‘Captain America: Civil War’ Trailer Hits 61 Million Views — Why This Film Is Important To Marvel’s Phase 3

The first trailer for Captain America: Civil War enjoyed a record-setting debut, not only for Marvel but for first-time trailers in general. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the trailer reached some 61 million views in less than two days following its release. This breaks the previous record of 55 million views that was set by the trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

As far as Marvel’s other trailers are concerned, the new Captain American film just about doubled Marvel’s next highest viewed trailer, Avengers: Age of Ultron, which managed to bring in an audience of 34 million back in 2014.

According to Variety, the trailer excited fans by showing scenes involving Iron Man (Robert Downy Jr.) fighting with Captain America (Chris Evans) and the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Along with these characters, the trailer also featured Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), War Machine (Don Cheadle), General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt), and Falcon (Anthony Mackie).

Part of the reason why the debut trailer was so successful was because of the way it has been advertised in past weeks. In fact, the movie was recently promoted by Chris Evans and Robert Downy Jr., who both made a special guest appearance last week on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

At the same time, the other reason the trailer has been such a big hit with fans is because of the movie’s larger significance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to Den of Geek, this includes all of the different superheroes who are set to be featured in the film, including Iron Man and a possible cameo by Spider-Man.

Additionally, the events that unfold in Civil War will directly tie in with the main plot for Marvel’s next big movie, Avengers: Infinity War – Part I. With Infinity War not set to be released until 2018, Civil War will be the last time fans will able to see the two superheroes together for another two years.

Meanwhile, the movie is based on the events that unfolded in the comics, which featured Tony Stark joining forces with the government and trying to enforce the regulation of superheroes. In opposition to Stark and the new government regulations, Captain America formed a resistance group who felt as though the new regulations were a direct violation of human rights.

Consequently, as is seen in the trailer, the two sides went to war and fought with each other. It is still unclear exactly what will unfold during the movie and which characters may be killed off during the government’s efforts to better regulate those with superhuman abilities.

Despite all of the unknowns going in the movie, the nature of the film is an indication that the Marvel Universe is heading into a phase that introduces new characters to the mix. This is true with the upcoming release of films based on Doctor Strange and Black Panther, as well as Marvel’s plans to enter its Phase 3 plans.

Whatever ends up happening in Captain America: Civil War, it is clear that many fans are excited about its upcoming release and even more interested in discovering what will become of their favorite superheroes. Based on the content in the trailers, the situation does not bode well for either side.

Captain America: Civil War is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 6, 2014. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if the movie’s second trailer will be able to eclipse the 112 million views that the follow-up trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens managed to hit.

Tell us! Watch the trailer for Captain America: Civil War and let us know what you think in the comments below.

[Images via Marvel Studios]