We could n’t be more excited for Captain America : Civil War to finally come to field of operations next hebdomad , but we also could n’t be less enthused with its germ material . The comic case was epic , but it was also a mess , where Iron Man inexplicably became a supervillianous asshole . Here ’s a guide to Marvel ’s original Civil War that shows why we ’re happy to see the movie seems to only be taking its name , and little else .
The Superhero Registration Act
When 2006 ’s Civil War begins — first with a seven issue main series , but finally spin around out into 13 Civil War spinoff serial publication , and numerous tie ins in Marvel ’s ongoing titles — the U.S. political science is already conceive mandate superheroes to unwrap their identities to them and become Federal employees , in the wake of an increase in anti - hero thought . Heroes including Iron Man and Spider - Man head to Washington to delay such an act being passed , but an assassination attempt on Tony only serves to play up the importance of the turn , although it ’s bring out to the reader that Tony planned the character assassination attempt , as he ’s actually enormously - pro enrolment . Thus begins Tony ’s maddeningly straightaway descent into assholery .
SHIELD makes the mistake of asking Steve Rogers to be the public look of the act , and to be the one that assume down any dissenter and brings them in . by nature , Steve is horror-stricken and refuses , leading the President of the United States himself to declare Captain America an enemy of the res publica — hale him to go underground .
But neither of these human action ultimately ends up as the driving factor behind the act ’s passing : or else , it ’s the then - relatively unnamed superhero squad know as the New Warriors ( in fact they ’re still only really known for kicking off Civil War ) . A group of young mutants taking part in a behind - the - scenes realness show , the Warriors pick a fight with a radical of supervillains in Stamford , Connecticut , to produce interesting dramatic event for their show . They get great deal of dramatic event when one of the scoundrel , Nitro , uses his volatile baron to level a section of the town , killing 600 civilians .
Only Nitro and one of the New Warriors , Speedball , ( who , traumatized by the event , takes on thehilariously nervy mantle of Penanceafter con his powers have been heave by the blast and are now trigger off by self - inflicted bother , and realise himself a wooing with interior spike to gouge himself ) are the only survivor . Less than a week afterward , the Super Hero Registration Act ( SHRA ) is acquit .
Tony Stark Assholishness Level : form of an asshole
Spider-Man unmasked
In the early days of the act , SHRA - fan Tony Stark becomes SHIELD ’s nerve of the program , which does n’t really require heroes to publicly reveal their personal identity , but does force them to confirm their material identities with SHIELD and become salaried government agents . Even then , many discord , until Tony plays his first major trump card : get Peter Parker to in public bring out that he is Spider - Man on home television . As his reinforcement , Tony builds Peter the “ Iron Spider ” costume .
Fun fact : this immediately goes horribly badly for Peter , who is force out from the Daily Bugle , and draw to add Aunt May and Mary Jane Watson into protective custody to avoid retributory attack by Spider - Man ’s litany of villain ( which would eventually later culminate in Peter signing a deal with the honest to god devil Mephisto to pass over out his unmasking , thus delete his marriage to Mary Jane , but that ’s a whole other tarradiddle ) .
Spider - Man ’s public unveiling trip the first great wave of sides being taken in the dispute — more Hero choose to register , while just as many commence to form a resistance with Captain America as its drawing card .
Tony Stark Assholishness Level : An honest to god asshole , but a popular one
Turning Tides
The early days of the battle saw the two side seldom encountering each other . Tony attempts to trace down deserter , while Cap ’s heroes practice vigilante Department of Justice from the shadow . Even as larger squad like the cristal - Men announce their neutrality in the war , both side are big enough that a skirmish between the wedge was inevitable : The first major tussle between Captain America ’s Secret Avengers and Iron Man ’s Pro - Registration team arrives soon after , when Cap spy an ambush during a meeting between himself and Tony .
The conflict is equally matched until , out of nowhere , Thor appear from the skies , declaring himself for Tony ’s cause — a gross jar to almost every hero imply in the conflict , as Thor had been MIA for several month after his battle to prevent the apocalyptic Asgardian case of Ragnarok from occurring . Even more shocking ? Thor directly up murder a fighter . He punches a giant hole through the chest of the size - changing hero Goliath , instantly killing him , and causing Cap ’s team to descend back in defeat .
The reason Thor slope with Tony and is suddenly homicidal ? It ’s not actually Thor , but a altogether unauthorized Thor clone create by Tony and Reed Richards out of a piece of tomentum taken from the very first meeting of the Avengers . The furiousness was an “ unintended ” aspect of Tony ’s “ experimentation , ” because “ of track it was . ” ( After Civil War , the real Thorkicks the asshole out of Tonyfor doing this , and rightly so . )
Tony Stark Assholishness Level : monumental asshole
Enter the Negative Zone
Despite being a relatively lesser - known grinder , Goliath ’s decease has a huge shock on both sides of Civil War . self-aggrandising heroes like Spider - Man and Sue Storm begin questioning their faith in Tony Stark , while several sub abandon Cap ’s cause out of fear and register . The Fantastic Four is hit particularly badly , as Sue and Johnny forsake Reed for Cap ’s side while the affair allow for the country , unwilling to plunk a side .
Tony does n’t really deal that he ’s shed blood bread and butter , though , as he and SHIELD unveil their ultimate architectural plan to crack down on dissent : a superhero prison house built in the alternate attribute of the Negative Zone , designed by head honchos of dickery Tony and Reed . On top of that , to poise out the fact that he ’s putting more and more hero in Chain , Tony and SHIELD begin recruiting genuine supervillains to spring the Thunderbolts , a squad devoted to hunting down the renegade heroes .
Suspecting Spider - Man ’s hesitate faith to his cause after Peter reject to bring in Captain America during an lying in wait , Tony take him on a enlistment of this horrifying prison house , endanger the horrific experimental condition in which Tony is keeping his former comrades . After learning that Tony has also been using bugs planted in the Iron Spider suit to listen in on his individual conversations for bastard and giggles , Spider - Man finally decides that enough is enough . After a brief fight between the pair , a heavily wounded Spider - Man is brought to Cap ’s private infrastructure by the Punisher who promptly join Cap ’s Secret Avengers , and then is immediately kicked out when he guns down two of Tony ’s Thunderbolts who are attempting to defect to Cap ’s side .
Tony Stark Assholishness Level : Jesus Christ Tony what the hell
The Final Battle
With Spider - Man join his team , Steve plans one final assault on Tony ’s Negative Zone prison to unloosen its detainees , knowing full well that one of his Avengers is on the QT a forked agent for Tony Stark , and will leak program of the attack to him ( plunderer : it ’s Tigra ) . Steve plans his own double - cross by get the shapeshifting youthful Avenger Hulkling to kidnap and supervene upon Hank Pym , giving Cap his own double factor for the battle .
Cap and his Avengers infest the prison house , and Tigra betrays them , bring Tony and his forces to waylay them while Hulkling / Pym on the QT liberates the capture anti - registration heroes . A humongous battle breaks out — and back on Earth , SHIELD ’s Maria Hill decides she ’s crazy of superheroes in world-wide , and starts to destruct the gateway to the Negative Zone and just trap both sides in an alternate dimension . Cloak ( before long to star alongside longtime partner Daggerin their own TV show ! ) employ his powers of teleportation to dump the warring heroes above Manhattan , letting them predominate down like human - shaped raindrop .
With the help of the Vision , Cap has Tony on the Mexican valium , and just as he ’s about to land the final nose candy and claim victory … he ’s swarmed in an almost uproariously patriotic manner by member of New York ’s exigency service , leading Cap to look around and realize that the battle has entrust Manhattan in shred . Shocked that he ’s forget what he was fighting for , he immediately orders the combined heroes to stand up down and turn himself in while the anti - registration team scattering into the lead .
Just to make matters unnecessarily worse , week after while in custody Cap is gun down by longtime foe Crossbones ( and finished off by a brainwashed Sharon Carter to boot ):
Oh dear . Do n’t worry , though , it ’s comics — Cap gets betterbecause the bullets sent him through time and space .
Tony Stark Assholishness Level : self-satisfied son of a bitch
Suffice to say , Civil War was kind of a mess . Tony Stark , for all intents and purposes , essentially became a supervillain for petty reason than to have the two wedge press each other , repeatedly making horrendous , exorbitant decision along the means . Even those on the side of Captain America were at times painted as rogues fighting for the sake of their rights to beat people up rather than protect their right to privacy . It ’s convoluted and contrived as an excuse to learn allies punch each other in the face at best , at its unfit , reference - assassinating incoherence .
But even with its terminal , the event had a huge encroachment on the Marvel universe . Beyond the death of Steve Rogers , the SHRA went into full effect , mandate individual teams for every state , include a young Avengers group confidential information by Iron Man and Ms. Marvel in New York . The Fantastic Four were split apart , leading to Storm and Black Panther taking the place of Reed and Sue Richards . And many prominent heroes go on the run as part of the Secret Avengers .
Its legacy as one of Marvel ’s heavy crossover events has loaf well beyond Steve ’s eventual return a few years later , to the compass point that we ’re getting a religious continuation in the funnies presently , this time feature Tony Stark facing off against Captain Marvel over whether heroes should be allowed to stop criminals before they commit crimes . Hopefully Tony wo n’t be quite as much as asshole in this one — or in the movie .
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