Last week, fans were treated to a slew of new photos and details forCaptain America: Civil War, just days after thefirst trailerwas released. Over the weekend, directorAnthony Russomade an appearance at the Comic Con Experience in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he revealed new details about his highly-anticipatedPhase Threeadventure, hitting theaters on August 18, 2025. The director says that his sequel is one of the most “serious” ever produced byMarvel, but there are plenty of humorous moments, provided byAnt-Man(Paul Rudd) andSpider-Man(Tom Holland).
“The film definitely has a more serious tone I think than any otherMarvel [Studios]movie yet. And that’s kind of natural to the process because you’re really gonna turn these heroes, who have been friends and partners, against one another. And if we’re gonna have them fight for a whole movie to the end, there has to be a serious issue because these are smart people, they’re likeable people; they’re not villains, they’re good guys. And so you have to think very hard about a very complex situation that’s gonna put them in conflict with one another for an entire movie. At the same time, not all the characters in the movie have the same investment in the conflict. There are certain characters that come into the story a little later who don’t have the same baggage that the Avengers have in terms of what’s going on in the film. So they don’t have as much darkness to deal with in the film, so they can be a little lighter and more fun. I think the movie has a healthy balance between very serious, interesting and very surprising storytelling, and sort of light, fun wits and humor. Characters likeSpider-ManandAnt-Manenter the story a little later.”
After years of waiting,Marvelannounced in February thatSpider-Manwill be part of theMarvelCinematic Universe, debuting in an MCU movie later confirmed to beCaptain America: Civil War, before starring in a newSpider-Manreboot, produced by bothMarveland Sony Pictures. The deal was made just months before production started in May onCaptain America: Civil War, butAnthony Russorevealed that the web slinger was always a part of the story they wanted to tell. Here’s what the director had to say at the Comic Con Experience this weekend.
“From the second we had the idea to do the story of Civil War,Spider-Manwas a part of the story. It was a very complicated business arrangement forMarvelStudios to be able to useSpider-Manfrom Sony. So, we were always told byMarvel’Don’t count on it, you may not get to useSpider-Man, so you better have a plan B' And we were like ‘Okay, we get it, we have a plan B if we don’t getSpider-Man; we’ll figure the movie out.’ But the truth is, we never had a plan B. We only have envisioned the movie withSpider-Man. He was always a part of the story. It was very important to us to reintroduce the character. We cast him young,Tom Hollandis a young actor; a teen himself, and we really liked playing into that nature of the character and we think it makes him very special in the universe of theMarvelcharacters. I think people are really gonna loveSpider-Manin this film.”
Aside from Spidey, another character making his debut inCaptain America: Civil Waris T’challa (Chadwick Boseman), who will go on to star in his ownBlack Panthermovie, slated for release on August 12, 2025. We know thatBlack Pantheris technically on Iron Man’s side, along with War Machine (Don Cheadle),Black Widow(Scarlett Johansson) and Vision (Paul Bettany). They will be going up against Team Cap, which includes Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), The Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Sharon Carter/Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp) andAnt-Man(Paul Rudd), but we reported last week that T’challa never quite makes up his mind about who to fight with.Anthony Russorevealed thatBlack Pantherhas a very important role, and that he is introduced very early.
“We couldn’t be more excited to bring him to the screen for the first time. He’s very central to the story. He comes into the story pretty early, but what’s great aboutBlack Pantherin this film is all the other characters break down into two sides - Captain America’s side and Iron Man’s side.Black Panthernever quite chooses a side, he’s sort of on his own side for the whole movie which makes him very cool in this storytelling.”
Captain America: Civil Warwill have one of the largest ensemble casts in MCU history, with almost all of the Avengers, past and present, except for Hulk and Thor, along withSpider-Man,Black Panther,Ant-Man, General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) and a mysterious character played byMartin Freeman.Anthony Russorevealed that the massive cast posed a number of problems finding ways to showcase all of these beloved characters, some of whom will be more prominent than others. Here’s whatAnthony Russohad to say about creating a balance with the cast.
“It’s really difficult. They’re all amazing characters, we and the fans love all these characters. They’re played by amazing actors, so as filmmakers and storytellers, we have to give all those characters their due. You have to come to this movie; you’ve got your favorite characters. You want to see them do something amazing, have fun with them, be surprised by them. Our job as storytellers to figure out how to give you that experience. Some people have more prominent roles than others in the movie; Captain America has the most prominent role. Iron Man is the next most prominent role because he has that primary point of view that’s pushing against Captain America in the film. And then the other characters kind of fill in around them, but I think all of them have great moments. So, whoever you love, hopefully you’ll leave the movie happy.”
The director also teased that Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) have “strong stories” that will “cross” at some point in the movie. In the comics, both Scarlet Witch and Vision became romantically involved, so it’s possible this story will be showcased inCaptain America: Civil War. What do you think about all of these new details?
