I’m not sure which presidential candidate can count on Steve Rogers’ vote in November. But after Captain America: Civil War, I could probably make an educated guess.
Political commentary, or at least meta-commentary, has always been associated with Captain America. The most recent standalone Cap adventure, The Winter Soldier, contained not-at-all veiled commentary on America’s drone and surveillance programs. But in Civil War, the politics are laid bare: Tony Stark is a tax-and-spend liberal who doesn’t think government oversight and regulation are bad things. Rogers is a small-government conservative who thinks that ceding any freedom creates a slippery slope towards ceding all freedom.
Don’t worry, though, this isn’t a debate. It’s a massive superhero battle royale. The politics are just the starting block.
After more Avengers-created collateral damage, Stark(Robert Downey Jr.) is willing to play ball with the U.S. Government and the United Nations, who think they should be able to call the shots for the superheroes. Cap(Chris Evans) believes no one is more qualified to set the agenda than the Avengers themselves.
Things I won’t spoil make the latter opinion exceedingly unpopular, and Rogers and those loyal to him go into hiding. Not content to rest on their laurels, they begin tracking down a particular, returning baddie — leading up to a conflict with Iron Man’s team of compliant heroes.