The summer of 2016 and the third phase of the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe kick-offed with this highly anticipated super hero brawl.

While the studio’s taken concepts that have been far more risky, that doesn’t mean the build up to their latest release wasn’t devoid of skepticism.

After the disappointing release of Batman v. Superman and the oversaturation of superheroes on the big screen in the last couple of years, many think that the genre is starting to show some rust. Marvel needed to prove that they’re still capable of delivering quality products while promising that there’s still more to come at the same time.

On top of having to adapt one of the biggest conflicts in Marvel history, Captain America: Winter Soldier, directors Joe and Anthony Russo were also tasked with introducing two of the biggest heroes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther and Spider-Man.

With this much pressure, does Captain America: Civil War stand united with success, or fall from the division of too many characters?

One year after Avengers: Age of Ultron, the team finds themselves in a hot mess when an incident in Nigeria further pushes the government to pass the Sokovia Accords, which would allow the government to control the Avengers.

Iron Man supports the act after feeling guilty for the lives he’s cost in the previous incidents, while Captain America opposes them, believing the government would limit their abilities to save lives and has a hard time trusting them especially after the events of his last solo film.

Steve becomes a fugitive of the law not only for his opposition, but for also aiding Bucky Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier from evading arrest for his crimes.

The Avengers and other heroes find themselves divided between Iron Man and Captain America’s sides. Steve has Bucky, Falcon, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and the rookie Ant-Man on his side, while Tony has Black Widow, War Machine, Vision, and two newcomers on his. The new guys consist of the vengeful Wakandan prince Black Panther, and Queens teenager Spider-Man. None of these heroes however, realize there’s a bigger threat at hand.

The Russo brothers had so much to balance here that this could have easily ended up like another Spider-Man 3 or Batman v. Superman.

However, in the end they come together very well. Despite the large roster in this picture of Avengers actors it still serves as a worthy sequel to Captain America: Winter Soldier.

The conflict with the Sokovia Accords is a great set-up and does a good job justifying both Iron Man and Captain America’s reasoning for choosing their sides (as opposed to its source material which painted Tony under a much more villainous light).

Tony is given more focus when it comes to his decision in the accords as it required a bit more justification as compared to Steve, who can simply use his previous solo film, the backstory of the Winter Soldier, and his good-natured heart to back up his points.

Even if the Accords do take a little bit of a backseat in the last third of the movie, the conflict and effect it has still looms in the tension between the two main Avengers.

Black Panther’s role offers a different perspective on the conflict. Unlike the other heroes he is a government official, which is what Team Tony aspires to be, yet he is also the odd one out of all of them because he’s more concerned with tearing Bucky apart than enforcing peace. He could have easily been a throwaway character just to promote for his own movie, but it instead enhanced the plot and characters.

Spider-Man would likely fit the throwaway character category more, but he’s really only in there for two scenes, and both of them fill their purpose well in the movie. The first one being to humanize Tony, and the second one to see my childhood dream of Spidey duking it out with Captain America on the big screen.

In the end the new characters enhance the experience more than deter from it, and don’t feel too forced. Chadwick Boseman and Tom Holland also perform wonderfully in their respective roles as T’Challa and Peter Parker.

The theme of vengeance is especially apparent in the last third of the movie, as it envelops another character and is the driving force of yet another lackluster Marvel villain. Don’t be surprised at this point. Marvel does so well with its heroes that the villains are just an afterthought.

The villain’s actor is pretty good and even though his plan is convoluted it still resulted in some of the best superhero action on film.

It’ll take a lot to top that airport scene which featured all of the heroes duking it out. Every single one of the heroes present had their moment to shine in the brawl (granted Black Widow’s had more to do with character than actual fisticuffs).

As for other problems besides the villain, there were times when the balance felt off and I was questioning if I was watching an Avengers or Captain America movie.

The Vision and Scarlet Witch scenes come to mind, but some are done so well that I find it harder to see these flaws negatively affect the movie. I wasn’t expecting Scarlet Witch to have much impact after her role in Age of Ultron, but she might just be my favorite character in this in terms of action and development.

Then there’s the more obvious attempts at world building such as having Martin Freeman be there just to make you know his name before he shows up in the Black Panther solo film. But it’s still not as bad as Thor jumping into a magical Jacuzzi.

Captain America: Civil War works as both an exciting entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a political thriller. It manages to keep an engaging plot despite the insane amount of characters and plotlines going on, and offers the best superhero action and drama I’ve seen in a while.

It might be a couple years till we see Cap and the Avengers on screen again, but at least they kicked off phase 3 with one of their best entries yet.