Today we’re gonna educate you on all you need to know about the Marvel Civil War comic run. Marvel’s Civil War is the comic book arc that the upcoming movie Captain America: Civil War is based off of (but you knew that already!) This goes without saying but for all of you sensitive types we’re gonna throw up a SPOILER WARNING.
Scott gives your the lowdown on Civil War in the video above, or if you’re not the video viewing type, read the blogged out version below.
Marvel’s Civil War was based around the Superhuman Registration Act – a legislative act that required all those with superpowers to register their identities for full accountability of their actions. This stemmed from the rampant collateral damage and death resulting from events in other marvel comic runs. The biggest of the impact coming from the efforts of the New Warriors or lack thereof.
The New Warriors, a group of young superheroes and the stars of a reality TV show, failed to capture a group of supervillains by put their willingness to boost ratings over the job at hand. As a result a villain by the name of Nitro used his explosive abilities to level several city blocks. The death toll was between 600-1200 people, including the New Warriors and 60 students of an unfortunately located elementary school. As expected, public acceptance of super humans quickly plummeted.
The idea of such a registration act fractured the relations between the superhero community in two. Tony Stark backed by other heroes such as Mr. Fantastic and Hank Pym felt that with such a huge shift in the political landscape heroes should register themselves and receive proper training and governance to avoid any future mishaps like those of the New Warriors. Team Cap backed by heroes like Falcon and Luke Cage wanted super heroes’ anonymity to remain intact to protect their “everyday personal lives”. Tensions rose between the two sides as the pro registration side began pursuing any hero unwilling to register. Tony Stark even went as far as to fake an assassination attempt on his own life to prove the need for the act.
The first big victory between both sides came when Tony Stark convinced Spider-Man to reveal his secret identity and join sides with him. As a reward for his loyalty Stark provided Parker with the iconic Iron Spider suit which gave Spidey similar tech based abilities as Iron Man. This came with a hidden caveat to Stark’s generosity, this suit was used to study Spidey’s abilities and come up with a fail-safe in case Spider-Man decided to switch sides.
Peter first started to regret his decision after J. Jonah Jameson fired him from the Daily Bugle and former foes began attacking him and the ones his cares for. In order to keep those close to him safe, Aunt May and Mary Jane are moved into Stark Tower.
The first battle included all super heroes involved within the conflict. The battle did not come without a loss though as Thor kills Bill Foster, also known as Goliath. Cloak immediately teleports the rebels out of battle following Bill’s death. Later it is revealed that Thor was actually a cyborg created by Stark and Reed Richards and its violent behavior was an unintended glitch in its programming.
After the battle, the Fantastic Four is disbanded. Sue and Johnny Storm switched sides to Captain America’s Secret Avengers team. Ben Grimm wishes to remain neutral however finds himself unintentionally within the next battle. Both sides believe him to be helping and after the brawl Ben decides to get away from the drama and move to France.
Unbeknownst to the Peter Parker, Stark was developing project 42, a prison in the Negative Zone which would hold captive anyone unwilling to register. After learning of this information and seeing the conditions of the penitentiary, Spidey had a change of heart and rushed to get Aunt May and MJ out of Stark tower, only to be attacked by Iron Man himself. The battle flowed into NY City streets until Spider-Man was able to escape using the New York sewer system. Stark sends Spidey’s enemies and the Thunderbolts into the sewers after Spider-Man. Luckily for a badly beaten Peter Parker, The Punisher shows up and kills Spidey’s attackers. Punisher takes Peter back to Captain America’s hideout, where he can receive medical attention.
Later, Hulkling, disguised as Hank Pym, sneaked into Project 42 and released all the incarcerated heroes which led to an all out battle between both sides. In the middle of the brawl the fight was then teleported to the middle of New York City by Cloak. Amidst the battle Iron Man’s armor was rendered useless by the Young Avenger’s Vision, giving Cap his opportunity to deal a war ending strike.
Before cap had the chance to react he was overpowered by several non-powered emergency service workers which forced him to surrender and end the war sending Cap to jail.
On the day of his trial, while walking to the courthouse, Captain America was shot and killed (for now) by Crossbones acting under the orders of the Red Skull. The world was shocked to read the headlines, that Captain America was dead.
In one of the saddest and most touching moments in Marvel history, a hysterical Tony Stark sat in tears confessing to his now deceased former ally and friend. After all the battles, lies and forged alliances he had gone through to push for the SHRA, in the end it wasn’t worth it.
So there you have the full story about how a group of inexperienced heroes caused a nationwide civil war, tearing apart the lives and friendships within the Marvel Universe.
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