Control and conscience divides heroes in ‘Civil War’ – ‘Covert Affairs’ star Gorham makes directorial debut

This news has been read 7892 times!

LOS ANGELES, April 26, (RTRS):  Marvel’s band of Avengers are usually a friendly bunch, but when faced with the destruction of their heroic efforts to save the world, the superheroes are split between maintaining control of their powers or going under government contract, leading to an explosive battle.

“Captain America: Civil War,” out in international theaters this week and in US theaters on May 6, holds the heroes accountable for the mass destruction caused by their efforts to save the planet. Last year’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” ended with an entire town being lifted into the air.

In “Civil War,” Chris Evans’ Captain America fights for superheroes to govern themselves and goes head to head with his former ally, Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, who wants the heroes to be governed by the United Nations.

“We like to liken it to a fight at a wedding,” said Joe Russo, who co-directed the film with his brother Anthony Russo.

Fall-out

“It’s something that’s been brewing in a family for some time and something happens that instigates a fall-out amongst all of the characters so relevancy and topicality are really important to us because it makes the audience feel like it’s part of their world.”

“Civil War” sees Captain America’s best friend the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) seemingly cause massive acts of destruction.

A divided superhero camp mirrors the complexities of the current US political stage, Evans said.

“Even in American politics, no one is right or wrong. There’s no evil here, we’re not fighting Nazis or aliens. This is just a matter of whether we’re fighting for our head or our heart,” he said.

Moments of levity come courtesy of new additions to the superhero ensemble, namely Paul Rudd’s smart-talking Ant-Man and the first appearance of British newcomer Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, the latest iteration of the web-slinging hero.

Spider-Man is joining Disney’s Marvel cinematic universe as part of a collaborative deal between Walt Disney Co and Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to Spider-Man. Holland will be swinging his way into 2017’s standalone film “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

“I like the fact that they’re skewing Spider-Man young because that’s how he is in the comic books. He’s a young kid, and Tom Holland has this really great innocence and naivete but sense of subtle maturity,” Evans said.

Also:

LOS ANGELES: Christopher Gorham will make his feature directorial debut on the independent comedy “We Love You, Sally Carmichael!,” Variety has learned.

Gorham, best known for portraying a blind CIA officer on USA Network’s “Covert Affairs,” will also star in “Sally Carmichael.” He will direct from a script by Daryn Tufts.

Adam Abel is producing through his production company Go Films. Executive producers are Tufts and David Nibley of Flinch Films.

“Sally Carmichael” will shoot in Utah this summer. Gorham will portray an author who is ashamed to have secretly written an incredibly popular series of young adult romance novels that chronicle the epic love story between a human girl and a merman — all under the pen name, Sally Carmichael. When he is forced to meet a top box office star about the movie adaptation of a Sally Carmichael book, the author’s carefully built life of anonymity starts crumbling down around him.

Gorham will soon appear alongside Dougray Scott, Harold Perrineau and Kim Raver in Audience Network’s limited series “Full Circle.”

Gorham noted that his first professional acting job was in Danny Boyle’s “A Life Less Ordinary,” which was shot in Utah in 1996. Several years later, Gorham landed his first starring role in a feature on Disney’s “The Other Side of Heaven” alongside Anne Hathaway.

“I started my feature acting career in Utah, and I’m thrilled to begin my feature directing career here as Salt Lake City has a distinct beauty that this story fits perfectly,” Gorham said. “So we didn’t want to just shoot here. We wanted this movie to take place here.”

Go Films has produced the “Saints and Soldiers” movies, “Outlaw Trail” and “Forever Strong.”

This news has been read 7892 times!