‘I remember all of them’- Marvel may never top Civil War’s climatic fight

It’s often easy to forget just what a incredible achievement the Marvel Cinematic Universe is.

The concept was ludicrously ambitious back when the idea was to unite “just” Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Hulk. Now we have dozens of heroes and villains sharing the screen, each with their own stories, motivations and arcs.

What Marvel Studios has achieved across 11 years and 21 (soon to be 22) films cannot be understated.

There are many reasons why, but for all the bombast, snarky one-liners and galactic-sized fisticuffs, its the smaller moments that are the reason Marvel’s grand cinematic experiment has worked so well.

Two of these moments occur during the series’ greatest scene - Captain America: Civil War’s climatic fight.

Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) has lured Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Tony Star/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) to Russia for, as far as they’re aware, a face-off with a small army of super-human soldiers under Zemo’s control.

Instead, Zemo shows them a tape, revealing that it was Bucky, as the brainwashed Winter Soldier, who killed Tony’s parents in cold blood two decades prior. The revelation leaves Tony shaken, but Steve already knew. He learned the truth, albeit not explicitly, during 2014’s The Winter Soldier, and chose to keep it to himself to protect his oldest, closest friend.

In an instant audiences feel Tony’s rage, Steve’s guilt, and understand the tragedy of what’s unfolding. In a matter of seconds irreparable damage has been dealt to a friendship that’s been the bedrock of this series, and in turn The Avengers are no more.

Tony and Steve’s stories — told over five films apiece at this point — converge in this moment to devastating affect, and even more casual audiences understand what it means to all the characters involved.

The fight that follows is gut-wrenching. Steve and Tony don’t want to fight, but they know neither will stop easily. Bucky fights for survival, but his guilt and friendship with Steve won’t let him protect himself by killing Tony.

It’s during the melee that Tony gets Bucky in a strangle hold. Before he deals a killing blow he asks: “Do you even remember them?” To which Bucky replies: “I remember all of them.”

For Tony the response is further reason to finish the job. For audiences it’s a reminder that Bucky is still haunted by the killings he had no choice in committing. Moments like these work on multiple, satisfying levels because the characters involved are so rich and well-realised.

The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is rooted in its characters and their interactions. It’s in Rocket and Thor’s heart-to-heart in Infinity War, Gamora and Nebula’s fight in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Hulk switching off Natasha’s message in Age of Ultron and the Avengers attempting to lift Mjolnir.

There’s action, there’s spectacle, there are stakes, but even when we know the heroes will save the day, what keeps us engaged is the journey and the characters we’re sharing it with.

Infinity War’s ending will be undone in Endgame, but it remains a powerful cliffhanger because of what defeat means to the characters left standing after Thanos’s snap.

In a few days time we’ll see how they react.