Captain America: Civil War Ending - 12 Big Implications For Phase 3
More friction, more personal issues and a hell of a Spidey...
So, after months of hype, tempered by a nagging suspicion that there was no way the Russos could balance everything, Captain America: Civil War was yet another triumph for Marvel. It's pulling in big money already on the back of astonishing critical performance that has seen it widely heralded as among the MCU's very best and it was such an impressively dense story that we've now got even more narrative threads to tie in to Phase 3.
Even without Thanos' big moment at the end of the arc, the build of Phase 3 was already going to be busy - with new heroes introduced, old questions (like Peter Quill's patronage and what Loki did to Odin) answered and serious gaps (like the remaining Infinity Gems) explored - but Civil War's open ending now opens a world of other opportunities.
If it weren't for Marvel's notorious forward planning, you'd actually be forgiven for thinking that some of the implications of Civil War's ending would require their own movies. But then slates change, and Marvel do have two mystery unnamed movies up their sleeves yet, so it's possible there's a few surprising twists in their tale yet to be revealed.
However they're resolved, here's what we can learn for Phase 3 from how Civil War ends...
12. Spider-Man Is Going To Be Awesome
Despite being a late entrant to the fight, Tom Holland's Spider-Man is arguably the best bit about Civil War. He's hilarious and the effects work on his swing physics are perfect, but it's the balance between snark and charm that really works and which offers so much promise for Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Already we've seen why Sony gave creative control to Marvel: Spidey's original parent company was always going to know the character best (and boy did they have to prove it after the costly negotiations with Sony). And if they build on what was teased in Civil War - Spidey's geeky cockiness, his need to balance heroics and homework and the contradiction in his fundamental desire to show-off and his responsibilities to remain hidden - we're all in for a treat.
Even without an origin story, the Russos managed to write complexity and charisma into Spider-Man and Peter Parker in what was basically an extended cameo and the promise of his own stand-alone has quickly become even more exciting.