As Captain America: Civil War draws closer, everyone seems to be choosing sides. The film’s cast is working overtime as part of the movie’s marketing effort, making a variety of special appearances in addition to the standard press junkets and other promotions that you see with big-budget films.
After the recent promotional efforts by #TeamCap, Robert Downey Jr. (in character as Tony Stark) went above and beyond to strike a blow for #TeamIronMan. Marvel France released a video of Stark visiting the Eiffel Tower, letting fans know that the reach of his team was truly global.
The video, which you can watch above, was posted to the Marvel FR Twitter with the caption “When Iron Man meets Iron Lady.” It showcases some creative use of the lighting system of the Eiffel Tower, decorating the structure with the classic Iron Man colors (complete with a spotlight arc reactor). Downey plays up the marketing rivalry between the two teams perfectly, even throwing out an “In your faces!” at the end.
The marketing for Civil War has been fairly lighthearted, in contrast to the nature of the conflict in the movie itself. So far it’s involved custom pieces like this one alongside team-centered movie clips such as the scene where Ant-Man joins Team Cap (which was presented by the members of Team Cap on Jimmy Kimmel Live). While the movie will by no means be dark and gritty, it’s still entertaining to watch the marketing jabs back and forth. More importantly, they keep fans engaged with the film without having to show off new footage.
This sort of marketing wouldn’t work for all superhero movies, but it’s the perfect choice for Civil War. The marketing “war” has been fun so far, and we can likely expect a few more volleys before Civil War opens in just over two weeks. It will be interesting to see if they follow Deadpool‘s approach and keep it going once the film is in theaters, especially if the movie has a strong opening and enjoys some momentum heading into the summer.
Of course, there are likely some fans who would prefer more glimpses at specific characters or a better overview of the conflict in the film to the marketing snipes back and forth between #TeamIronMan and #TeamCap. For those fans, there’s at least some solace in knowing that the wait for Civil War is almost over and they won’t have to endure much more of the film’s marketing. On the plus side, at least they don’t have to endure the trippy music in some of the film’s international trailers.
Captain America: Civil War will release on May 6, 2016, followed by Doctor Strange– November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017;Black Panther – February 16, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – March 8, 2019; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on May 1, July 10 and November 6, 2020.
