‘Civil War’ Directors on What Makes This Spider-Man Different

There’s a lot to look forward to in Captain America: Civil War: the evolution of Cap and Iron Man, an Avengers team divided, the introduction of Black Panther and a new Spider-Man, and much, much more. And while we know quite a bit about the plot and some of the characters who will appear, there’s still a few things we don’t know just yet — the directing duo behind the film recently answered some questions to help shed some light on where things stand in Civil War and what we can expect from that new Spidey.

We know that the inciting incident in the upcoming film is linked in part to Avengers: Age of Ultron, but just how long after that film does Civil War take place? In a lengthy chat with ComicBook.com, Joe and Anthony Russo explain that the amount of time that’s passed between films in real life is the amount of fictional time that’s passed for the Avengers:

We like to say that the amount of time that has passed in between films is the amount of time that has passed in the movies. So, it’s about that amount time. We find Cap leading the Avengers. He’s tutoring or mentoring Scarlet Witch in the beginning of the movie and bringing her into the fold. We find them on a mission at the start of the film. The effect that Ultron has had on everyone certainly is central to the storytelling of the movie. It’s very strong. We’re dealing with issues of collateral damage, imperialism, what rights do super heroes have to pursue villains across borders. It’s very politically minded. Cap’s dealing with all of that at the beginning.

While Cap and Iron Man’s beef serves as the central conflict of the film, there are some other crucial elements to the equation, like Spider-Man. Tom Holland is set to make his MCU debut in the film ahead of the character’s new solo reboot, which has been described in the vein of John Hughes’ classic ’80s teen movies.

Reiterating some of what we’ve heard before, Joe Russo explains what makes this Spider-Man different — and more authentic — from previous big screen iterations of the character:

We took a very personal approach to the character, he was my favorite character growing up, so the opportunity to bring Spider-Man to the screen is a dream come true. It’s something that I spent a lot of time thinking about as a kid. We had thought back to the things that excited us about him as a character when we were younger, and one of the most important components of that was that he’s a high schooler burdened with incredible powers and responsibility. That really differentiates him from every other character in the Marvel universe as opposed to other superheroes. For us, it was extremely important that we cast somebody very close to the age of a high school student. The previous films had adults playing a high schooler. We wanted more of an authenticity to the casting. We were very specific about that. We wanted an energy and charisma from the character, an energy, but also an insecurity that would make him fun to watch in contrast to the confident superheroes.

And although this is a reboot of the character, the Russos say they are quite fond of Sam Raimi’s work with Spider-Man, specifically praising Spider-Man 2, with Joe Russo citing it as perhaps his favorite comic book film of all time:

Two, is one of if not my favorite comic book movie of all time. But he made a very strong choice with those movies from a color palate standpoint to a costume standpoint, execution standpoint, camerawork standpoint to honor the feeling of the comic book. We’re trying to honor the feeling of naturalism and to honor the feeling of reality.

As the directors of The Winter Soldier, Civil War, and the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War two-parter, the Russos are a key part of the MCU and its future. Reading that quote from Joe Russo above, it’s clear that they have a distinct vision — and more importantly, the reasoning to back it up. We’re not sure how involved they are in Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man reboot, but with their knowledge of and affection for the character, we sincerely hope they’ll have some input.

Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 6. Spider-Man’s new solo film arrives in 2017.

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