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Avengers choose sides and throw down in gripping first trailer for Captain America: Civil War

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The third phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe kicks off next year, and now we have our first look at the movie that sets things in motion: Captain America: Civil War.

The first, official trailer for Captain America: Civil War debuted during last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! with stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. on hand to introduce the footage from the much-anticipated movie.

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Clocking in at just under 2 1/2 minutes, the trailer features Captain America (Evans) and Sam “Falcon” Wilson (Anthony Mackie) dealing with the fallout from 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which includes the pursuit of Cap’s childhood friend and former HYDRA operative “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and government intervention that creates a deep divide in the Avengers’ roster. With battle lines drawn, the heroes choose sides and find themselves fighting each other with Captain America and Iron Man (Downey) leading their respective factions of heroes.

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Not only does the trailer offer a peek at the brewing brawl between Marvel’s big-screen heroes, it also features some of the first footage of Black Panther, the latest addition to Marvel’s cinematic universe, as portrayed by Chadwick Boseman. (Black Panther can be seen sending Bucky Barnes flying out of frame with a furious kick around the 1:51 mark in the video.) The trailer also provides a preview of the divisions that form within the Avengers, as Iron Man, War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Black Panther are all shown fighting with Captain America’s team, which seems to consist of Cap, Bucky Barnes (aka The Winter Soldier), The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Falcon.

Along with the aforementioned cast of characters, Captain America: Civil War will also feature Paul Bettany as The Vision, Emily VanCamp as Sharon “Agent 13” Carter, Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo, Frank Grillo as Brock “Crossbones” Rumlow, William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, and Paul Rudd as Scott “Ant-Man” Lang. Tom Holland is also expected to make his debut as the new Spider-Man ahead of his upcoming, untitled solo movie.

Captain America: Civil War is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and is scheduled to hit theaters May 6, 2016.

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Rick Marshall
Rick Marshall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
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