8 Changes That Would Have Improved Captain America: Civil War

There was really no reason for James Rhodes to survive this movie. It has become an all too common occurrence in Marvel movies that they will tease the death of somebody but never actually pull the trigger on it. This moment was no different, but it may have been the most frustrating fake out of the lot.

It might sound incredibly bloodthirsty and callous, but wishing for deaths in these movies has nothing to do with actually wanting to see characters die as such. It’s about creating consequences in the universe. When no Avengers have to suffer any threat to their life, it simply feels like there is no real conflict to be had, and all of their expansive battles are kind of meaningless.

Additionally, Rhodes’ death could have really helped viewers further explore Tony’s crumbling mental state in detail, as discussed earlier. Having his best friend become collateral damage from his own directions would no doubt have crushed an already guilt ridden Stark.

It would have been illuminating to see Stark deal with the fact that even with all his resources, he can not bring back someone from the dead. Instead of acknowledging this huge philosophical quandary, though, he got let off the hook. We know Rhodes will be fine because Stark will figure out a way to cure paralysis and nothing will change. Which…is a lot less effective as far as storytelling goes.