It’s the one set piece to feature heavily all across the threequel’s colossal marketing spree and sure enough, Captain America: Civil War reaches its crescendo in style with the intricate airport sequence. Not only does it herald the debut of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, suited and booted in a costume specially designed by Tony Stark, but it rolls out money shot after money shot as Team Iron Man and Team Cap clash in stunning fashion.
Reflecting on the creative process and choreography behind said fight sequence, Civil War scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely spoke to /Film about how the airport scene was far and away the most difficult one to film in terms of stunts, visual effects and location.
Be warned though, there are minor spoilers to be had in the interview below, so if you want to experience the monumental brawl fresh, don’t venture past the jump.
Still with us? Good. When asked about the challenges of putting the scene together, McFeely said the following:
Yeah, it was [a challenge]. That’s a really fluid scene. [spoiler alert] So we wrote the first draft and Giant-Man is in it [laughs], and Rhodey gets shot down by Vision [spoilers over]. A lot of the big tentpole [stuff] happened [in the first draft], and then we turn it over and a lot of other people were going to weigh in—stunts, visual effects, location. There were so many things. It’s got to be the most complicated action set piece, certainly in comic book movies. It’s really daunting.
Then it keeps going through version after version. Visual effects would come in and say, “Hey, here are some interesting things we could do.” We’d go, “Great.” Or stunts will do a section and say, “Hey, what if this fight goes in this way?” And we’ll say, “Great.”
Further in the interview, Markus spoke more about the fluidity of the action itself, and how all involved – including directors Joe and Anthony Russo – ensured that the story remained paramount between the one-liners and moments of fan service.
“I think the toughest sequence by far in this film — which we literally finished a week or two ago — was the airport sequence. It’s filled with a lot of moving parts, a lot of different characters, you want to move each character forward, and you want to make sure you don’t leave a character behind. We went well into the post-production process still reshaping, and rethinking, and reconfiguring that sequence, to make sure it had its maximum storytelling thrust to it.”
On the heels of its UK debut, Captain America: Civil War is due to open for those in North America on May 6. Look for our own verdict of Marvel’s grand ensemble piece to arrive in the coming days.