It's only a matter of weeks until Avengers: Age of Ultron releases in theaters, but before Chris Evans and a few of his onscreen teammates tour the world promoting Marvel Studios' largest project to date, many of the Avengers sequel's stars will be beginning to shoot their next superhero adventure, Captain America: Civil War.
Directors (and brothers) Anthony and Joe Russo, who helmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and who are expected to direct The Avengers: Infinity War in a few years, return for Captain America 3 and revealed last summer that production would begin shooting in April. Now we have more precise information.
Over the last two months, a few Civil War details have been uncovered through production and extras casting notices. The project (codenamed "Sputnik") began searching for South Asian extras earlier this week for sequences being shot later this month and Collider uncovered new information today that reveals that Captain America: Civil War begins shooting April 1st, just two weeks from now.
Here's the unofficial Captain America: Civil War plot synopsis that was reportedly sent alongside casting notices to extras:
Following the events of Age of Ultron, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man or Captain America, which causes an epic battle between former allies.
The basic premise described above is essentially the same as that of the Civil War crossover event from Marvel Comics which split most of the Marvel universe (the Earth-based characters anyway) in two. In the comics, vigilante superheroes filming a reality TV show engage in a skirmish that results in a neighborhood (featuring a school full of children) gets wiped out, forcing the government to take drastic action to rectify the problematic status quo. Their plan, dubbed the Superhero Registration Act, is to require all vigilantes and "supers" to reveal their identities and register with the government with the goal of regulating superhero activity.
Iron Man sides with the government but Captain America cannot, and the hero who symbolizes freedom and liberty turns against his nation. For Captain America and his followers, maintaining secret identities is crucial to protecting their loved ones and ensuring that heroes can stand up against evil without jeopardizing their personal lives.
In The Avengers 2 we know Tony Stark creates and unleashes Ultron which turns against them and humanity. What began as a way to protect Earth in the wake of the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization falling apart in Captain America 2 turned into Earth's greatest threat and The Avengers are responsible for the outcome. This is the event that will kickstart the Marvel Cinematic Universe adaptation of the Civil War storyline which will reportedly see most of the film characters we've met over the years return, with some possible exceptions based on how the story of Age of Ultron plays out. The new Spider-Man will likely show up as well!
The Russos weren't joking when teasing that the at-the-time-untitled third Captain America would have a impact on the MCU. They also teased that Cap 3 will feature an even greater Marvel villain (Baron Zemo?). Excited to see how Age of Ultron sets up Civil War? Whose side are you on? Which of your favorite characters will you root for in May 2016?
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More: Captain America: Civil War Fan-Made Trailer
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The Avengers: Age of Ultron releases in theaters on May 1 2015, followed by Ant-Man on July 17 2015, Captain America: Civil War on May 6 2016, Doctor Strange on November 4 2016, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on May 5 2017, Spider-Man on July 28, 2017, Thor: Ragnarok on November 3 2017, Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1 on May 4 2018, Black Panther on July 6 2018, Captain Marvel on November 2 2018, Avengers: Infinity War - Part 2 on May 3 2019 and Inhumans on July 12, 2019.
Sources: Atlanta Journal Constitution, Collider