Captain America: Civil War was a great movie. I loved the story, the characters, and of coarse that airport scene. It displayed the spirit of Steve Rogers, a character who never gives up on what he believes is right no matter the stakes. My only real issue with the movie was that due to the limited run time and large cast, certain character introductions and arcs felt inorganic and confusing. A great example is Tony recruiting a 15 year old kid to fight Captain America in Germany but better people have tackled that so I have another fix that will mainly focus on Antman and the Falcon.
In my mind, it would only take a few changes to make the movie flow more organically by building up Scott’s hero arc and Sam’s road to eventually become the next Captain America. I’m a big fan of both characters but the movie doesn’t do much with them outside of the airport fight. Scott showing up in the middle of Civil War kind of negates all his growth through the first Antman movie and the notion that he wanted to be there for Cassie. Then there is the issue with Sam Wilson AKA the Falcon. He has nothing to do outside of following Cap and being loyal which is nice but makes for a boring character. The Russo Brothers directed Captain America 2 and 3 as well as Avengers 3 and 4, which leads one to assume that they knew that Sam Wilson would become the next Captain America and yet in the four movies they had with him they did nothing to set up the groundwork for Sam to become the next Captain America. I know there was probably a lot of hoops to jump through but if they want us to accept Sam as the next Cap they should have done more to build him up so that the audience could understand Steve choosing Sam instead of Bucky to carry on his legacy. Also, this seems tacked on but they kind of gloss over the fact the stakes of the movie. The whole driving factor of Civil War and why Steve is willing to fight his teammates and friends is supposed to be because some psychopath is supposedly trying to get control of an army of Winter Soldiers but they never really mention it more than once in an off hand comment. The goal here is to build up Scott and Sam while filling some plot holes along the way without adding or subtracting too much from the movie and I think the best way to start is by breaking Bucky’s arm.
The change would start at the end of Bucky’s jailbreak. As Captain America pulls the helicopter down and forces it into the water, Bucky’s robotic arm needs to get damaged. Not completely obliterated but damaged enough to make it fidget and not respond properly. Then we jump to the scene where Bucky proves that he’s back in control of himself. Now in addition to evading Team Iron Man, they also need to fix Bucky’s arm arm. This is where Sam says “I might know a guy”
Enter Scott Lang. Sam gives Scott a call and explains the situation. He mentions that they could also use a big gun to hold their own against Team Ironman but Scott only agrees to help fix the arm (we’ll get to the why later) In the original movie, Scott is only recruited because he’s useful in a fight but with this change we get to introduce Scott more organically. Scott has a masters degree in electrical engineering and went to prison for using his technological skills to steal from criminals and giving to the poor and we barely hear about it in the Antman movie. That information combined with the knowledge that he has been Antman for around a year brings me to the conclusion that Scott should be capable of fixing the damaged arm which makes him more than just a guy in a suit. This gives Scott value to the team outside of being able to fight. This change would also imply that Falcon and Antman have kept in touch since the events of Antman and have an established relationship which I guess is implied but never really explicitly mentioned. This relationship makes Scott’s recruitment for an illegal mission more believable. It also makes it more plausible for Team Cap to recruit Scott in the first place.
Scott comes by and starts working on Bucky’s arm. I think having a scene or two with Scott making small talk with Bucky while working on the arm offers an opportunity for some hilarious interactions that I wouldn’t be able to do justice in a blog post so I won’t bother. Anyways, after the arm is done Steve will push Scott to fight with him but he’ll reject the offer again. He’ll explain that he can’t risk has a daughter and Steve will sadly accept his reasoning. Scott will be getting ready to leave as the group pulls up to the airport. As the group gears up, Falcon will give Scott a little speech about being an Avenger, similar to what Hawkeye said to Wanda at the end of Age of Ultron. He’ll go into detail of what’s at stake here and what Zemo could do if he gets control of these Winter Soldiers. Sam will go over what it means to be a hero and end it off by saying “You say you can’t help us to protect Cassie but what you don’t get is that the only way to protect her is by helping us stop Zemo.” Sam will get cut off by the announcement that the airport is being evacuated and he will run to join the others leaving Scott alone and conflicted.
Then the movie could cut to Captain America confronting Ironman in the airport and the rest continues as it originally did. The only difference now is that Antman appearing on Cap’s shield is more surprising and more satisfying because we built up to it. Now the already amazing scene becomes Antman’s Avenger scene. This change would enhance all of Scott’s scenes because now he’s doing it to make the world safer for his daughter. He’s not just trashing an airport because Captain America said please. Scott understands the gravity of his actions. Even the scene where he becomes big could be a little “for Cassie” thing which gives him the strength to become 60 feet tall.
I think this scene would not only give a reason for why Scott joined the fight but it would also build up Falcon. I love Falcon and I’m really happy with the decision in Endgame for him to be the new Captain America but he hasn’t got a chance to prove his worth. Until now, he’s just been Cap’s sidekick. With my change, Falcon has a chance to shine and show why he deserves to be the next Captain. Falcon saw something in Antman and was able to ignite it by inspiring him. Captain America’s value to the Avengers isn’t being a good fighter. Captain America is the guy who’s able to rally the team and motivate them to win the day. He is the guy who could inspire people into risking it all for the greater good. If Falcon is taking on that mantle he has to show that he can fill that roll. This scene allows the audience to better understand Steve’s decision to pass on the mantle to Sam. It also enhances all of Antman’s scenes and makes his introduction more organic and flow with Scott’s character arc.
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Let me know what your thoughts are on my change. Like? Dislike? Share your thoughts in the comments below and if you like what you saw don’t forget to follow and share for more rewrites and other Toilet Reads content!
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