Audi Lands Marvel-ous Role in 'Captain America: Civil War'
CARS.COM — “Audi. The brand everyone is chasing.” That’s the apropos tagline of the Volkswagen luxury division’s action-packed cross-promotional TV spot heralding both the arrival of its all-new performance SUV — the 2017 SQ7 — and the premiere of the rabidly anticipated super-sequel, “Captain America: Civil War.” And this is one chase scene that Audi shoppers and Marvel fans alike really can get behind.
Related: 2016 Jeep Renegade Goes to the Dark Side with ‘Batman v Superman’ Special Edition
The 90-second commercial, shot by “Civil War” directors Anthony and Joe Russo, opens with a triple enhanced-human chase: Captain America chasing Black Panther chasing the Winter Soldier, with blue-light-flashing pursuit vehicles chasing them all through a city sub-street corridor. As Cap (Chris Evans) commandeers an SQ7 — the performance variant of Audi’s Q7 three-row SUV — an average, mild-mannered couple and their two kids, also in an SQ7, get caught up in the pursuant procession before mom pulls a sweet maneuver and beelines for a less-congested alternate route.
The film series’ previous sequel, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” was cross-promoted with Chevrolet, with appearances by the Impala sedan, Tahoe SUV and Silverado pickup truck. The Detroit brand made sense in a movie about the ultimate American patriot, so we’re not entirely sure about his driving an Audi vehicle only available right now in Europe — it ain’t “Captain Germany,” after all. (Then again, Cap does wind up destroying his SQ7 in a spectacular rollover crash in the commercial’s Marvel-esque “post-credits” scene when he finally catches up to Black Panther.)
Still, Audi is hardly a stranger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has always been Iron Man’s make of choice, and that continues this time around as Cap-ally-turned-adversary Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) once again appears in his signature Audi R8 supercar, this time in its 2017 V10 plus Coupe incarnation. Other Audi models in the “Civil War” supporting cast include the Audi Prologue concept, which we first saw at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show, driven by Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther; the Audi A4; and the A7 Sportback four-door hatchback.
If you want to be like Captain America — minus the vehicular destruction, we hope — you’ll have to wait for the SQ7’s U.S. launch date to be announced. Until then, you’ll just have to be content with the U.S. launch date of “Civil War,” which hits the big screen May 6.
