The CAPTAIN AMERICA Trilogy is Near Perfect

Back in April, AMC Theaters was advertising its Marvel Cinematic Universe marathon. They do this pretty much every year, letting superfans enjoy a marathon of the previous movies in the franchise. Then the last movie in the marathon is a special screening of the newest entry. The movie theater chain offers some fun prizes for trivia questions, and they give each audience member some minor merchandise. Last year, I saw The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron double feature. I got a poster and an Avengers lanyard. It was a fun time; everyone was excited and clapping and laughing.

This year, I was surprised to find out that the marathon leading up Captain America: Civil War would include not only Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier but also The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. That's five movies and just under 12 hours of movie. I could do that at home (and have done so, albeit spread out over a weekend). But 12 hours in a movie theater, with nothing but popcorn or pizza for eating. That does not seem pleasurable. But I was annoyed with the inclusion of Avengers and Age of Ultron for the Captain America marathon for a different reason. The Captain America trilogy is near perfect, and it deserves to be recognized as a standalone series of films.

With Civil War, the MCU as one long extended story is getting its payoff. As I said in my review of the film, the newest entry ties together plot points from most of the previous 12 films in the universe. So yes technically you should walk into Civil War having seen the earlier films. However, Civil War is at its core a "Captain America" story; it's a film that could only belong to Captain America aka Steve Rogers. Its central plot revolves around James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes aka The Winter Soldier. Bucky was Steve's friend back in WWII. The bond between the two men is the emotional throughline between The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier, and Civil War. So even if Civil War contains plot threads from non-Captain America films, its central narrative engine is strictly Captain America.

The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier, and Civil War form a complete trilogy, and its the rare trilogy that maintains high quality throughout its entire run. Even with popular, well-regarded trilogies like the Star Wars Original Trilogy, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or the Dark Knight trilogy, there's always a contested entry. The merits of Return of the Jedi, The Two Towers, and The Dark Knight Rises are hotly debated. I would have brought up Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but then I remembered Indy got a 4th movie (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). I don't think any of the above listed films are terrible per se. But each is an example of a drop in quality relative to the other, more acclaimed movies.

With Captain America, not only is each film exceptional but each builds on the previous one. The relationships are given new shades, the stakes are drastically raised, and Captain Rogers' character arc progresses organically. That's true of most of the mini-franchises within the MCU. The Iron Man 3 trilogy is another strong series of films that can stand alone and work within the larger framework of the MCU (but Iron Man 2 is a major step down for the quality). As the Captain America series goes on, it builds itself organically until the point of explosion in Civil War.

There's been some talk that Civil War is just Avengers 2.5. And I get it. Iron Man, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Vision, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man are along for the ride along with Black Widow and Falcon (who were supporting players in The Winter Soldier). But in the heart of the story, it's all Captain America. The conflict, the reason why the Avengers are even in the story, is in service of a purely Captain America plot line.

Seeds for Civil War have been planted even as far back as The First Avenger. And I mean that on a thematic level. In The First Avenger, Cap defies orders in order to pull a rescue mission. It was a reckless decision, but he had to do it to save his main pal Bucky. His love for and loyalty to Bucky can sometimes hold his judgment. And in Civil War, his decisions play out on a larger scale.

Captain America is probably my favorite of the MCU superheroes, and his three self-titled movies have formed a complete trilogy. His character arc is progresses naturally, and it's easy to see how gets from from point to another. Yes, Civil War does features cameos and supporting turns from fellow Avengers and new characters. But the relationship between Bucky and Cap is the emotional core of the film.

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