Perhaps it’s because Star Wars: The Force Awakens has so thoroughly dominated our attention for several months now, or perhaps it’s just because we’re barely a few days into 2016. But for whatever reason, publicity for Captain America: Civil War has been surprisingly quiet until recently.
Sometimes the earliest signs of a major superhero movie marketing campaign are in the toy market and here, at least, we’ve seen some Civil War publicity getting off the ground. Hong Kong-based toy company Hot Toys has already unveiled a lineup of Civil War-inspired action figures that look pretty official and exciting, according to Coming Soon. A popular favorite for those who like collectible action figures, Hot Toys included Iron Man, Captain America, Falcon, War Machine, Hawkeye, Black Widow, The Vision, Scarlet Witch, and the Winter Soldier in its collection. That about covers the bulk of the dueling factions we’ll be seeing in Civil War, but at this point the absence of Spider-Man and Black Panther (not to mention Ant-Man, unless his toy is so small we can’t see it) is glaring. These are the new characters fans can’t wait to see in the upcoming film, so maybe their collectible items will be released as publicity ramps up.
It’s also fairly common to see early marketing in the video game industry, if not through major game releases than via adaptations and added content on existing games or gaming markets. In these areas, though, the publicity for Civil War remains surprisingly quiet. Often new superhero films inspire gaming titles for the online casino industry, if nowhere else. Such games are commonly featured at Gala Bingo, yet as of now the site is hosting only Batman- and Iron Man-themed games, with no hint of a Civil War-specific title just yet. Similarly, it’s become customary for new superhero movies to inspire their own mobile app games—as we saw with Gameloft’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier game—but so far there’s been no such release for the new film. At the very least, you can probably expect apps like Marvel: Future Fight and Marvel: Contest Of Champions to be updated with new material related to the film in the month or two before its release.
Toys and games aside, there’s also the product placement to consider in any major superhero film release, and there have been some glimpses of standard car company involvement in Civil War. Specifically Fourtitude pointed out that the recently released trailer for the film showed off the Audi S8 and Q7 (albeit somewhat subtly), along with a BMW police motorcycle. This may not mean that much with regard to outside publicity for the film. However, fans may recall that Audi in particular has done its part in advertising past Marvel films, most recently through ads featuring footage from Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Ant-Man. Don’t be too surprised if either that S8 or Q7 soon features in a similar TV spot.
And then of course there will be additional trailers to come, after the first one premiered in late November and then featured in the preview reel for The Force Awakens. But all of this is to say that while it may seem as if Captain America: Civil War is being looked to as one of the biggest upcoming releases in 2016, there actually hasn’t been that much designed hype just yet. We’re just getting started with the build-up to this major Marvel release, so get ready for a few months of heavy Civil War content. We can’t wait.
Captain America: Civil War opens on May 6th, 2016.
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