8 Changes That Would Have Improved Captain America: Civil War

One thing The Dark Knight proved is that you can make a film that is a closed loop, but still has an open ending. A similar hanging ending would have given Civil War an extra bit of punch because frankly the payoff in Civil War does not match the overall stunning work that is constructed earlier in the film.

There was no need to rush the ending, particularly when we know that this is a set up for future movies anyway – as all Marvel movies are. The film could really have benefited from an open ending and the increase in speculation that arises from that narrative quirk. Ideally, I would have loved to have had the film simply end on Captain America dropping his shield, with the fates of everyone in prison all up in the air, and the relationship between Iron Man and Captain America in major trouble.

Instead, we had everything wrapped up and happy in the space of about five minutes. Which made the rest of the film feel incredibly wasted, and made the ending feel ridiculously paced.

In lesser hands, a hanging ending can be a sign of narrative laziness. But Marvel has proved to the world already that if there is one thing they don't do, it's narrative laziness. Constructing a more ambiguous and open ended conclusion would have fit the tone of the movie much better than the fairly tepid closing scenes that we all got.

Agree with these picks? Do you think Civil War could be improved? Let us know in the comments.