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The Avengers Disassemble in the Surprise New Trailer for Captain America: Civil War

The new, official poster for Civil War.

Marvel

The Captain America movies are the undersung gem of Marvel’s on-screen universe. Not that they’re some sort of secret—Captain America: Winter Soldier made more than $700 million at the box office—but that installment, in particular, is arguably the best Marvel film. Not because it reinvents the superhero movie formula. (It doesn’t, instead mixing it with elements of the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s.) But because it executes it so well, with an emphasis on emotion and plot and character, in addition to well-grounded action. (I’ve rarely been so surprised to find myself tear up.)

Now, on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday night, Chris Evans and Robert Downey, Jr. revealed the surprise trailer for Captain America: Civil War. The unexpected greatness of Winter Soldier wasn’t lost on Marvel: The movie is directed by the same team (Joe and Anthony Russo) and written by the same screenwriters (Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely)—all of whom Marvel has also now hired for its two-part Avengers: Infinity War movies. And it seems to have a similar vibe, focusing on the heart-wrenching drama of two old friends turned against each other. With a name as big as Civil War, it’s a nice surprise that the trailer makes the movie look so measured, almost intimate. The movie also seems to pick up right where the first two Captain America movies left off, so if you still haven’t watched them, now is the time to catch up.