[Warning: this article features heavy spoilers about Captain America: Civil War. Do NOT read on unless you’ve either seen the movie or don’t care about spoilers.]
As soon as Marvel announced Captain America: Civil War in 2014, rumors immediately began to swirl about what the movie would mean to the growing Marvel Cinematic Universe.From tragic deaths to unexpected cameos, it seemed like anything and everything was going to happen in the new Captain America film.Because of the nature of the Internet, every new rumor got passed around and reported by dozens of new sites, turning entertainment media into a literal rumor mill that churned up and spit out dozens of wildly implausible theories. Now that Civil War is finally in theatres, we can finally put some of those rumors to bed, once and for all:
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[Insert Character Here] is Going to Die
The biggest rumors about Captain America: Civil War involved which characters would not survive the Marvel film.ย Since Civil War was basically “Avengers 2.5“, many people thought that the Russos would shuffle a major Marvel superhero off the mortal coil.ย Steve Rogers was the most popular subject of rumors, as his comic counterpart died in the aftermath of the Civil War comic event, and some even speculated that Crossbones, one of the villains who killed Cap in the comics, would be the one to deliver the killing blow.ย Another popular rumor was that the Russos, in order to throw off rumormongers off the scent, had filmed three different death scenes involving Scarlet Witch, the Falcon and War Machine. ย ย ย
Of course, all of Marvel’s superheroes survived Civil War, although a few of them ended up with some pretty nasty injuries.
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Did you see Captain America: Civil War? Want a chance to win a Hot Toys 1/6th scale Captain America figure from the movie? Head on over to the ComicBook.com Movie Database page and rate the movie to enter!ย
A New Captain America
Spinning out of the rumor that Steve Rogers would die during Civil War, several sites speculated that a new character would wield Captain America’s shield by the end of the movie.ย Bucky (Rogers’ replacement in the comics) was the most popular choice, but the Falcon and Agent 13 were also mentioned as potential Captain America replacement.ย
However, no one guessed that Captain America would abandon his shield at the end of Civil War after defeating Iron Man.ย Although Captain America initially picked up the vibranium shield, Tony Stark claimed that Rogers wasn’t worthy of using it because he had destroyed the Avengers to help Bucky Barnes, the man who had killed the shield’s creator, Howard Stark.ย
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Did you see Captain America: Civil War? Want a chance to win a Hot Toys 1/6th scale Captain America figure from the movie? Head on over to the ComicBook.com Movie Database page and rate the movie to enter!ย
Bad Guys Galore
While everyone knew that the heroes were going to fight in Captain America: Civil War, many didn’t know who the actual villain of the movie would be.ย Early speculation centered around Crossbones and his quest for revenge against Captain America, but that turned out to be total bunk.ย When Marvel announced that Zemo would appear in Civil War, many sites expected the character to have his traditional ties to Hydra, and perhaps even lead a new faction of Hydra against the Avengers.ย While Hydra certainly had a presence in the film, the organization was far from an active antagonist.ย Many also thought that Zemo would be a bit more of a badass in Civil War, wielding a vibranium sword and fighting both Captain America and Winter Soldier in one of the final scenes of the movie.ย However, Zemo was hardly a traditional villain, he was simply a “normal” man driven out of revenge for his family’s death in Sokovia.
Also, several rumors stated that Thanos would either have a hand in breaking up the Avengers or would simply begin his plans to gather the Infinity Stones.ย Thanos didn’t appear in the movie, not even as a cameo.ย
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Did you see Captain America: Civil War? Want a chance to win a Hot Toys 1/6th scale Captain America figure from the movie? Head on over to the ComicBook.com Movie Database page and rate the movie to enter!ย
Hawkeye
While Hawkeye appeared in Civil War as a member of Captain America’s team, several early rumors suggested he would play a larger role in the movie.ย Since Hawkeye’s family died in a plotline of The Ultimates, a modern alternate universe retelling of the Avengers, some sites speculated that Crossbones would kill his family in Civil War, pushing the archer on his own personal quest for vengeance.ย In fact, Hawkeye allegedly would kill Crossbones in the movie, shooting him with four arrowsโฆone for each member of the family.
Luckily for Clint and his family, those rumors were all completely untrue.ย However, the rumor that Ant-Man would ride one of Hawkeye’s arrows was 100% accurate.
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Did you see Captain America: Civil War? Want a chance to win a Hot Toys 1/6th scale Captain America figure from the movie? Head on over to the ComicBook.com Movie Database page and rate the movie to enter!ย
Wakandaโs Involvement
After Marvel announced Chadwick Boseman would appear as the Black Panther in Civil War, several entertainment sites speculated about what role Wakanda would play in the movie.ย Theories ranged from the Wakandans taking a more active role in policing their vibranium supply after Ultron created a indestructible vibranium body in Age of Ultron.ย Other sites reported that the UN would try to regulate vibranium production, leading to conflict between T’Challa and the Avengers. ย
But the Wakandans’ involvement in Civil War had nothing to do with vibranium at all.ย King T’Chaka pushed for the Sokovia Accords after several Wakandan citizens died during the Avengers’ fight against Crossbones.ย When Bucky Barnes (allegedly) blew up the UN and killed T’Chaka, T’Challa personally hunted Barnes down, which brought him into conflict with Captain America and the Falcon.
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Did you see Captain America: Civil War? Want a chance to win a Hot Toys 1/6th scale Captain America figure from the movie? Head on over to the ComicBook.com Movie Database page and rate the movie to enter!ย
Characters That Didnโt Make the Cut
Black Panther and Spider-Man both made their first appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War, but rumors indicated several other characters would also appear in the movie.ย Ulysses Klauw, the vibranium smuggler who lost an arm in Age of Ultron, would allegedly appear to set up the Black Panther movie.ย Spurred on by a joking comment by Mark Ruffalo, some sites also reported that Bruce Banner would also make a cameo in Civil War.ย If that weren’t enough, sites also reported that the She-Hulk (Hulk’s cousin) and the Red Hulk (Thunderbolt Ross’s angry alter-ego) would also both make appearances in the film.ย
Sites also speculated that some existing characters would take up new personas or weapons in the film.ย Allegedly, Spider-Man would appear in the film wearing the Iron Spider given to him by Tony Stark.ย Tony Stark DID give him a costume, but it was simply an upgrade from Spider-Man’s homemade duds.ย Also, one outlandish rumor claimed that Steve Rogers would wield Mjolnir, which made no sense as Thor was barely even mentioned in Civil War.ย ย
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Did you see Captain America: Civil War? Want a chance to win a Hot Toys 1/6th scale Captain America figure from the movie? Head on over to the ComicBook.com Movie Database page and rate the movie to enter!ย