Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Civil War II scenario.
The first Civil War comic series, from 2006, is a real odd duck that begins with promise before slowly collapsing inwards due to endless plot lines, heroes acting out of character, and a dull, dreary dystopia slowly being born. Just before Captain America: Civil War released in 2016, Marvel Comics released Civil War II — this time seeing Iron Man fight Captain Marvel.
The sequel comic, similar to the first one, starts with a brilliant premise. The Avengers discover an Inhuman with the ability to see into the future and witness crimes before they happen. This causes a problem between the two factions. Tony Stark believes arresting people based on what they might do in the future is wrong, while Carol Danvers believes they should use it to apprehend criminals before a dangerous crime is committed. The friction escalates as it turns into another Civil War between superheroes.
Free will vs. determinism, but with people in spandex and glowing fists. Simple stuff, but highly entertaining and malleable as a premise.
In Quantumania, we’re introduced to a peculiar character called Quaz who can read people’s minds, with a backstory we aren’t quite sure of. Quaz is seen to have escaped the wrath of Kang during the onslaught at the end of the film, with him alive alongside Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne before they’re pulled into Earth-616.
The power to read minds was mostly used for comedic relief in Quantumania, but can be used for far more serious themes, especially given William Jackson Harper has done serious roles in the past effectively. Quaz holds the key at this stage to building toward Civil War II, especially since Marvel has mostly abandoned the Inhumans.
The original story for Civil War got changed to fit the MCU’s history (with a much better ending), and Civil War II will similarly require a few fixes to make it work.
While there’s no Tony Stark anymore, somebody like Doctor Strange feels like a natural replacement for such a conflict. Strange has dabbled with time travel and broken rules of the multiverse before, and Carol Danvers isn’t the type to give in and has a comionate side.
If Marvel adapts Civil War II, there’s a lot of heavy lifting to be done to make Danvers likable in the live-action version. In the comics, her point of view becomes increasingly unsavory and ends up a character assassination. Perhaps to start it off, she should be against the use of Quaz’s ability, whereas Strange sees it as a necessary evil after the destruction of the Time Stone.
As of right now, there is zero concrete talks of Marvel adapting the 2016 storyline to film. Given it has its hands full with sorting out the Multiverse Saga, it could be a while yet before Civil War II is even close to being discussed.
Published: Feb 20, 2023 01:34 am