Avengers: Why abandoning Civil War in Infinity War and Endgame is a mistake

Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War were meant to conclude a series of decade-long story arcs, but both films largely abandoned many stories set in motion by Captain America: Civil War, creating unsatisfying conclusions for many of the character relationships.

Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame have been lauded as crowning achievements of cinematic and storytelling mastery. Though they have indeed done well financially and perhaps even carry within themselves a fully articulated story, this set of movies is not meant to be taken as a standalone two-parter, but instead meant to conclude a decade’s worth of movies, in which millions have invested. On this count, for many of the most important characters and crucially for many characters who ended their run in the MCU with these films, these two movies largely failed.

Many of the characters in Infinity War and Endgame emerged narratively, if not directly, from Captain America: Civil War, the last big team-up movie to precede them.  Though not precisely an Avengers movie proper, Civil War was definitely treated as a sort of “crown jewel” movie by the production team and the audience, a movie that is a linchpin for the rest of the narrative, whose story impacts many major players, features them on screen, and overall, changes the entirety of the universe. There was much made of Civil War.  It carried with it the reverence of an important and complex comic plot brought to life, the impact of Iron Man and Captain America, arguably two of the heaviest hitters in the lineup, appearing together on screen, and the promise that this time the fight would be internal and external.

And though there are arguments to be made that as a Captain America movie, there was not enough deference paid to its titular character, on the whole, Civil War delivered. It offered a nuanced look at many of the relationships that were in play between existing characters, and it successfully folded in both new characters, such as Black Panther and Spider-Man, and less entrenched characters, such as Ant-Man, in an emotionally compelling and narratively meaningful way. Not all characters were given a ton of screen time, but there was a consistent depth to their interactions, stakes which were personal, and enough background already laid out by the other movies to build on, so that Civil War really did feel like the next chapter of a developing story.

But while Civil War creates a lot, breaks a lot, and sets a lot into motion, it resolves almost nothing. It is not a finale, it is rising action. The movie concludes with, in many ways, the most intense battle the MCU had seen to date. Only 5 minutes of the movie remain from the time Steve drops his shield to the final credits. The movie finishes knee-deep in its climax, in midstream. At its end, the characters are still reeling, still limping and bruised, rallying, yes, hopeful, yes, but reeling. There’s no conclusion to the storylines that Civil War begins in Civil War itself, but, as Civil War is a part of a greater picture, conclusion feels imminent… but never meaningfully comes.

Relationships Left Unresolved

Where to begin on character relationships that were left in flux by Civil War? The count is endless but, given the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe operates, the expectation was that this was a fine note for the film to end on, because two Avengers movies were just around the corner, where surely the important plot developments created by Civil War would be addressed.

But as Infinity War and Endgame unfolded, it became clear that neither one of these movies were interested in finishing the stories Civil War (not a blood Avengers movie but an Avengers movie in all but name) began for them. Point blank, none of Civil War is truly mentioned in either movie, aside from the knowledge the Avengers are split and a few quippy scenes between Bruce and Tony early on in Infinity War and the first scene in Endgame. While the Avengers do visually reunite, that is they are together on screen again, they never really reunite as far as the story is concerned — moved back together as though snapped so by Thanos’s fingers, one minute separated, the next not.

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It’s tricky, because a visual reunion feels satisfying, but it’s a lazy narrative crutch, because the reunion isn’t earned; it just happens, because the movie says it does. Occupying the same space is not the same as satisfyingly following a storyline to its conclusion of renewed intimacy and familial bonds. Neither Endgame nor Infinity War delve into Civil War. Steve and Tony don’t bring up the battle they had, Tony doesn’t bring up the death of his parents, Bucky doesn’t bring up killing them, Natasha doesn’t bring up betraying Team Iron Man, and Thor, arguably, has no real idea the Avengers even broke up at all.

In many ways, the only purpose Civil War serves for the concluding phase of the MCU is to make sure the Avengers are not all in the same place when Thanos attacks, which seems like a squandering of everything that happens in the film, of the interpersonal relationships that were ripe for catharsis, but were instead subsumed to a larger, far more impersonal, not even really explored in its own right, pain of the snap.

The expectation of resolution at the end of Civil War is so compelling that it seems almost unreal that it went so unexplored. Alongside relationships such as Hawkeye & Iron Man, T’Challa & Bucky Barnes, Captain America & War Machine, Thor & Bruce (after the events of Thor: Ragnarok, which these movies also largely ignore), and many more, a few particularly egregious examples include:

The Avengers Team

There is not a single moment (not one) where the whole team comes together and acknowledges what happened between them. For every single one of these characters, the Avengers was supposed to be a found family, a place in the world where they finally belonged. That family was torn up from the inside, leaving behind scars that don’t vanish, wounds that stay open, creating anger in some, guilt in others, and surprise from those who missed it altogether. It seems an incredible oversight not to offer any sort of acknowledgement to the dissolution that occurred between all the team members.

Iron Man and Captain America

It is unbelievable that given everything made of shattering the relationship between Steve and Tony that it is not given more space for resolution. For the entirety of Infinity War, the pair do not even meet. When they do finally meet in Endgame, the circumstances revolve around the Snap, Thanos, and the universe, not around the relationship between them, at least not for longer than the opening sequence, which is granted, very powerful. But their fight is never acknowledged again, the ways in which they hurt one another are swept away, and there is no repairing of their relationship, it simply is more or less fixed by the powers of “because its simpler.”

Black Widow and Iron Man 

Natasha first appears in an Iron Man movie and, throughout the films, she and Tony have a snarky, but sincere, friendship, which culminates in Natasha staying on Tony’s side in Civil War. However, when push comes to shove, she betrays him and, when last we see them together, Tony threatens Natasha, and Natasha defects to fight with Steve. This isn’t even remotely batted an eye at in the final Avengers films.

Iron Man and Bucky Barnes 

Bucky is the driving force for much of Civil War, literally and symbolically creating the conflict between Captain America and Iron Man and, ultimately, Tony trying to kill Bucky for killing his parents is what drives the last nail in the dissolution of the relationship between Steve and Tony, moving Steve to abandon the Avengers. Clearly, this relationship did not resolve by the end of the movie, and it holds important weight for both characters involved. For Tony, forgiving Bucky could mean finally resolving feelings on his parents’ deaths, which he admits in Civil War’s opening scenes that he is still tackling.

Additionally, Tony vowed not to be the “Merchant of Death” again, and he lapses in this vow when he attacks Bucky. It could be pure theory, but the Tony that appears in the latter parts of the MCU does not seem like he would enjoy knowing he almost killed a man who was brainwashed when he committed his crimes. For Bucky, Tony’s forgiveness would mean an absolution that hasn’t yet appeared on screen. While Bucky is not a main character, his storyline is mixed into the entire DNA of Civil War, and in deference to the story created, ought to have received a measure of conclusion.

Why it Stings

There are a lot of justifications that can be given as to why Civil War was so thoroughly abandoned, but none of them rectify the threads that will always hang loose in the MCU.

But the world was ending. 

It’s true, that was the case. But if so, what was the point of Civil War? Why have it as a movie at all? A whole dynamic, interpersonal plot was created and then abandoned in favor of focusing solely on, a much shallower, end of the world plot. Ignoring a major chapter in a story while writing its conclusion creates an abruptness and leaves the audience unsatisfied.

But there were too many characters. 

It’s true. There were a lot of characters. Not all of the characters were involved in Civil War. But this was a concluding story for many of the characters that came from Civil War and not a concluding story for many who did not. While the temptation to put together characters who had never met before was strong and understandable, there was simply not enough time to give those interactions as much meaning as already existed in characters who previously met.

Those kind of team-ups should have been a fun bonus, not the whole thrust of both movies. It felt very much as though the writing depended on this easy route, leaning in on the love the audience feels for all the characters to create flashy encounters, which are exciting, and yet shallow and do not replace the actual story and growth that should have accompanied them. These kind of shiny distractions should not have come at the price of the complete diminution of relationships that were already in existence. Two movies, with as mentioned, so many characters, simply do not contain enough real estate to make them count.

But that’s just how superhero movies are.

Dropping every intricate storyline that’s been built three-quarters of the way through the story, never giving a satisfying ending to many open anguishes, and last-minute creating a whole new set of relationships that carry very little meaning, to defer to action and flash and style over substance is not and has never been the project of the MCU And yet, in abandoning Civil War entirely, it is what the project, and its fans, have been permanently left with.

Captain America: Civil War built a set of aching character dynamics that were begging for closure and catharsis. Unfortunately, these dynamics and the story arcs they impacted went unfulfilled and unacknowledged by the ending of the story.