'Captain America: Civil War' 10 Year Anniversary: Reflecting on Team Cap VS. Team Iron Man

“It was a lot of work on a crafting level, this idea that you can take two heroes and make them completely opposed to one another in their objectives in the film,” co-director Anthony Russo tells Marvel. “[You need to] make both of them relatable, but both of them flawed. That took a lot of deft work on the part of [writers] Markus and McFeely, of course, to execute that. But I think it’s testament to the fact that it worked. Ten years later, both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers remain empathetic and relatable. You’ll see to this day, people are divided over who was more relatable.”

The film hinges on the revelation that Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), the Winter Soldier, was behind the death of Tony Stark's parents, and is named as a suspect in the death of Wakanda's King T'Chaka. So Steve enlists the help of Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) and Sam (Anthony Mackie) to keep Bucky safe, while Tony recruits Peter Parker (Tom Holland). Meanwhile, T'Challa (played by the late Chadwick Boseman) wants to take justice for his father into his own hands.

This has been one of my comfort movies since it came out (I've genuinely seen it upwards of 20 or 30 times), and while on the surface, it might just seem like an argument over rules, the feud becomes more fascinating the deeper you dive into the characters. Steve wants to make sure the Avengers are able to respond to any situation they choose, rather than be told they can't help someone. Plus, he seems to pick up on the fact the government could punish the group however they see fit (which we do see at the end of the movie when Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), Sam, and more are imprisoned).

For his part, Tony is totally racked with guilt over how their actions in Avengers: Age of Ultron and in Wakanda at the beginning of Civil War have led to so much death and destruction, and thinks guard rails would help keep the world safer than before. The movie does a great job of convincing us as the viewer that both heroes think they're right — and it's up to us to decide what we think. (For the record, I've always been Team Cap).

Civil War was the long-awaited introduction of Peter and T'Challa, and Tom Holland quickly became a fan-favorite part of the cinematic universe.

“Spider-Man’s job in that film is to be the naïve rookie who undercuts the intensity of what’s happening in that film,” Joe Russo says. “Black Panther’s job in the movie was to be this radical outside force that heightens the intensity of what’s happening. They’re there for very different reasons…The crazy stew of that film doesn’t work without them complementing each other.”

“One of the greatest things you can do for an actor is put them in a scene with Robert Downey Jr.,” Anthony says. “It’s an amazing creative stimulus.”

“He was coaching Tom through that scene with his vast experience,” Joe adds. “The super generous component of it was that he allowed Tom to steal the scene, when it’s Robert’s job to steal every scene that he’s in...Downey started rehearsing with [Tom], and I remember [Anthony] and I receded for a minute. We just watched for a half hour as Robert encouraged Tom to make certain decisions that he knew would win Tom the scene. It was a star-making turn. It was watching the biggest movie star in the world encourage someone who’s about to become one of the biggest movie stars in the world.”