8 Ways Captain America: Civil War Shows Marvel Have Learnt From Their Mistakes

4. The Villain Is Unique And Fits The Story

By far the biggest criticism of Marvel as their Cinematic Universe expands in all directions is its villain problem. Loki aside, no big screen antagonist has left much of an impact, typically urning up in a film's third act to snarl before getting suddenly killed off - Jeff Bridges worked as Obadiah Stane because he was Jeff Bridges and Ultron was good when he wasn't mimicking Tony Stark's mannerisms, but the others are non-descript foes, either dark mirrors of the heroes or snivelling henchmen boosted to leading status.

Helmut Zemo, on the face of it, could have been another of the pack - the Baron's comic origin has been completely changed and he spends much of the film scheming his way about in isolation - and yet, through a measured, focused performance from Daniel Brühl and incredibly developed motivations that tie into the wider plot and echo the conflicts of our heroes, he's one of the best things in Civil War.

Crucially, his evil plot isn't just to destroy the world/planet/universe, but something tighter and character focused that leads to a rather unsettling finish; Zemo sets his sights "lower", but in doing so becomes more interesting and, for once, actually kinda wins. He even survives to the end credits - something that's unfortunately progressive for Marvel.