Bucky is Steve's lifelong friend. Just like a son or a brother, emotional connection is the defining factor, not any sort of moral code.
Tbh, I don't even know, why we are still discussing this. It's a matter of personal opinion and the author of the article is entitled to their own. From my experience no lifelong friend can ever be compared to your children. I don't want to demean the importance of friendship, but it's just how it is in life for me. Too different emotional connections.
I don't know, did he? Because Whedon ignored that, too. Even so, hardly anyone defends IM3 as great because of Tony's decision to retire.
That's what I'm talking about. And this is the point.
I'm not defending TWS. I simply speculate what factors might have made the Russos being more excited with BW as the female lead.
They could have not had him in the movie.
I very much doubt it. The point of CW was to gather everyone available in the big fight. The screenwriters talked about the need to have more people in the airport, because it's called Civil
War. Thor and Hulk weren't there only due to enormous gap in powers with everyone else.
Being good filmmakers doesn't preclude them from being opportunistic or playing to the broadest demographic.
It's just that I don't see any motivation for them in doing so. The studio has it, but not the Russos. They don't get any money or fame out of it. They play to the broadest demographic by doing good movies, not by introducing new Avengers, cause comic-book fans are too small of a part of the audience for that to be the case. The characters are popular and beloved because they are interesting and entertaining, not because they are Avengers or played by big stars. Guardians of the Galaxy is the most obvious example of that. Peggy Carter or Pepper Potts are more popular among the general audience than War Machine or Vision. Falcon had become popular before he was an Avenger. Bucky isn't an Avenger. Both Mackie and Stan are not so famous. Heck, people even love Luis.
Add to this that the Russos were announced as Avengers 3,4 directors
before the beginning of CW's shooting. There was no personal profit for them to screw up Cap's LI in favor of someone else. They got nothing from the CW's box-office.
ps. And as we know, the studio had been planning to introduce BP in Cap 3 even before it became Civil War.
The point is, Cap is a headliner himself. So, even if they don't care much about Sharon herself they should care about the love interest of their most popular Avenger after IM.
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... ?
I read spoilers on reddit that the movie had Clint's family killed by Crossbones, and that it ended with Steve shamed by Spider-Man into surrendering and that Tony would have Ross arrested.
IIRC, that was 4chan. But that's not the point. I'm not claiming this rumor to be true. I just think it's worth speculation for the following reasons:
1) As I've said, Minxie's source turned out to be legit and it provided resembling information.
2) Sharon initially being in the post-credit is too minor thing to make it up just for the sake of it. The user, who provided this info, has never been noticed in any kind of hate towards Sharon.
3) I always thought it's really weird that she dissapears from the movie after the kiss. The Russos shot her CIA scene for TWS in reshoots, but she isn't in the ending here at all? There should have been at least one more brief scene with her.
4) If they cut her out of the airport and changed her scene with Steve after the funeral (even though the original date-scene was a much better setup for the later kiss) on reshoots, it's quite believable they've made some over changes as well we are not aware of.
Funny how the studio isn't mandating roles in Black Panther for Cap or Black Widow. Or how Thanos isn't even in Gotg2.
Maybe because the studio deemed Civil War as the most convenient movie to make some development to the important characters before IW?
Hulk and Dr. Strange are in Thor 3. I think it's just the new tendency that the last installments of solo franchises serve more as team-ups, while BP is only having his first movie.
Although, I admit, even by this logic I still don't see what prevented them from having Sharon in the airport. They needed more people to be there anyway.
Maybe they could have been more vocal and supportive of Sharon instead of dismissive and indifferent. Or were they not allowed to do that, either.
I don't think they've ever been dismissive. I bet they knew that they screwed up here and didn't know what to say properly. What could they have said? It's hard to say something about Sharon in this film that would advertise the character and be true at the same time. I'm sorry, but what poor Emily was forced to say about her character was laughable most of the time.
'She follows her heart, not her head'. Is it really supportive of Sharon, who was quite the opposite in the comics?
'She doesn't know the Avengers, it wasn't her fight'. Seriously? Did BP, Ant-Man or Spidey know many people in the airport? Needless to say, team Cap was going after Zemo, not team Tony.
'They have this innate chemistry'. Sorry, we haven't seen any kind of special bond between your characters but Peggy. What Sharon and Steve have in common? Show, don't tell.
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It doesn't have to be an all or nothing.
I do concur her role should be larger. But no room for anything larger until the next Captain America film.
Did fans respond to her? That could help swap the writers. It sucks that she was downsized and I agree it is disrespectful for female characters to be pushed into a box solely for love interests. Enough room in the MCU for another capable female SHIELD agent.
In case of Sharon it's something or nothing. Cause she's got nearly nothing in the previous movies.
Are we sure there gonna be the next CA film at all? I doubt it.
They've given her so little, it's strange to expect good response from the audience so far. First the filmmakers should make her character developed and interesting. And it requires screentime.