SPOILER Discussion - Captain America: Civil War (Part 2)

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"Can you move your seat up?"

Cap's Trilogy

          If we look at the overarching story that is the Captain America trilogy - we can really see that the relationship between Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes is really the foundation (or the core story) of the overall story arc.
          In the first film, we see Bucky as Steve's friend, both in and out of the battlefield. But obviously, things didn't end well as Bucky fell into the ice in that film. And then in the second film, Cap crossed paths with Hydra's secret assassin who turned out to be Bucky. This was challenging for Cap as he is forced to stop Bucky in the end, although with Bucky seemingly beginning to regain his memories. And then, in this third film, it was mainly about whether Bucky is redeemable or if he is still a dangerous assassin. Turns out he's both - as we see Bucky regaining old memories and fighting beside Steve again, but unfortunately, with the help of some code words, the remorseless assassin in him can be activated. And hence, in the end, Bucky decides to go back on ice to keep everyone else safe. This is kind of like closing the chapter or the arc of the Steve-Bucky relationship...for now.

          This actually kind of reminds me of the similar-but-not-too-similar relationship between Thor and Loki, which also dances around being friends then enemies then friends again...ish. Although Thor & Loki's plays more to theme of brotherhood & rivalry, and the fact that Loki is, unlike Bucky, not a good person by nature.
          But what I'm trying to bring up here is that I wouldn't be too surprised to see the Thor-Loki story arc come to an end in Thor: Ragnarok, as we have found Thor-Loki being the core of the Thor trilogy story arc. And hence, I would be sad, but not too surprised to see Loki at a similar state as Bucky by the end of Ragnarok.

Deaths


            This film isn't without death of some characters, though they are not major characters in the MCU. And yet they are still kind of a surprise to me.
            The first - Crossbones. I understand that he was never meant to be the main villain in this film. But he is kind of an iconic villain in the comics, and played a significant part in Captain America's story after the Civil War (comic version). And here we just about see him donning the costume with the iconic 'X', and minutes later, the character decides to set off a bomb to try to take Cap down with him. While the latter is saved by Scarlet Witch, Crossbones himself went on to explode as planned. Such a waste of an iconic villain, in my opinion - but it works for the story.
           The other is King T'Chaka of Wakanda. Not really surprising in the way it happened, and plus, it became the driving force for T'Challa to get involved in this conflict. And its not that the character is a waste, but its just that I would have expected him to appear in the Black Panther solo film...and with a slightly larger role, too. And while this film arguably becomes a semi-origin story for the Black Panther...this particular story is overshadowed by the ongoing civil war. Hence, King T'Chaka's death, in the end, feels like an insignificant event instead of a major one (as it would have had it been in the Black Panther solo film).