Trailer: Marvel Civil War (World Trailer)

YEP.

From the Teaser Trailer to the Teaser Trailers for the World Trailer, Marvel Civil War (again, still in denial about the whole "Captain America" bit) is definitely doing the hype thing correctly. And rightfully so, because it seems like this is going to be one of the more monumental and pivotal movies in the MCU landscape.

Of course, that doesn't stop it from HURTING ME TO MY VERY CORE. But that was always a given. I was predestined to feel all this pain when I decided to lay my affections in this fandom. Haha. Smile through the pain, Bea. At least 5 people have tweeted, messaged, and texted me to ask if I was okay. Thanks for the concern, friends, but of course I'm not.

Pictured above: my exact reaction to the trailer.

Now I need to do some self-debriefing, which is probably not as fun as it sounds. So, to quote Ben Wyatt,

Trailer Review

HOW GREAT WAS THIS TRAILER? SO GREAT. The raw emotions, the swelling the music, the overall feeling that This Is A Very Important Movie And It Will Give You All The Feelings. God bless.

Weirdly, for a Captain America movie, it didn't seem to be showing Steve in a particularly flattering light! Or is that just me? He had maybe two actual sympathetic scenes in the trailer where Tony was mostly walking around with a kicked puppy face. :'(

Tony Stark, professional kicked puppy :'( 

One moment for Steve was when he stopped Ross from talking about Sokovia when it made Wanda visibly uncomfortable. Another was, of course, when he stood, battered and bloody, saying, "I could do this all day," in an immensely painful and heartbreaking echo of his pre-serum self. God save me from my heart bursting.

In general though, I think Tony may have come off as more sympathetic. Cap said a lot of niceties and generally vague statements like "If I see a situation pointing south, I can't ignore it," and "The safest hands are still our own." And I'd just like to applaud the trailer for pairing that voice over with the visual of Tony's hand being gauntleted, getting ready to defend himself against Bucky.

Let's talk about Tony Stark. He said, and I love this, that they need to keep themselves in check. Corroborating this with RDJ's various interviews about how he holds on to Rhodey, Pepper, and his robots (yay), which are things that are largely NOT superhuman/enhanced, it makes sense he would want to push for the SHRA. Also heartbreaking: Tony telling Steve "I was wrong about you. The whole world was wrong about you." SOB.

When it comes to Tony Stark, you only really need to talk to me for about 5min to know I have a protective streak a mile wide (the comic book writers keep screwing his character up, okay!), but I loved how RDJ's portrayed him here - holding on by barely a thread, clenching his jaw in thinly controlled anger. YES. Marvel, this is all I am asking from you.

Another thing I loved was the great, GREAT moments from the other characters. T'Challa ruining Bucky's motorcycle was great. In terms of the film's plot, this looks like it'll take place while Bucky's still on the run? 

T'Challa's also shown in a suit on the floor in what seems to be the aftermath of an explosion. Maybe he was in the Triggering Event that sparks the need for the SHRA? He's the head of a nation, after all, and this involves the United Nations.

Wanda squaring it off with Vision is giving me the Feels and the Pain. It's one of the first scenes I GIFed on Tumblr. Who's on the floor by Wanda's legs though??

That, and, of course, Ant-Man being shot on Hawkeye's arrow. FINALLY. OUR CARTOON DREAMS HAVE FINALLY BEEN REALIZED. I mean, I'm a bit sad they included in the trailer, but I don't care, I'll still squee when I see it on the big screen. Haha. 

We also see some Crossbones punching Steve! Poor Steve seems to be against the world in this one.

OBLIG IS RHODEY OKAY??? You know how I am about this. Protect James Rhodes at all costs 2kForever.

I loooooved the Natasha/Tony interaction here even if it hurt me inside and cut my heart up. Here's two people who've known each other since before the Avengers were a Thing, with the history of Natasha rejecting Tony (not Iron Man) as part of the Avengers, with Tony proving her wrong so many times, and now she has to tell this person - this guy who went from being fake-narcissitic genius billionaire philanthropist to a regular guy who's vulnerable and in a damn sling - to watch his back because one of his teammates is probably going to come for him. It's so emotionally charged and ugh. Bye. More Natasha/Tony broship, please.

Finally, the part that never fails to give me goosebumps whenever I see it, HERE COMES THE SPIDER-MAAAAAN ♫ YES. I don't even have words for this. Just. GAH. YES. THEY ANIMATED THE SUIT EYES I CAN'T HANDLE IT. OLD SCHOOL JUST-STARTING-OUT SPIDER-MAN BEING CALLED UNDEROOS. Give me it.

Incredible. And sadly, the only time we'll probably ever see Spideypool interact </3

Anyway, to summarize the plot:

Steve: We can only trust ourselves.

Tony: We need to be held accountable.

So I guess it's kinda obvious why I'm #TeamIronMan? At least in terms of their principle-based stands. Like I said before, the fact that it's the side with Ross on it is pretty bad, but I don't know. We'll see how it pans out. I'm just worried at this point that they won't be able to justify Tony's stand to people who only see him as pomp and bluster, and none of the stuff that's going on underneath. I'll talk about that later.

That's about it! Some fun questions to ask: Why is Natasha on Steve's side when Spider-Man comes out? I really hope it's not because she's going to betray Tony because 1) HOW DARE YOU, and 2) REALLY?? YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE NAT THAT GUY? Also, is the scene with Steve in a kitchen taking place in Hawkeye's house? Who's in the cryogenic chamber behind them when Tony punches Steve and Bucky's ready to shoot at everyone? (PIETRO?) Does Bucky shoot Rhodey out of the sky or is that a red herring? Why is Bucky shooting Tony point blank??? IS RHODEY OKAY?????? WILL MOM AND DAD EVER STOP FIGHTING?

Yay.

And now, to air my emotional grievances ^_^ You can skip this part, I just need to express my frustration about things.

WORRIES AND FRUSTRATIONS CORNER

1. Steve's Motivations. I've talked about this before, but it seems I was right to be cautious about my optimism. Chris Evans said in the Buzzfeed Q&A yesterday (well, this morning) that he feels he's primarily motivated by Bucky. I'm not gonna beat around the bush here, I hate that. I hate it a lot. To have a Captain America - no, not even - to have a Steve Rogers that's willing to put the world at risk to save his friend, even if he is his best friend... that's disillusioning to me, and really a little disheartening. What about standing for justice and peace? Due process??

2. Steve and Tony's relationship. This is a touchy subject for many people in fandom, but I need to put it out there. I'm worried about this because there's very little to no build up of their relationship. You have a few moments - the handshake at the end of Avengers 1, the repulsor blast reflecting against the shield, saying they'll miss each other at the end of Ultron. 

But mostly it feels like things are implied, and there wasn't really anything that explicitly made Steve and Tony out to be friends - at most, they probably have a grudging respect or tolerance for one another. You can kind of justify it if you look at the finer things - how Tony flying the nuke into space in Avengers 1 was a giant middle finger to Captain "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you" America, how Tony deferred to Steve's orders in Avengers 1, how Iron Man 3 is about proving the whole "big man in a suit of armor" schtick wrong, how Cap 2 is Steve dealing with "everything special about you came out of a bottle," how Ultron basically happened because Tony didn't want to disappoint Steve, and of coure the idea of Tony, before Bucky, being Steve's only real connection to his past. But those are things you only see if you're looking. By the standard of explicit relationship-building, even Wanda and Clint are better friends than Steve and Tony.

I'm just worried they won't be able to pull off the emotional climax that Civil War deserves. They wasted so much time showing the cracks of Steve and Tony's relationship, they've forgotten you can't crack a thing that isn't there. In the comics, it worked so well because Steve and Tony in the comics are... how do you even put it into words? They are the constant. They are partners, everywhere, always together. I'm not saying this because I ship them - it is an actual Thing That Is. It's why Civil War worked so well, because they were such good friends. It's what made The Confession so heartbreaking to read. It's what gave Civil War the emotional pull it had on people. It's why in Avengers World, they're able to build the best team yet (only to find that of course Tony screwed up and deleted Steve's old memories. BUT THAT'S FOR ANOTHER TIME. /shakes fist at Marvel writers who seem to hate Tony) 

My point is: from the time Steve is defrosted (which Iron Man is in charge of btw), to Tony giving Steve a home both literally and emotionally, to their growing friendship, the constant snark, and cuteness, they were always the best of friends. It's what made Civil War a war. And it's what made the aftermath of Civil War so great, the rebuilding, the friendship. 

I don't know how else to explain how important this is, and honestly, I'm exhausted from overthinking it and so many other things last night. So here. Just have this series of fun screencaps. My point put succinctly:

They

are

a

constant

Thing

in

every

damn

universe.

... Except the MCU. And honestly, that doesn't even begin to cover all their #moments together. Hahaha. So I don't know what the heck the Russos are gonna have them fall back on when it all goes to shit. Because the real enemy isn't each other - it's Crossbones, it's Baron Zemo, it's Ross, it's THANOS.

DEEP SIGH.

Now, I leave you with my current internal monologue:

As always, thanks RDJ.