What Does The Ending Of Captain America: Civil War Really Mean?

What About The Other Characters?

Of course, it's not just the Avengers we have to consider when it comes to the ending - there's several non-superpowered people who've played a big part in the film also.

The biggie is Zemo, who joins Loki and... nope, just Loki, as the only major MCU villains to make it to the end-credits alive, taken by Black Panther to the UN and held captive in the same box that held Bucky earlier. It's from this captivity he claims he's won, which ties up his arc for the film, but keeping him alive means that he could easily come back down the line, perhaps in a more indoctrinated, comic-accurate form (on that note, one of the best marketing tricks for Civil War was the misdirection with this character's name, which the fans just lapped up).

The other "antagonist" who's primed to reappear is Thaddeus Ross. William Hurt is back in the MCU in a big way, now the US Secretary of State and, based on his comments to Stark before he heads to Russia, now a little less calm than he suggested at the start. He's unlikely to let Steve springing The Raft's captives lie.

Another, unrelated Ross is Martin Freeman's Everett, a UN suit last seen addressing Zemo. He wasn't in the film as much as the actor's casting so suggesting, but as the character has strong ties to Wakanda in the comics, it'll likely turn out this was all set-up for his appearance in Black Panther.

Rounding off this lot is Sharon Carter, a key motivator in Captain America standing strong to his convictions throughout the film. She's obviously now got a relationship with Steve Rogers to fall back-on, and will likely reappear whenever either Ross or a S.H.I.E.L.D. derivative is needed.