Captain America: The Winter Soldier managed to deal with contemporary political themes in a manner that was surprisingly erudite for a big, stupid superhero film. The current climate of renewed paranoia thanks to Edward Snowden's revelations about NSA hacking managed to chime rather well with SHIELD's dodgy dealings and the whole HYDRA deal. The comic book of Civil War had an entirely less elegant political allegory at its centre: namely, GET YER HANDS OFF MA GUNS! The superheroes should be able to do what they want, when they want, if it means protecting their loved ones was a very basic metaphor for the firearm debate in the US. Not that Scot Mark Millar has a stake in that... Regardless of where you lie on the political spectrum regarding the ownership of firearms by individuals who aren't in the military or law enforcement (and maybe even then...), it's a really, really idiotic thing to make a superhero comic about. Even when the MCU is somewhat militarised, it would be a bad hot button topic to press, especially given recent stand your ground cases. Not only that, but it's just...not a good metaphor. It's not a good metaphor to hang a superhero story around, and especially not what is essentially Avengers 2.5. Hopefully Civil War will be a similar adaptation as Age Of Ultron as in, in name only.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/