Captain America: Civil War

Jeremy with Anthony Mackie, who plays the Falcon in Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War brings favorite superheroes back to the big screen. The new blockbuster, which is part fantasy, part science fiction, stars Chris Evans as Captain America and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man.

Adapted from Civil War, a Marvel comic series published in 2006-’07, the movie is the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). It is co-directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who are brothers.

At a recent press event for the movie, I asked Anthony Russo why so many people are fascinated by superheroes. “We live in a very complicated world that seems like it gets more and more complicated every day,” he said. “There’s something reassuring about having a fantasy film that can deal with a lot of these issues, but in a way that’s one step removed.”

Evans said that he felt pressure to do a good job after winning the role of Captain America. “But I don’t think it was anywhere near the pressure that the Russo brothers had,” Evans added. “We’ve all seen phenomenal actors and great scripts that didn’t come to fruition. If you don’t have quality storytellers, you might fall on your face.”

EVERYDAY HEROES

Anthony Mackie plays the Falcon, an Avenger especially popular among Marvel fans. Mackie said that superheroes in the movies should not be mistaken for real heroes.

“I don’t want kids to think that I’m any better than they are just because I’m in movies,” Mackie said. “Teachers have a much a harder job than I do. People who do charity work around the world with kids have a much harder job than I do. Those are the people we should admire and appreciate and want our kids to look up to.”