These days it’s not uncommon for a trailer to get just as much hype and publicity as many movies, as we have teasers for trailers on a regular basis, and studios build up to the release of these previews. The latest look at an upcoming film to make waves was Marvel’s unveiling of the first Captain America: Civil War trailer, and though it’s only been a short time, it didn’t need much to break a world record.
Though it doesn’t hit theaters for more than six months, it’s obvious that fans are already practically frothing at the mouth with anticipation for Civil War, as Marvel revealed that the first trailer was viewed more than 61 million times in its first 24 hours. Numbers that big can feel unwieldy and esoteric—it’s hard to imagine 61 million of anything—but to put it in context, it more than doubled the previous record holder, Avengers: Age of Ultron, which racked up 34 million views in the same time period. That's an impressive feat.
While watching this trailer on our computers is pretty cool, we’re going to get to see it on a big screen soon, as it will accompany Star Wars: The Force Awakens upon its release in just a few weeks. But in case you can’t wait until then, why not take another look at the Civil War trailer below.
Based on a comic book arc of the same name, Captain America: Civil War finds the superhero community facing a growing public backlash which is brought to a head due to an international incident with civilian casualties. We don’t know the specific form this will take in the film, but it’s been rumored that Crossbones (Frank Grillo) will be involved. In the wake of this, the Sokovia Accords are drafted which require all superheroes to register with the proper authorities and submit to governmental control. This demand splits the heroes into two camps, the pro-registration side, lead by Tony Stark/Iron Man, and the anti-registration faction, led by Steve Rodger/Captain America.
Pitting former friends and allies against each other, this is sure to be an emotional gut punch of a conflict, and we’ve already seen some of that in the trailer. If you care about these characters at all, be sure to bring an extra hanky and be prepared to say you have something in your eye.
Civil War features a laundry list of familiar superheroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it will also introduce us to a few new players, most notably Black Panther and the latest big screen incarnation of Spider-Man. As if you didn’t have enough reasons to get excited for this movie, that should do the trick.
Captain America: Civil War hits theaters everywhere on May 6, 2016.
