What Does The Ending Of Captain America: Civil War Really Mean?
Wait, so who wins?
An expertly-paced, character-driven thriller that boasts some of the most fan-pleasing spectacle you could imagine, Captain America: Civil War is, without a hint of hyperbole, one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. It's also Marvel's most complex movie yet, both in terms of the amount of character interactions it's juggling and the thematic weight it's carrying, and just begs further exploration.
That's especially true when it comes to its tricky, morally ambiguous ending. Like much of the movie's plot, it's a massive departure from the original Civil War comic, with none of the fabled (and, as a result, much-anticipated) events coming to pass. As such, there's a whole host of questions and ideas to be broken down, explored and theorised upon.
It goes without saying, but there's MAJOR SPOILERS for the entire plot of Captain America: Civil War and its two post-credits scenes within. You have been warned.
What's The Story And Its Wider Themes?
As is customary with these ending breakdowns, let's first set-up the basic story and ideas that we're going to be talking about
The conflict of Captain America: Civil War is mainly motivated by the question of accountability, with The Avengers called into check after their latest mission results in mass destruction and the death of innocents. The Sokovia Accords are introduced as a result, a policy that would make Earth's Mightiest Heroes a government-sanctioned organisation, the prospect of which splits the group down the middle, with Iron Man on the side of pro-registration and Captain America against it.
The problem is catalysed when the Winter Soldier seemingly comes out of hiding and bombs the Accords signinh, only furthering the debate by bringing in personal and relationship bias into the mix. Bucky's internal HYDRA programming is reactivated by the mysterious Helmut Zemo, sending him on a violent rampage before being stopped by Cap and revealing there's other soldiers like him.
After one of the best action sequences in superhero cinema history, Captain America and Bucky make their way to Russia to stop the other soldiers being activated, followed closely behind by Iron Man and Black Panther.