“Captain America: Civil War” stands as Marvel and Disney’s 13th building block for global domination: the result of Marvel’s shared universe experiment, which combines superheroes from all of your favorite movies into one. It’s the shining light at the end of the tunnel for all of the 12 films before it, and it was awesome.

The film follows the series of events after the trail of destruction and chaos the Avengers have left behind them in their victories. The major plot decision that causes the rest of the fallout: the United Nations have decided it would be for the best to keep the super-powered group on a metaphorical leash because of the rate of casualties, which causes a half-on-half split of the group. Each believes they are making the right decision to go along with the U.N. or not, which makes the division of the group so interesting.

This part of “Civil War” is all about freedom and security, and what our heroes are willing to trade and sacrifice for them based on past experiences and ideals. Viewers can connect to these ideals and pick a team: Iron Man’s pro-government supervision or Captain America’s anti-government supervision. Neither is clearly right or wrong in their decision, which makes choosing a side all the more difficult.

Unfortunately, if you haven’t seen any of the “Avengers” or “Captain America” movies, you’re going to be a little lost. A lot of the plot depends on the viewer’s knowledge of the past relationships between characters, mostly the one between Captain America and the Winter Soldier. While the main plot of the movie may be deceptively simple, it’s characters are not.

The film is refreshing for a superhero flick. There were no alien bad guys, no evil organization to bring down, and, for a group of superheroes, it felt incredibly human. The so called “bad guy” was human and driven by human reasons. The problems were ideal and morally-centered, which is different, but not bad.

It’s an incredible juggling act, how directors Anthony and Joe Russo have thrown a dozen superheroes into this film, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming in the least. Each powered individual has his or her time, while the main dynamic battle of Captain America and Iron Man is still constantly in the forefront.

Not only does “Civil War” stand as an amazing film on it’s own, but throughout it’s over two-hour screen time, it becomes a helping hand to opening other doors in the Marvel cinematic universe. It introduces new characters such as T’Challa (Black Panther) and Peter Parker (Spider Man), now played by Tom Holland, who will both be starring in their own movies coming in the next few years.

“Civil War” is the superhero showdown you’ve been waiting for: crises of identity, purpose, friends and secrets, with some of the best Marvel action sequences to date, making it a great blockbuster to kick off the summer.