When did scriptwriters run out of ideas and turn superheroes against each other?
Who won the box office battle; Captain America: Civil War or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?
Captain and his allies collected US$1.5 billion at the international box office while Clark and Bruce swept in US$873m. Captain America won hands down.
Captain America: Civil War holds the record for the fifth highest opening weekend of all time, and Civil War’s opening was a whopping 91% increase over Captain America: The Winter Solider.
With all those juicy numbers, is there any intriguing trivia that might prove to be just as juicy? Let’s rock and roll with it!
Steve Rogers, more popularly known as Captain America, is eye candy in the movie with his bulging muscles and blue eyes. Joe Russo, the co-director, said Rogers pulling down and holding onto a helicopter with his bare hands to stop it from taking off is the most powerful scene, literally. Chris Evans was strapped to a crane while holding onto the helicopter for the muscle-bulging scene. Evans called it "bicep porn". Indeed. Not only was he made to show off his powerful arms, but he was also made to wear T-shirts many sizes smaller than his actual size so that his muscles would be right in the face of the audience. All scenes that involved him wearing a T-shirt were scheduled at the beginning of filming because he would eventually lose a lot of weight over the months of production, mainly because the Captain America suit caused Evans to sweat non-stop whenever he wore it. Ladies, get the suit!
Remember Spider-Man? Spidey’s web almost got cut loose from the film because of the critical reception given to The Amazing Spider-Man series. Tom Holland, the youngest actor to portray Spider-Man, breathed a sigh of relief when Sony Pictures decided to negotiate a new deal with Marvel instead of a direct kick-out. After all, this is a big deal for a 19-year-old.
And, Spidey’s Aunt May, played by Marisa Tomei, was actually Robert Downey Jr’s love interest in the 1990s. If you sense great chemistry between Stark and May in their brief scene together, you’re not mistaken.
There were plenty of fighting scenes, and Iron Man and Winter Soldier extended their on-screen squabble beyond the set. Sebastian Stan sent Robert Downey Jr. a video of himself doing bicep curls in front of the decapitated head of an Iron Man suit with a message, "Looking forward to our scene tomorrow, Robert."
Black Panther turned out to be unexpectedly popular. Being a totally committed actor, Chadwick Boseman started reading beyond his own tastes and the Black Panther comics even though comic books were never part of his childhood. Boseman also created a unique accent for the role and even visited South Africa so as to incorporate cultural aspects into his role.
Iron Man wanted more screen time to showcase his pretty metal suit. And, of course, a fatter paycheck. This did not sit well with some. Robert Downey Jr. had Kevin Feige, Marvel CEO and producer, to thank since Marvel almost wrote him out of the film. Feige persuaded Marvel and Disney that Iron Man was crucial to the movie.
The huge amount of VFX work required for the scene with a younger Stark could be one of the reasons for wanting to cut Downey loose. Do your math - one second is made up of 24 frames. That short memory-recall scene is almost 4,000-frames long. That's really a lot of VFX work!
Black Widow didn’t take sides during the split. She's one hell of a lady, impartial and objective. But still, Scarlett Johansson didn’t get a Black Widow solo movie. Is this why, unlike her previous Marvel films, Johansson decided not to appear for interviews, premieres or press conference to promote the movie? To protest?
With the film clocking in rocket high box office numbers, fans are looking forward to the next Captain America movie. Chris Evans, who has signed up for 9-movie franchise, said he's willing to do anything the story requires of him.
