Captain America 3 Civil War Adds Martin Freeman

Collider

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR Adds Martin Freeman

By Adam Chitwood

Published May 5, 2015

I think we're going to have to start calling this 'Avengers: Civil War'.

Well now both Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are part of the MCU. Marvel announced today that Sherlock and The Hobbit star Martin Freeman has joined the bursting-at-the-seams cast of Captain America: Civil War. Directed by Captain America: The Winter Soldier helmers Joe and Anthony Russo, Civil War is technically a Captain America movie, but it’s becoming harder to believe it’s not actually The Avengers 2.5.

Marvel doesn’t specify what character Freeman is playing, but as of now the lineup for Civil War includes Chris Evans (Steve Rogers), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), as well as Chadwick Boseman’s debut appearance as Black Panther, Daniel Bruhl as the villainous Baron von Zemo, and the new Spider-Man who has yet to be cast.

avengers-4-chris-evans — Image via Marvel

That is a massive ensemble, so it’ll be interesting to see how/if the Russos are able to deliver a character-driven Cap movie while juggling all these faces, both new and old, and also setting up Avengers: Infinity War, which they’ll also direct.

Freeman’s an impeccably talented actor who’s shown a swell ability to handle both humor and emotionally poignant moments, so he’s a welcomed addition to the MCU. He's also quite versatile, seamlessly moving from major franchise fare like The Hobbit to character-driven comedies like The World's End , and even back to the small screen for FX's Fargo. The cast for Civil War is so gargantuan, though, that I hope he gets his due time to shine, or is at least set up for a larger role in MCU movies down the line. Perhaps he’ll cross paths with his Sherlock co-star Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange?

On another note, it’s incredibly impressive that Freeman was cast in the film without any of the trades catching wind of it. These days, we usually hear about negotiations and such well before the confirmation comes down, but the first we heard of Freeman’s casting was from Marvel itself. Production on Civil War is currently underway in Atlanta in anticipation of a May 6, 2016 release date.