Captain America: Civil War

Plot

In 1991, the brainwashed super-soldier James "Bucky" Barnes is dispatched from a Hydra base in Siberia to intercept an automobile carrying a case of super-soldier serum. In the present day, approximately one year after Ultron is defeated by the Avengers in the nation of Sokovia, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, and Wanda Maximoff stop Brock Rumlow from stealing a biological weapon from a lab in Lagos. Rumlow blows himself up, attempting to kill Rogers. Maximoff telekinetically diverts the explosion, accidentally destroying a nearby building and killing several Wakandan humanitarian workers in the process.

Thaddeus Ross, the U.S. Secretary of State, informs the Avengers that the United Nations (UN) is preparing to pass the Sokovia Accords, which will establish a UN panel to oversee and control the team. The Avengers are divided: Tony Stark supports oversight because of his role in Ultron's creation and Sokovia's devastation, while Rogers has more faith in his own judgment than that of politicians. Meanwhile, Helmut Zemo tracks down and kills Barnes' old Hydra handler, stealing a book containing the trigger words that activate Barnes' brainwashing. At a UN conference in Vienna where the Accords are to be ratified, a bomb kills King T'Chaka of Wakanda. Security footage indicates the bomber is Barnes, whom T'Chaka's son, T'Challa, vows to kill. Informed by Sharon Carter of Barnes' whereabouts and the authorities' intentions to kill him, Rogers decides to try to bring in Barnes—his childhood friend and war comrade—himself. Rogers and Wilson track Barnes to Bucharest and attempt to protect him from T'Challa and the authorities, but all four, including T'Challa, are apprehended by the Bucharest police and James Rhodes.

Impersonating a psychiatrist sent to interview Barnes, Zemo recites the words to activate Barnes's brainwashing. He questions Barnes, then sends him on a rampage to cover his own escape. Rogers stops Barnes and sneaks him away. When Barnes regains his senses, he explains that Zemo is the real Vienna bomber and wanted the location of the Siberian Hydra base, where other brainwashed "Winter Soldiers" are kept in cryogenic stasis. Unwilling to wait for authorization to apprehend Zemo, Rogers and Wilson go rogue, and recruit Maximoff, Clint Barton, and Scott Lang to their cause. With Ross's permission, Stark assembles a team composed of Romanoff, T'Challa, Rhodes, Vision, and Peter Parker to capture the renegades. Stark's team intercepts Rogers' group at Leipzig/Halle Airport, where they fight until Romanoff allows Rogers and Barnes to escape. As Rogers and Barnes are escaping, Rhodes is inadvertently shot down by Vision, and becomes partially paralyzed. The rest of Rogers' team is captured and detained at the Raft prison, and Romanoff goes into exile.

Cast

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America: The leader of a faction of Avengers against regulation; a World War II veteran who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality and frozen in suspended animation, before waking up in the modern world. Director Anthony Russo described Captain America's character arc in the film as taking "him from the most ra-ra company man" to someone who is "a somewhat willing propagandist" to "an insurgent" at the end of the film. Unlike the comics' Civil War, the film was never going to kill Rogers, as the directors thought that was "an easy ending ... The more difficult and more interesting place to leave a family fight is: can these important relationships ever be repaired? Is this family broken permanently?" Evans' training regimen to get in shape for the role included weight lifting, which consisted of "the classic bodyweight and bodybuilding stuff", gymnastics and plyometrics, while staying away from cardio-based exercises, along with a high-protein diet. His costume in the film received "subtle changes to all the details and cut" as well as its color, becoming a combination of the stealth suit from The Winter Soldier and the Avengers: Age of Ultron suit.

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man: The leader of a faction of Avengers in support of regulation; a self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with electromechanical suits of armor of his own invention. Anthony Russo said that Stark's egomania allowed the writers "to bring him to a point in his life where he was willing to submit to an authority, where he felt it was the right thing to do." Joe Russo added that because of the visions Stark saw in Age of Ultron, he now has a guilt complex which "drives him to make very specific decisions," calling his emotional arc "very complicated". Downey's personal trainer Eric Oram stated that the trick to pitting Rogers against Stark, "is to show Iron Man using the 'minimum force' necessary to win the fight". Marvel initially wanted Downey's part to be smaller, but "Downey wanted Stark to have a more substantial role in the film's plot." Variety noted that Downey would receive $40 million plus backend for his participation, as well as an additional payout if the film outperformed The Winter Soldier, as Marvel would attribute that success to Downey's presence.

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow: An Avenger allied with Stark; formerly a highly trained S.H.I.E.L.D. spy. Anthony Russo noted her torn allegiances in the film, saying "her head is with Tony's side of things, but her heart is with Cap in a lot of ways." Johansson added that Romanoff is "looking to strategize her position, putting herself in a place where she is able to let the powers that be fight it out" in order for her to "have a better perspective of what's really going on." Describing her character's situation after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Johansson said, "I think that the Widow's past will always haunt her. She's trying to move forward, she's trying to pick up the pieces of her life." She also said that Romanoff is at a point in her life where she can make choices herself, without having others have a hand in the decision process. On the continuation of the relationship between Romanoff and Rogers from The Winter Soldier, Joe Russo said that they wanted to "test it" by having Romanoff point out to Rogers the mistakes the team have made and convince him "that it might not be as black and white as he sees it" and that the Avengers must "find a way to work within the system so that [they] aren't disbanded."

Production

Development

In March 2014, Anthony and Joe Russo confirmed that they had signed on to return as directors for a third Captain America film, along with Chris Evans as Captain America, Kevin Feige as producer, and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely as screenwriters. Markus and McFeely had been working on the screenplay since late 2013, while the Russo brothers began work in February 2014. The re-hiring of the directors, three months before the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, came as a result of Marvel executives being impressed with test screenings of that film. Evans earned $15 million for the film.

In an April 2014 interview, Joe Russo described the project as a continuation of the story from Captain America: The Winter Soldier: "What's nice about the film is that ... it's a two-parter. There's a journey that the Winter Soldier goes on that isn't complete yet." That month, Marvel announced a release date of May 6, 2016, and Trent Opaloch, who was the cinematographer on The Winter Soldier, said he would return for the sequel. In July, Markus and McFeely stated that they were midway through a first draft for the film, on which principal photography was expected to begin in April 2015. The following month, they stated that they were looking to make the tone of the film "an amalgam" of The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier, with the Russos likening it to a psychological thriller, citing the films The Godfather (1972), Seven (1995), and Fargo (1996) as influences, along with westerns and Brian De Palma's films. The Russos also stated that "a good portion of [Civil War is] actually funnier than Winter Soldier" with a more comedic tone and lighter moments throughout.

In August 2014, the Russos stated that the film would be set "a couple years" after The Winter Soldier, and would continue to focus on Steve Rogers' relationship with Bucky Barnes as well as the political themes related to Captain America. Anthony stated, "The character was invented for an explicitly political purpose. So it's hard to get away from that nature." The Russos also said that they would be "bringing some new elements to the table that will give us a twist on Winter Soldier", and indicated that filming was scheduled to begin in Atlanta. They described themselves as "ecstatic" with a first draft of the screenplay submitted by Markus and McFeely, and also stated that the film's title would be announced "in a month or so at most", and that the concept and title for the film came from Feige, who had it "for a while". In September, Joe expanded by saying the film would have another "big idea that alters the universe as a whole in some way" similar to S.H.I.E.L.D. falling in The Winter Soldier. The rest of the film, such as the characters, story, and tone, would be left open to the Russos' and writers' interpretations.

Pre-production

By October 2014, Robert Downey Jr. had entered final negotiations to reprise his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man in the film. Downey was added in order for the film to adapt the 2006–07 "Civil War" comic book storyline written by Mark Millar, which pitted Iron Man against Captain America. At the end of the month, it was confirmed that Sebastian Stan would return as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. A few days later, Marvel revealed that the film would be titled Captain America: Civil War, confirming Downey's appearance and announcing that Chadwick Boseman would appear in the film as Black Panther ahead of his own solo film. Feige also confirmed that the film would be the first in the MCU's Phase Three slate of films. Anthony Russo stated that adapting the "Civil War" storyline was not always the intended storyline and direction for the film when the brothers initially signed on to return as directors. Markus expanded on this, saying the original concept for a third Captain America film "never got to draft", with Feige at some point telling the writing team to begin adapting "Civil War" around their original ideas. McFeely also added that, despite the shift in direction for the film, "The central theme, even the way Zemo is operating, are from that [early] iteration." The Russos revealed that, had negotiations with Downey to appear in the film failed, they would have used the Madbomb storyline from the Captain America comics, which was eventually used as a plot point in the first season of the Agent Carter TV series. The premise for the film would have centered on Zemo detonating the Madbomb, which would "turn hordes of people into berserkers" to present a physical threat to Captain America, while still pitting heroes against each other, as some would be zombified due to the Madbomb, to satisfy an "emotional component" for the film.

McFeely said that the idea of basing a film on "Civil War" had "been on and off the table for a while" at Marvel Studios, explaining, "it's a challenge to do it and make sure that all the characters that we've established, and everyone's established in the MCU are serviced and sound correct. Because there's a difference between the characters in "Civil War", which was written in 2006, 2007. The MCU doesn't exist [when it was written]. There isn't a Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans who has helped create the character[s] so we need to make sure that that template gets adjusted". Joe Russo added that the "essence" of "Civil War" was used, such as "the concept of registration, the notion that heroes need to be either monitored or controlled because their power can be scary" being applicable. Anthony Russo expanded, "in a lot of ways [superhero registration] can be a political issue, and we didn't want the conflict of the movie to solely exist on that level. We wanted to figure out very personal reasons why everyone's relationship to this idea of registration is going to become complicated. That's what the relationship between Steve and Bucky allowed us to do, to get very personal in terms of why people would lean one way or the other." Executive producer Nate Moore added that "it felt like it was kind of the right time" to adapt "Civil War" given The Avengers, plus many of the Phase Two films (Thor: The Dark World, The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron), all dealt with "world-ending experiences. We felt like we had to tell the next step in that story, which is ... what is the world's reaction?"

Filming

Principal photography began on April 27, 2015, in Fayette County, Georgia, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, under the working title Sputnik. Other filming locations in the Atlanta metropolitan area included the Buckhead district of Atlanta; the Peachtree Christian Church in Midtown Atlanta; Downtown Atlanta, including an area near Philips Arena known as The Gulch, which served as the market in Lagos; Norcross, Georgia; Porsche's headquarters in Atlanta at Aerotropolis Atlanta, which served as the Avengers' headquarters in the film; and the Atlanta Civic Center, which served as the IFID (Institute for Infectious Diseases) laboratory in Lagos; the latter's interiors doubled as MIT, and a third part was used for a Berlin location. Trent Opaloch served as director of photography, while Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, and The Winter Soldier stuntman Spiro Razatos were second unit directors.

In early May, Marvel announced that Martin Freeman was cast in an unspecified role, while also reprising roles in the film would be Paul Bettany as Vision, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, and William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross. Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared as Nick Fury in the two previous Captain America films, said he was "surprised" to discover that he would not be in Captain America: Civil War, after "the Russo Brothers told [him he] was." Moore stated that Fury was not included "because he didn't add anything to the Civil War story they were telling", while Markus stated that they did not want him to choose any particular side because "that's not his place in the universe". On each of the character's ties to the plot, Anthony Russo said that each character was examined on a personal level to see how they would respond to the idea of registration. On the portrayal of each character, Joe Russo said that he and his brother had strong "emotional" and "psychological connection[s] to [these] characters" as children, adding, "We want to reach into that and understand what elementally motivated you to love the character. That's what we try to bring out in the characters now." He also mentioned that they were "trying to honor the feeling of naturalism and to honor the feeling of reality [with the film]."

After the reveal of the film's full cast, many outlets and fans began referring to the film as "Avengers 2.5 ", given the variety and ensemble nature of the cast, usually reserved for the Avengers films, and the fact that the film no longer felt like a Captain America-centric one, as with The Winter Soldier. In response to this, Feige said, "What's fun about Civil War though is, as you know from the comics, it's a very simple story. And it really has to be, to accommodate that many players. It's very much a Captain America movie and it's very much a sequel to the Winter Soldier in ways I don't think people [will expect].... It's a very simple structure that allows you to have these amazing character interactions in a way that I don't think becomes overwhelming." Feige also revealed that Hope van Dyne / Wasp was in an original draft of the film, after receiving the Wasp costume at the end of Ant-Man, but was cut because "there are so many characters in Civil War that we didn't want to do her a disservice," saying Marvel was "saving" the character for a better environment to reveal van Dyne in the Wasp costume for the first time and see "her dynamic with Scott [Lang] in a way it could play out".

Post-production

In September 2015, Mark Ruffalo, who plays Bruce Banner / Hulk in the MCU films, stated that his character was originally in the Civil War script, but was removed due to the end of Age of Ultron, as Marvel did not "want to reveal where [he is] and why" in this film. Markus added that as soon as the Hulk joined a side, the fight would be quickly over, saying, "You've got to kind of choose your roster [of characters] depending on what kind of fight you want to have." He later explained that he contemplated having the Hulk appear at the very end of the film, but decided against it, feeling that he was over-stuffing the film with characters, adding, "[The Hulk] has clearly gone somewhere at the end of [Age of] Ultron, and that's a story. Don't blow it off and put it in a little tiny chunk just to put in a little extra filigree on our movie." Additionally, Ross' alter ego, Red Hulk, was also considered for inclusion, but the Russos felt that part of the character would need a proper backstory which they could not afford to give in the already crowded film. They felt that Ross "was there sort of as the government's agenda and not to add another complicated super powered character to the mix." Spider-Man's Iron Spider suit was also considered.

That November, Joe Russo stated that the theme of the film was betrayal, calling it "extremely emotional. [The film] hinges on that emotion, and on a very personal level we didn't want [it] to become about politics and people arguing about platitudes. The third act is built around a very personal moment between [Captain America and Iron Man]." The Russos spent a great deal of time with Markus, McFeely, and Moore to ensure each character's emotional arc tracked through the entire film correctly, though realized that at some point "you have to sacrifice logic for expediency". Speaking about the post-production process in January 2016, the Russo brothers said, "This has been the easiest post process we've ever had on a film. We're very happy with how the movie was. Everyone is very happy with where the movie was. For us, the tricky thing is the effects because it's a very complicated movie and there are some really big sequences in the film. The effects are on a much larger scale than the work we did on Winter Soldier. That's the part that becomes really difficult because you don't have a lot of time and everyone has very high standards. So everyone starts killing themselves at this point...we'll be done with the movie in two and a half months." They also stated that the film would be doing "a few reshoots" in mid-to-late January.

In February, Freeman's character was revealed to be Everett K. Ross, and Gwyneth Paltrow was reported to have joined the film for the January reshoots, reprising her role as Pepper Potts; however, in April 2016, it was revealed that Paltrow does not appear in the film, with Anthony Russo explaining that Paltrow's contract with Marvel had ended after Iron Man 3, and "we decided early on that we could make Pepper's break-up [with Tony Stark] have an emotional impact without actually having a scene with her." On March 16, 2016, the Russos stated the film was "about a week and a half away from" completion, with Joe adding that the film would have a post-credits scene, with the possibility for two or three total. The film was completed on April 4, 2016. Later in April, Alfre Woodard and Jim Rash were revealed to be cast in the film, while Feige explained that Black Panther director Ryan Coogler contributed some dialogue for Black Panther in several scenes during reshoots. At the film's premiere, it was revealed that Marisa Tomei appears in the film as May Parker, Peter Parker's aunt.

Music

Henry Jackman returned from The Winter Soldier to score the sequel. He found the movie to be tonally different from the previous one, which necessitated a much more symphonic and orchestral score. This culminates in the final fight between Captain America, Winter Soldier, and Iron Man, the music for which Jackman described as "somewhat operatic and ... almost classical in its style". Though Jackman reprised and developed his themes for Captain America and the Winter Soldier from the previous film, and introduced motifs for the new characters Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Zemo, he was wary of pushing the audience to one side of the central conflict or the other by using character-specific music; Jackman composed a new main theme for the film to represent the Civil War, "a generic theme to balance everything out", "toward which all the characters can gravitate. It wrapped them all up and it helped to bind the movie together rather than do endless disparate themes." Jackman also wrote a thriller theme that appears whenever the mystery surrounding Zemo's plan is explored. This was inspired by the works of Jerry Goldsmith. The score was released on a soundtrack album by Hollywood Records on May 6, 2016.

Marketing

Promotion

In early July 2015, Marvel began a viral marketing campaign for Ant-Man featuring Leslie Bibb, reprising her role from the Iron Man films as journalist Christine Everhart, reporting for the faux news program, WHIH Newsfront. In one program, Everhart discusses events leading to Captain America: Civil War. The post-credits scene for Ant-Man featured footage shot by the Russo brothers for Captain America: Civil War, showing Wilson and Rogers with Barnes in their custody, and unable to contact Stark because of "the accords"; Wilson mentions that he "know[s] a guy", implying Lang. Feige explained that when the post-credit sequence appears in Civil War it may appear with "different takes...different angles." Stan said the scene was shot in early May 2015, and would appear in the middle of Civil War. The first footage of the film debuted in August 2015 at the D23 Expo. Additional footage was shown in September 2015 at the Asia Pop Comic Convention. The footage shown at the D23 Expo and 2015 Asia Pop Comic Convention received an overwhelmingly positive response from the audiences.

The first trailer for the film debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on November 25, 2015, and within hours became the number one trending topic on Twitter. The trailer was viewed 61 million times in the first 24 hours of release, surpassing the 34 million views of Avengers: Age of Ultron's in 2014. Scott Mendelson of Forbes called the trailer a "doozy" and noted that the early debut ahead of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a "good show" on behalf of Disney as it was "a way to not get lost amid the 8,000 other trailers debuting with Star Wars". Mendelson also noted that based on the trailer's content, the film was being "sold as Captain America 3, as opposed to Avengers 2.5 or Iron Man 4," which could help keep the film's box office expectations in check.

On February 4, 2016, Marvel released their own version of the Facebook "#FriendsDay" video for Captain America. The video mirrors those created by Facebook for users to celebrate the anniversary of Facebook's founding, and features images of Captain America's "friends" the Winter Soldier, Thor, Falcon and Hawkeye. The video concludes with an image of Captain America and Iron Man being torn in half. Jennifer Konerman of The Hollywood Reporter called the video "timely" and its contents "especially relevant considering the storyline" of Civil War. Three days later, a teaser debuted during Super Bowl 50, which received the most social media activity out of all the film trailers released that day. Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly said the footage "actually feels a little more like a teaser [than a full trailer], since it shows some new shots, but really doesn't reveal much more about the story." Additionally, he felt the chanting "unseen voices calling out, 'United...We...Stand' and 'Divided...We...Fall'" had "a football stadium vibe", complimenting it appearing during the Super Bowl. Mendelson added that Marvel did not need to follow the model used for The Winter Soldier during Super Bowl XLVIII of showing a longer trailer after the teaser since Civil War was "frankly [a] higher-profile sequel." Overall, Mendelson felt the spot was "only a little less low-key and small(er)-scale as the trailer that debuted in" November 2015, and sold the "real world" aspect "with character drama and mostly real-world action between would-be superheroes."

Merchandise

At the 2015 Licensing International Expo, Disney Consumer Products announced that they would partner with licensees including Hasbro, Lego, Funko, Hot Wheels, Rubies, Mad Engine, C-Life, Jay Franco, Global Brand Group, Kellogg's, Hallmark and American Greetings to sell merchandise related to the film; Coca-Cola, Google, Samsung, Wrigley, Harley Davidson, Audi, Synchrony Financial, Pringles, Keebler, Pizza Hut, Pop Secret, Mouser Electronics, and Vivo, among other brands, were also licensees for the film. Paul Gitter, senior VP of licensing for Marvel at Disney Consumer Products said that they will build off the success of licensed products for Avengers: Age of Ultron, including a focus on a celebration of Captain America's 75th anniversary, female apparel, healthy living and travel, and on marketing newer characters such as War Machine, Falcon, Vision, Black Widow and Black Panther. "The Avengers team is both aspirational and hugely merchandisable, made up of multiple, unique heroes coming together with amazing skills, cool vehicles and a high tech headquarters," said Gitter. "Captain America: Civil War not only gives us new storytelling for our favorite superheroes, but also introduces new ones allowing us to expand product lines for kids and fans." As part of the $200 million marketing effort for the film, Harley Davidson created two customized motorcycles for the film, Audi debuted a commercial directed by the Russos featuring unreleased scenes from the film, while Pizza Hut debuted collectible boxes and Kellogg's, Pringles, and Keebler products featured virtual reality experiences. The lead-up to the film's release culminated in a massive online vote across Google, YouTube, and Twitter for either Team Captain America or Team Iron Man.

Marvel Comics released a four-issue comic prelude by writer Will Corona Pilgrim and artist Szymon Kudranski, beginning in December 2015, that adapted the events of Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. On February 10, Marvel Comics released another comic prelude, a single-issue infinite comic set between The Winter Soldier and Civil War. Written again by Pilgrim, the comic is told from the perspectives of Barnes, Rumlow, and Rogers, showing how each ended up where they begin Civil War. Art for each character's perspective is provided by Lee Ferguson, Goran Sudžuka, and Guillermo Mogorron, respectively.

Release

Theatrical

Captain America: Civil War premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on April 12, 2016, and was screened at CinemaCon 2016 on April 13. The film's Southeast Asia premiere was held on April 21 at the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, while the European premiere took place at Vue Cinemas in Westfield London on April 26. The film was released internationally starting from April 27, releasing in 61 countries its first weekend, including the United Kingdom on April 29. The North America release on May 6, took place in over 4,200 theaters, of which 3,300 were in 3D, along with 378 IMAX theaters, 480 premium large-format, and 161 D-Box locations. Internationally, the film opened in 955 IMAX theaters, while South Korea saw Civil War open in an "unprecedented" 1,989 theaters. Captain America: Civil War was the first film released in Phase Three of the MCU. In September 2014, TNT acquired the cable broadcast rights for Captain America: Civil War to air two years after its theatrical release.

Home media

Captain America: Civil War was released on digital download by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on September 2, 2016, and on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on September 13, 2016. The digital and Blu-ray releases include behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and an exclusive preview of Doctor Strange. The digital release comes with an exclusive "mockumentary" short film, Team Thor, directed by Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, which was originally screened at San Diego Comic-Con 2016 and showed what Thor was doing during the events of Civil War. Captain America: Civil War was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on April 23, 2019. The IMAX Enhanced version of the film was made available on Disney+ beginning on November 12, 2021.

Reception

Box office

Captain America: Civil War grossed $408.1 million in the U.S. and Canada and $745.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.153 billion. By May 10, 2016, the film had grossed $737.8 million, surpassing the entire theatrical gross of its predecessor, Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714.4 million). It became the highest-grossing film of 2016, the fourth-highest-grossing superhero film of all time, and the third-highest-grossing film in the U.S. and Canada of 2016, behind Rogue One and Finding Dory. Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $193.4 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it eighth on their list of 2016's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".

Two weeks ahead of its release, Fandango announced that the film outsold all previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films at the same point in the sales cycle, and by its opening week, had reached the highest advance sales for a superhero film, representing 90% of the site's weekend ticket sales. Captain America: Civil War earned $75.5 million on its opening day. The film's Friday gross included $25 million from Thursday previews, the second-highest Thursday preview gross among Marvel films, with $3.1 million of the $25 million coming from IMAX theaters, a new Marvel record. The film went on to earn $61.2 million on Saturday and $42.4 million on Sunday, for a total opening weekend gross of $179.1 million, the third-highest for a Marvel film and fifth-highest of all time. Of the $179.1 million, $16 million was from IMAX, the second best for an MCU film. Initial projections for Captain America: Civil War had it earning between $175–200 million on its opening weekend, with the projection being revised to $172–178 million after Friday. BoxOffice called it "the safest box office bet" since Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film remained at number one in its second weekend, and fell to second in its third, behind The Angry Birds Movie. In its fourth weekend, Captain America: Civil War became the highest-grossing film of 2016 in North America, and by June 17, 2016, became the first film of 2016 to surpass $400 million.

Captain America: Civil War's opening in 15 countries on April 27, 2016, earned $14.9 million, followed by $23.8 million the next day from 15 more countries, and $45.3 million two days later from 8 additional countries, for a three-day total of $84 million. Its first weekend brought a total of $200.4 million, after being projected to earn anywhere between $180–250 million, with $9.4 million coming from IMAX. The film debuted at number one in all countries except Japan. The film stayed at number one in its second weekend, earning $217 million, with existing territories seeing a 55% decline in earnings, while surpassing the entire international earnings of previous Captain America films, along with other MCU films. For IMAX in its second weekend, Captain America: Civil War earned $31 million, a new record for a day-and-date opening for a Marvel film. By its third weekend, the film remained at number one in some territories, being overtaken by The Angry Birds Movie in others, and became the top film of 2016 and fourth-highest-grossing superhero film outside of North America.

Critical response

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 90%, with an average score of 7.8/10, based on 430 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Captain America: Civil War begins the next wave of Marvel movies with an action-packed superhero blockbuster boasting a decidedly non-cartoonish plot and the courage to explore thought-provoking themes." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 53 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an "A" grade on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 88% overall positive score and a 75% "definite recommend".

Justin Chang of Variety called it "the most mature and substantive picture to have yet emerged from the Marvel Cinematic Universe." Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter said, "Call it 'civil war' or call it brand extension; call it a 'cinematic universe' or a corporate behemoth—the latest Marvel extravaganza furthers the studio's cross-pollination of action franchises in a way that's sure to satisfy devotees." Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote, "This is the cinematic superhero showdown you've dreamt of since childhood, precisely because that's everything—and all—it wants to be." Catherine Shoard of The Guardian called it, "a huge aspartame rush of a film: a giant irresistible snack, not nutritious, but very tasty." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Kudos to co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo and the team of writers for juggling more than a dozen comic-book characters and nearly that many plot lines, and only occasionally getting us (and by us I mean me) lost in the geek weeds." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "If you live and breathe Marvel, this is one of the MCU's stronger offerings. If you are a spy coming in from the cold, the answer is not so clear." A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote, "Captain America: Civil War does not in any way transcend the conventions of the genre. On the contrary: It succeeds because it doesn't really try."

Conversely, Stephen Whitty of the New York Daily News said, "Although it's called Captain America: Civil War, the latest Marvel movie is actually a supersized Avengers picture—overstuffed to bursting. And sometimes during its two and a half hour running time, it just goes bust." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "As a work of thought, Civil War is compromised, but at least there are thoughts to compromise. As an action film, it has its moments, but aside from the big opening sequence—the action scenes are a bit flat." Andrew O'Hehir writing for Salon said, "Much of Captain America: Civil War is just the laborious working-out of leftover dangling plot elements from Captain America: The Winter Soldier two summers ago." While Nicholas Barber of the BBC gave the film a generally favorable review, praising both its visuals and action sequences, he criticized the fact that there was "no cogent reason for any of [the Avengers] to be on one side or the other, which is why their inevitable dust-up feels like a game of dodgeball in a school playground." Mark Millar, writer of the "Civil War" comic storyline on which the film was based, felt the film "had a good opening twenty [minutes], but then I honestly can't remember what the movie was about." He also felt the film lacked levity, especially considering the Russo brothers' background in comedy.

Future

Potential Evans' solo film

Feige described Civil War as the conclusion of the Captain America trilogy that began with The First Avenger. While it was the final standalone Captain America film in Evans's contract with Marvel Studios, he said in September 2015 that he was open to extending his contract past Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), the final films in his contract at the time. In Endgame, Rogers passes the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson. After completing work on that film in 2018, Feige and Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito told Evans that they wanted to continue making films with him as Rogers, who would take on the new mantle of Nomad as the character does in the comics. They gave him a pitch for a new film that "didn’t feel right" to the actor, but he was open to future ideas. In November 2018, Joe Russo said Evans was "not done yet" with the MCU after Endgame. A year later, Evans was asked if he would reprise his role and said, "You never say never. I love the character. I don't know... It's not a hard no, but it's not an eager yes either."

In January 2021, Evans was reportedly close to signing a deal to reprise his role in at least one future project. Evans's involvement was said to be similar to how Downey had supporting roles in other film franchises, such as Civil War, after concluding the Iron Man film series with Iron Man 3 (2013). Evans soon said the report was "news to [him]". His potential return was reported to be in a project separate from Captain America: Brave New World (2025), which stars Mackie as Sam Wilson / Captain America. A planned solo film was believed to have also included Hayley Atwell reprising her role as Peggy Carter, but Marvel Studios was unable to get the story for the film to a place where development could proceed. Evans said he received at least a dozen pitches from Marvel over the years and none of them felt right to him. Evans did appear in the Marvel Studios film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), reprising his pre-MCU role of Johnny Storm / Human Torch from 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).

By late 2024, the studio believed their next Avengers films, Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027), were better opportunities to revisit Rogers and Carter than a standalone film, and Evans agreed to join the films after hearing a pitch from the Russos and learning that Downey was also returning to star in the films. Atwell also reprises her role in both films.

Sam Wilson's Captain America

One of Marvel Studios' Disney+ miniseries, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, was released in 2021, with Malcolm Spellman serving as head writer and Kari Skogland directing. It centered on Mackie's Sam Wilson / Falcon and Stan's Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, with Cheadle, Brühl, VanCamp, and Kasumba reprising their roles as James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Helmut Zemo, Sharon Carter, and Ayo, respectively, along with Georges St-Pierre as Georges Batroc from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

A fourth film, Captain America: Brave New World, was released on February 14, 2025, directed by Julius Onah, and written by Spellman, Dalan Musson (a series writer on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and Matthew Orton. It serves as a continuation of the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, focusing on Sam Wilson. Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, and Stan reprise their respective roles of Wilson, Joaquin Torres, Isaiah Bradley, and Barnes from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, along with Tim Blake Nelson and Liv Tyler reprising their roles as Samuel Sterns / Leader and Betty Ross from The Incredible Hulk (2008). Shira Haas appears as Ruth Bat-Seraph, while Harrison Ford appears as Thaddeus Ross, replacing Hurt following his death in 2022.