First trailer for 'Captain America: Civil War' smashes Marvel record

This screenshot shows a still image from the 'Captain America: Civil War' trailer (YouTube Marvel)

Unveiled on Nov. 24, the trailer for the next Marvel movie has been viewed 61 million times in only 24 hours, the studio has announced. This is a record for a first movie trailer which even beats "Star Wars."

The third instalment of the adventures of "Captain America" won't hit theaters before the spring of 2016, but it's already eagerly anticipated. Its debut trailer hit a new record of 61 million views in only one day.

"Captain America: Civil War" has attracted nearly double the number of views compared to last year's first trailer for "Avengers: Age of Ultron", Marvel's previous record of 34 million views in 24 hours. The next confrontation between Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr has also beaten "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" as its first trailer, released on Nov. 28, 2014, attracted 55 million views. That said, the seventh episode of the Star Wars saga crushed the competition in April when it unveiled its second trailer, which notched up 112 million views.

2016 will be a pivotal year for Marvel

"Captain America 3" will mark a turning point for the studio as it will kick off Phase 3 of its Cinematic Universe. The film, which will be directed once again by Anthony and Joe Russo, will bring together the biggest stars of Marvel's mythology: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, as well as Paul Rudd, alias Ant-Man, and Tom Holland (Spider-Man).

Ten other films will be included in this creative phase which will run until 2019. "Doctor Strange" will be out next year, followed in 2017 by "Thor: Ragnarok", "The Guardians of the Galaxy 2" and "Spider-Man". The year after will see the release of "Black Panther", the sequel to "Ant-Man", and the first part of "Avengers: Infinity War". Phase 3 will end in 2019 with "Captain Marvel", "Inhumans" and the second "Avengers" installment.