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After watching Captain America: Civil War,
we now have a very good idea exactly where this thing is going over the next
few years as the MCU ramps up for the Infinity War in 2018 and 2019. Each hero who appeared in Civil War
received a satisfying arc, and at the end of the movie each of them had a
definite trajectory of where their next appearances will come. So let’s talk about where these heroes will
be going from here!
I’m going to break this down into
five articles based on the teams that we see established by the end of the
movie, as well as additional articles to discuss special cases. Last week I talked about the members of the
“Secret Avengers.” This week’s subject is the members of the
“Mighty Avengers” (I’ll explain that name in a bit). Next week I will focus in on a specific
element for the “Mighty Avengers.” The
following week I will discuss the characters that don’t fit into either
category. Finally, the last article in
this series will talk about Zemo.
Without further ado, let’s get
started on the Mighty Avengers!
The Mighty Avengers
Before going any further, why am
I calling them the “Mighty Avengers”? In
the comic book “Civil War” arc, two teams of heroes emerge from the
conflict: the pro-Registration “Mighty
Avengers” and the anti-Registration “New Avengers.” The two teams come into conflict repeatedly
as the Mighty Avengers attempt to bring the New Avengers in for violating the
law.
For the purposes of this article,
I will assume that the Mighty Avengers team is the same as the one which
concluded Civil War, taking into account the developments of that
movie. Here’s the roster I will work
from: Iron Man, War Machine, Vision, and
Spider-Man. I will talk about Black
Widow and Black Panther in two weeks, for reasons that will become clear then.
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Iron Man
At the conclusion of Civil War,
Tony Stark is left as the leader of the Mighty Avengers. As such over the next few years he will be
busy trying to recruit new heroes to the Mighty Avengers and upgrading the tech
for himself, War Machine, and Spider-Man.
Because of his role leading the Mighty Avengers, I think Tony Stark has
a definite chance of appearing in as many Phase 3 movies as he did Phase 1
(four): Civil War, Spider-Man:
Homecoming (he’s already confirmed for that one), Captain Marvel
(nothing more than a cameo), and 1 or both parts of Avengers: Infinity War.
After the events of Civil War,
the Mighty Avengers seem painfully under-staffed, as Black Widow ran off and
Black Panther is going to be a little busy running a country. This means that recruitment will have to be
high on Tony’s list of priorities during Phase 3. This may drive his appearance in Spider-Man:
Homecoming, and it may also lead to other cameos down the road,
particularly in Captain Marvel. I
will talk more about one of those recruitment options next week.
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War Machine
At the end of Civil War,
Rhodey is mostly paralyzed. However, the
movie ends with hope as Tony is helping Rhodey to regain his mobility by
designing and testing out an exo-suit which can help him to walk. As such, I firmly expect that by the time Avengers:
Infinity War comes, Rhodey will be back in the War Machine armor and have
regained much of his mobility, even if he still needs the exo-suit to walk. Considering Tony’s propensity for working
armor components into anything (we’ve seen a briefcase, a watch, the
floor, and a helicopter so far) it would not surprise me if Rhodey’s exo-suit
becomes the basis for the next version of the War Machine armor.
I don’t think Rhodey will appear
in any movies between now and Infinity War, though it would not surprise
me if they reference him in Spider-Man: Homecoming. For example, Peter asks Tony how his “friend”
is doing, and Tony says something to the effect that he’s “still recovering.”
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Vision
Vision is still definitely on the
Mighty Avengers, but I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that he
regrets everything that happened in Civil War, particularly where Wanda
is concerned. That was one aspect of
this movie which I really appreciated and enjoyed: the “romance” with Scarlet Witch and
Vision. It definitely was not overdone,
but there was enough there for fans (particularly those who know their comic
history) to latch onto. This was not the
primary relationship in this movie—that would be the “bromance” between Steve
and Sam and Steve and Bucky, as well as Steve’s relationship with Sharon—and it
definitely did not overpower those other relationships. I certainly think that they will explore
Vision’s feelings for Scarlet Witch (and vice versa) in a future movie.
When the Mighty Avengers come
together to fight Thanos in a couple years, he will have to be right there in
the thick of it—his Infinity Stone pretty much guarantees it! However, like the Scarlet Witch (and the
Hulk), Vision is just too powerful to really fit most movies, as he would
vastly overpower most other heroes.
Consequently, I expect that we won’t see him again until Infinity War. But like I said with the Scarlet Witch, I
would love to see a Vision and the Scarlet Witch movie in Phase 4…
assuming he survives Infinity War!
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Spider-Man
Peter Parker fought alongside the
Mighty Avengers in Leipzig, but I don’t think he’ll be able to make a habit of
running off to fight villains around the globe (he’s got homework). Consequently, I expect that moving forward he
will be more of a reserve member of the Mighty Avengers that Tony calls on
rather infrequently. And as far as
whether or not he will actually be on the team (and have signed the Accords), I
think that his presence in Leipzig is enough indication that he will sign the
Accords. I doubt that his identity will
become public knowledge, but the Avengers and General Ross will know.
Suggesting that he will just be a
reserve member who participates infrequently is not to say that Peter won’t be
involved with the Mighty Avengers; far from it.
Based on the end credits scene from Civil War, it’s pretty clear
that Tony wants to stay involved with Peter and continue helping him to upgrade
his tech. In fact, it would not surprise
me in the least if Spider-Man: Homecoming sees Peter Parker working as a
paid intern for Stark Industries and helping Tony design tech for the Mighty
Avengers (including the Iron Spider armor).
Peter working for Stark Industries would be a pretty obvious solution to
all Peter’s secret identity problems: it
gives him a ready-made excuse whenever he’s out fighting crime as Peter Parker,
it gives him access to all the resources he needs, and it lets Tony assuage his
guilt by providing for Peter and Aunt May by overpaying Peter for his work.
Based on previous comments from
Marvel Studios it seems likely that Spider-Man: Homecoming will follow
up on a few of the plot threads from Civil War, so I expect that both
the Sokovia Accords and the Mighty Avengers will show up to some extent in that
movie.
Conclusion
This is where I see the Mighty
Avengers going in the upcoming Phase 3 movies.
I think they will have a lot more to do in some of the movies,
particularly Spider-Man: Homecoming and Captain Marvel.
At the very least, I hope we won’t
have to wait for Infinity War to find out how Rhodey is doing after his
injury!
Where do you see these characters going in
Phase 3? What new heroes do you think
should join the Mighty Avengers? Let me
know in the comments!
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