Following the devastating events in Sokovia, mounting political pressure to install a system of accountability for the Avengers divides the team into two opposing camps. Steve Rogers leads the faction that desires to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, while Tony Stark surprisingly supports oversight and command. As the debate escalates into an all-out war, the Avengers must fight each other while a new and shadowy villain orchestrates a plot that threatens to destroy them from within.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
May 6, 2016 |
Running time |
147 minutes |
Genre |
Action Adventure Sci-Fi |
Budget |
$250,000,000 |
Box Office |
$1,153,337,496 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Anthony Russo Joe Russo |
Produced by |
Kevin Feige |
Written by |
Christopher Markus Stephen McFeely |
Music by |
Henry Jackman |
Cinematography |
Trent Opaloch |
Edited by |
Jeffrey Ford Matthew Schmidt |
Production Co. |
Marvel Studios |
Distributed by |
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #03 in Captain America Collection
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The Plot
Mission Report: December 16, 1991
In the frozen wastes of Siberia, Hydra operatives infiltrate a Russian Armed Forces facility to retrieve their greatest weapon. They revive the Winter Soldier from a cryogenic state, subjecting him to a rigorous mental programming sequence using a specific set of conditioned trigger words to ensure his absolute obedience. Once the soldier is compliant, Hydra officer Vasily Karpov issues a directive: intercept an automobile on a lonely backroad and execute its occupants to retrieve the cargo within without leaving any witnesses. The Winter Soldier carries out the mission with cold precision, causing the car to crash before murdering the survivors and stealing a stash of Super Soldier Serum.
The Lagos Incident
Decades later, the Avengers—Captain America (Steve Rogers), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), Falcon (Sam Wilson), and Wanda Maximoff—conduct a stakeout in Lagos, Nigeria. They have intelligence that Brock Rumlow, now operating as the mercenary "Crossbones," plans to steal a biological chemical weapon from the Institute for Infectious Diseases. The team engages Rumlow’s forces in a public market. After a brutal confrontation, Rogers corners Rumlow, who taunts him about Bucky Barnes before activating a suicide bomb vest in a final act of revenge.
Wanda Maximoff reacts instinctively, using her telekinetic powers to contain the explosion around Rumlow’s body. She attempts to lift him into the sky to save the crowd, but she loses control of the volatile energy. The explosion detonates near the upper floors of a nearby building, inadvertently killing several relief aid workers from Wakanda. The tragedy sparks an international outcry against the Avengers' unchecked operations.
Guilt and Consequences
At MIT, Tony Stark demonstrates his new B.A.R.F. (Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing) technology, which allows users to relive traumatic memories for therapeutic purposes, by revisiting the last time he saw his parents. Following the presentation, he announces a generous grant for the students but is visibly shaken when the teleprompter mentions Pepper Potts; the two have separated due to his inability to stop being Iron Man. As Stark attempts to leave, he is confronted by Miriam Sharpe, a grieving mother. She blames Stark for the death of her son, who was killed during the battle with Ultron in Sokovia, accusing the Avengers of being reckless vigilantes rather than heroes.
The Sokovia Accords
One month after the Lagos disaster, Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross visits the Avengers Compound. He presents a grim reality check, citing the catastrophic events in New York, Washington D.C., Sokovia, and Lagos. Ross reveals that the United Nations has drafted the "Sokovia Accords," a legislative document approved by 117 countries. The Accords would establish an international panel to oversee and control the Avengers, determining when and where they can operate. Ross issues an ultimatum: sign the agreement and submit to oversight, or retire.
The ultimatum fractures the team. Stark, haunted by his creation of Ultron and Miriam Sharpe’s confrontation, supports the Accords, believing that oversight is necessary to prevent further collateral damage. Rogers, however, vehemently disagrees. He fears that government agendas could shift, preventing the Avengers from helping people in need or forcing them into conflicts they don't believe in, citing the Hydra infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a precedent.
Shadows of the Past
While the Avengers debate their future, a mysterious Sokovian man named Helmut Zemo tracks down the retired Hydra handler, Vasily Karpov, in Cleveland. Zemo ambushes Karpov, demanding the mission report from December 16, 1991. When Karpov refuses to yield the information, Zemo drowns him and steals the red book containing the Winter Soldier's trigger words.
Amidst the turmoil, Rogers learns that his former love, Peggy Carter, has passed away in her sleep. He travels to London for her funeral, where he discovers that Sharon Carter, the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to watch him, is Peggy’s great-niece. During her eulogy, Sharon quotes Peggy’s philosophy about standing firm in one's beliefs even when the whole world tells you to move. This reinforces Rogers' resolve; he decides he cannot sign the Accords. Back at the compound, Vision confines Wanda to her quarters, ostensibly for her protection, further straining trust within the group.
Tragedy in Vienna
The ratification of the Accords takes place at a UN conference in Vienna. During the proceedings, a bomb detonates outside the building, killing King T'Chaka of Wakanda. Security footage seemingly identifies the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes, as the perpetrator. T'Chaka’s son, T'Challa, consumed by grief, vows to kill Barnes himself. Despite Romanoff’s warnings to let the authorities handle it, Rogers and Wilson go rogue to find Barnes first, hoping to bring him in alive.
Rogers tracks Barnes to an apartment in Bucharest. Barnes claims he was not responsible for the bombing, but their conversation is cut short by a tactical assault team and the arrival of the Black Panther—T'Challa in a vibranium suit. A high-octane chase ensues through a tunnel, ending with the capture of Barnes, Rogers, Wilson, and T'Challa by authorities led by War Machine (James Rhodes).
The Winter Soldier Unleashed
The captives are transported to the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre in Berlin. Rogers and Stark argue once more, with Rogers nearly swaying until he learns Stark has placed Wanda under house arrest. Meanwhile, Zemo infiltrates the facility posing as a psychiatrist scheduled to evaluate Barnes. At a power station outside the city, a device planted by Zemo detonates an EMP bomb, cutting power to the facility.
In the chaos, Zemo recites the Hydra trigger words to Barnes, reactivating the Winter Soldier persona. He orders Barnes to provide the 1991 mission report and then sets him on a rampage to cover his escape. Rogers and Wilson intervene as Barnes attempts to flee via helicopter. Rogers grabs the skids, using his superhuman strength to ground the aircraft. Barnes crashes the chopper into a river and drags Rogers down with him. After regaining his senses in a secure hideout, Barnes reveals that Zemo is heading to the Siberian facility where five other Winter Soldiers remain in cryostasis, warning that Zemo likely intends to unleash them on the world.
Assembling the Teams
Realizing the threat, Rogers knows they need help. He recruits Clint Barton (Hawkeye), who breaks Wanda out of the Avengers Compound, overpowering Vision in the process. Wilson recruits Scott Lang (Ant-Man), who is awestruck to meet Captain America. They plan to hijack a Quinjet from Leipzig-Halle Airport to reach Siberia.
Stark, under pressure from Ross to bring in the renegades within 36 hours, assembles his own team: Romanoff, Rhodes, Vision, and T'Challa. Feeling undermanned, Stark travels to Queens, New York, to recruit Peter Parker, a teenager operating as Spider-Man. Stark creates a new suit for the boy and leverages Parker's desire to do the right thing to bring him to Germany.
The Clash at Leipzig-Halle
The two factions confront each other at the evacuated airport. Rogers pleads his case about Zemo and the Siberian super-soldiers, but Stark refuses to listen. A massive battle erupts. Spider-Man proves his worth by neutralizing Falcon and the Winter Soldier temporarily, while Black Panther relentlessly hunts Barnes. Vision and Wanda trade blows, showcasing their immense power.
To break the stalemate, Ant-Man reverses his suit’s regulator, growing into a gargantuan "Giant-Man." The distraction allows Rogers and Barnes to race toward the hangar. They are intercepted by Romanoff, but witnessing Steve’s determination, she shocks T'Challa with her Widow's Bite, allowing the pair to escape in the Quinjet. As Stark and Rhodes pursue the fleeing jet, Vision attempts to shoot Falcon out of the sky but misses, accidentally hitting Rhodes’ War Machine suit. The beam destroys the suit's arc reactor, causing Rhodes to freefall and crash into the ground, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
The Raft and the Revelation
In the aftermath, Romanoff goes into hiding after Stark warns her she will be arrested. The captured members of Team Cap—Wilson, Maximoff, Barton, and Lang—are imprisoned in "The Raft," a high-security submersible prison. Stark visits the prison and learns from Wilson that Rogers went to Siberia. Crucially, Stark discovers evidence that Zemo framed Barnes for the Vienna bombing by wearing a prosthetic mask. Realizing his mistake, Stark repairs his suit and flies to Siberia to aid Rogers, unbeknownst to him that T'Challa is shadowing his flight.
The Siberian Betrayal
Stark arrives at the Hydra facility and calls a truce with Rogers and Barnes. They explore the base, expecting a fight with the super-soldiers, only to find them all executed by gunshot wounds in their cryo-tubes. Zemo reveals himself from behind a blast shield, explaining that his goal was never to release the soldiers, but to destroy the Avengers from within as punishment for his family's death in Sokovia.
Zemo plays a grainy surveillance tape from December 16, 1991. Stark watches in horror as the footage reveals the Winter Soldier brutally murdering his parents, Howard and Maria Stark. When the video ends, a devastated Stark asks Rogers if he knew. Rogers admits he knew Barnes killed them. Enraged by the betrayal and grief, Stark attacks Barnes. Rogers intervenes, and a brutal three-way fight ensues. Stark blows off Barnes' robotic arm with his unibeam, removing him from the fight.
The Final Fracture
The duel concludes with Rogers disabling Stark's armor by destroying the arc reactor with his shield. He helps the injured Barnes up to leave. Stark, defeated and bitter, yells that the shield does not belong to Rogers—that his father made it. Rogers stops, drops the vibranium shield to the cold concrete floor, and walks away, leaving the mantle of Captain America behind.
Outside, T'Challa confronts Zemo, having overheard the truth. Realizing that vengeance has consumed Zemo, the Avengers, and nearly himself, T'Challa retracts his claws. He prevents Zemo from committing suicide and takes him into custody, choosing justice over revenge.
Rebuilding and Retreat
Some time later, Stark is back at the compound, helping Rhodes adjust to an exoskeleton leg brace. A courier delivers a package from Rogers: a flip phone and a handwritten letter. Rogers apologizes for withholding the truth about Stark’s parents and asserts that while he cannot sign the Accords, the Avengers were more than just an organization. He promises that if Stark ever needs him, he will be there.
Simultaneously, Rogers infiltrates the Raft, breaking out his imprisoned teammates. In a mid-credits scene, Barnes and Rogers are granted asylum in Wakanda. Barnes decides to return to cryostasis until a cure for his brainwashing can be found. When Rogers warns T'Challa that the world will come for them, T'Challa looks out over the misty jungle and the giant panther statue, replying, "Let them try."
A New Hero Rises
In a post-credits scene, Peter Parker rests in his bedroom in Queens, nursing a black eye which he dismisses to his Aunt May as the result of a fight with "Steve from Brooklyn." After she leaves, Peter examines his new web-shooters. He activates a device that projects a holographic Spider-Signal onto the ceiling, smiling at the new world of possibilities opened up by Tony Stark.
