2016. We’ve seen same team fisticuffs before, but next year features a pair of high profile pictures that will spend much more time and emphasis on these conflicts than ever before. Warner Bros. and DC’s BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE and Marvel’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR are after more than quick dustups to provide cool action beats. These are philosophical debates with far more at stake than super-powered pride.

A key objective in both of these films, since they star beloved characters who still need to be beloved by audiences at the end, is going to be managing the conflicts in a way that allows all opposing sides to still come across as heroes. The footage at last weekend’s D23 EXPO shows Marvel already has a leg up in this area, having given Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) equally valid, but conflicting opinions on what their roles as heroes should be and how they should be held accountable.