Civil War (comics)


"Civil War" is a 2006–2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline consisting of a seven-issue limited series of the same name written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, and various other tie-in books published by Marvel at the time. The storyline builds upon the events that developed in previous Marvel storylines, particularly "Avengers Disassembled", "House of M", and "Decimation". The tagline for the series is, "Whose Side Are You On?"
The plot of the series follows a framework story line in which the U.S. government passes a Superhero Registration Act, ostensibly designed to have super powered individuals act under official regulation, somewhat akin to law enforcement. However, superheroes opposed to the act, led by Captain America, find themselves in conflict with those supporting the act, led by Iron Man, with Spider-Man caught in the middle; the X-Men take a neutral stance. The superheroes in support of the law, such as Iron Man, Mister Fantastic and Ms. Marvel, become increasingly authoritarian. The conflict between freedom and security is an underlying theme in the story line, with real-life events and discussions, such as the U.S. government's increased surveillance of its citizens, serving as a backdrop for the events in Civil War. A sequel, Civil War II, debuted in June 2016.
The series polarized critics but it was a commercial success. The 2016 film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was made as a loose adaptation of the same storyline.

Publication history

The premise of "Civil War" involves the introduction of a Superhuman Registration Act in the United States. Mark Millar, writer for the story, has said:
The act requires any person in the United States with superhuman abilities to register with the federal government as a "human weapon of mass destruction," reveal their true identity to the authorities and then undergo proper training. Those who sign also have the option of working for S.H.I.E.L.D., earning a salary and benefits such as those earned by other American civil servants. Characters within the superhero community in the Marvel Universe split into two groups: one advocating the registration as a responsible obligation, and the other opposing the law on the grounds that it violates civil liberties and the protection that secret identities provide. While arguing directly with Iron Man about the law, Luke Cage, an African American, compared the mandatory registration to slavery. A number of villains have also chosen to take sides, some choosing to side with the registration, others against it.
signing copies of the collectors edition of the main miniseries during an appearance at Midtown Comics in Manhattan

Delays

Marvel announced in August 2006 that some issues of the main Civil War series would be pushed back several months to accommodate artist Steve McNiven. The schedule had issue #4 being released one month late, in September, while issue #5 was released two months later, in November. Furthermore, various tie-in books including the miniseries and tie-in issues of other comics were delayed several months so as not to reveal any plot developments.
In late November 2006, Marvel announced another delay. Civil War #6, originally scheduled for release on December 20, was pushed back two weeks and released on January 4. Unlike the previous instance, only The Punisher War Journal #2 was delayed. In a final act of rescheduling, Civil War #7 was pushed back two weeks, and then pushed back again until February 21.

Behind the scenes

After the publication of Civil War #7, Mark Millar was interviewed by Newsarama and described the event as "a story where a guy wrapped in the American flag is in chains as the people swap freedom for security", agreeing that a "certain amount of political allegory" was present but that the real focus of the book was on superheroes fighting each other. Contrasting it with The Ultimates, Millar stated that Civil War was "accidentally political because I just cannot help myself."

Plot

The New Warriors battle a group of villains in Stamford, Connecticut while filming a reality television show. Nitro explodes, killing more than 600 people. The rest of the superheroes appear in Stamford to search for survivors.
Public opinion turns against superhumans. Even the inactive members of the New Warriors are branded as "baby killers". Hindsight releases their secret identities online, and several are attacked. She-Hulk forces Hindsight to shut down the site, and Hindsight is arrested by John Jameson. Angry civilians attack the Human Torch outside a club.
Guided by Iron Man, Congress quickly passes the Superhuman Registration Act, 6 U.S.C. § 558, requiring the registration of all persons with superhuman abilities with the U.S. government, and the enlistment and training of those wishing to operate as superheroes. The law applies to those with naturally-occurring superhuman abilities, those humans using exotic technology, or anyone who wants to challenge the superhumans. Enactment of the federal law led to revisions of state criminal codes.
Captain America refuses to join a S.H.I.E.L.D. strike force hunting superhumans in violation of the act, and is attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Cape-Killers", even though the act has not been passed yet. Afterwards, he becomes a fugitive and forms an underground resistance movement calling itself the "Secret Avengers". This team includes Hercules, Falcon, Danny Rand, Luke Cage, and the Young Avengers. Iron Man, Reed Richards, Hank Pym, and She-Hulk come down in favor of the act. Spider-Man unmasks at a press conference as a show of support for the act. Doctor Strange wants no part of the act and tells Iron Man and Mister Fantastic that they are never to call on him again.
The government-backed heroes track down unregistered superhumans and subsequently detain or register them. Captain America's Secret Avengers and Iron Man's Avengers end up fighting in Yancey Street. The Thing, who was only visiting the old neighborhood, gets roped into crowd control. However, when a young member of the Yancy Street Gang is killed in the violence that ensues, Grimm, disgusted with both sides, leaves the country for France.
The Secret Avengers, responding to a false emergency, are lured into an ambush by the pro-registration forces. As the battle turns against them, a new weapon is brought into play: Project Lightning, a cyborg clone of Thor. Confronted by Bill Foster, "Thor" sends a bolt of lightning through the hero's chest, killing him. With both sides in shock, Cap orders a retreat. Sue Storm shelters the re-grouping Secret Avengers under an energy shield, allowing their escape.
Bill Foster's death shakes up both sides: Stature and Nighthawk surrender and register, while the Human Torch and Invisible Woman oppose the act. In turn, Pym drafts a sub-group of the Thunderbolts to their cause.
Spider-Man demands to see the concentration camp-styled prison facilities "42" in the Negative Zone. He concludes that he has made a mistake by siding with Stark and attempts to defect from Iron Man's side but is confronted by Iron Man and, after a brief battle, escapes. Against Iron Man's will, he is hunted down and badly beaten by the Jester III and Jack O'Lantern of the new Thunderbolts. The Punisher saves Spider-Man by killing the two villains, and carries him to a Secret Avengers safe-house. After recovering from his injuries, Spider-Man joins Cap's forces, and makes a public statement in which he pledges to fight the Registration Act.
The Punisher seeks to join Captain America's forces, pointing out that Iron Man's decision to employ infamous mass murderers as enforcers of the act is what has motivated the vigilante to come out of hiding, although crime is at an all-time low as a result of the registered heroes. Captain America reluctantly accepts Punisher's offer of help.
As the Punisher makes his way through the Baxter Building to retrieve plans for the Negative Zone prison, Sue Richards travels to Atlantis to persuade Namor to join the Secret Avengers, although he refuses. The supervillains Goldbug and Plunderer arrive at the Secret Avengers' base to join Captain America's team, but the Punisher immediately kills them, leading Captain America to attack him and kick him out of the group.
While meditating, Doctor Strange speaks with Uatu the Watcher, who asks Strange why he doesn't use his immense power to end the conflict. Doctor Strange informs Uatu that the Sorcerer Supreme has no business in mankind's internal struggles, but promises to pray for an outcome that will benefit mankind and spill the least amount of blood.
As the final battle begins Cloak teleports the combatants to New York City, where Namor and an army of Atlanteans arrive to fight alongside the Secret Avengers and the Champions, the Thor clone, and Captain Marvel reinforce Stark's team. Mister Fantastic saves Invisible Woman from a bullet launched by Taskmaster, and Hercules destroys the Thor clone. The Thing returns to protect the citizens from harm. As Captain America is about to deliver a final blow to Iron Man, policemen, EMTs, and firefighters try to restrain him. Realizing how much damage the fight has already inflicted upon the very people he wishes to protect, Captain America surrenders and orders his team to stand down.

Aftermath

Here is what happened in the aftermath of the Superhero Civil War:

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows

When the Super-Human Registration Act was proposed, Professor X and the Avengers proposed an alternative method with self-policing of mutantkind and super-powered communities, preventing Civil War from ever happening. Cyclops thought it was preposterous for Professor X to make himself the self-appointed representative of mutantkind, and his opposition to Xavier's proposal led Jean Grey to break up with him and marry Wolverine.

Contest of Champions

The 2015 Contest of Champions series featured an alternate version of Civil War that had everything go in Tony Stark's favor. Five years after the war, Tony becomes the President of the United States and leads the Mighty Avengers as the Iron Patriot. His team consists of Penance, Iron Spider, Captain Marvel, and the Thor clone known as Thunderstrike. Steve Rogers and his teammates have been arrested and buy time off their sentence by performing suicide missions as the Thunderbolts. Steve's team consists of Spider-Man, Invisible Woman, the Punisher, and Bill Foster's Goliath.
President Stark and his Mighty Avengers are taken to Battleworld by Maestro and have their memories altered to think that they are on Earth and that the Renegade Champions already there are unregistered vigilantes. The Thunderbolts are sent to rescue them, but misunderstandings result in the deaths of Penance and Thunderstrike and all three teams start fighting each other. Tony kills Steve and reveals that he is in the possession of the Reality Gem from the Infinity Gauntlet. Tony and the members of the Illuminati divided the six Infinity Stones after hunting them down and vowed never to use them. But when Tony let the events of Civil War happen in their natural course, he couldn't resist using the Reality Gem to alter events in his favor. He used the gem to prevent the deaths of Goliath and Captain America, win the war, and rig the presidential election. He attempts to use it again to undo his killing of Steve, but it does not work since they were in another dimension. Maestro kills Tony and the Punisher, but is stopped by the intervention of Stick, the Sentry, and Nigel Higgins using the Iso-Sphere. The remaining five heroes from the Mighty Avengers and Thunderbolts stay behind on Battleworld with the Sentry and fight villains attempting to gather the Iso-Sphere as the Civil Warriors.

Earth-3490

When Mister Fantastic was researching realities where the Civil War ended differently, he found one reality in which their version of Anthony Stark was a woman named Natasha Stark. The Civil War was avoided entirely in this reality due to her marriage to Steve Rogers, by deterring each other's more aggressive behaviour and allowing Reed Richards to complete the Super Hero Registration Program.

''Spider-Man: Life Story''

In a reality where all the characters age naturally after Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man in 1962, the Superhuman Registration Act was passed shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and lasted for years. As a result, most of the heroes are middle-aged and older. In 2006, Ben Reilly was murdered by Morlun, prompting the real Peter Parker to return to New York to reveal he's alive to draw Morlun out to him and prevent Stark from taking control of Parker Industries. When Peter refuses Stark's offer to register, he is attacked by the U.S. Avengers before he is assisted by the Anti-Registration Avengers. Peter dons a new Spider-Man armor and defeats the U.S. Avengers with a device that exposes a fail-safe Tony placed inside all of their armors. After Tony is revealed to be a hologram and disappears, Spider-Man joins the Anti-Registration Avengers to follow his daughter's advice on leaving the world a better place for future generations. A decade later, it is revealed that Dr. Doom took over the planet as the heroes were too busy fighting each other. Peter becomes the new leader of the resistance after all the other heroes died or disappeared from the public.

Spider-Verse

During an attempt by the reality-displaced Superior Spider-Man to reach back to his dimension as seen in the Spider-Verse storyline, he discovered an alternate dimension where a Civil War Iron Spider-Man lies dead prompting him to continue investigating the murders of Spider-Men throughout the Multiverse.

What If?

In What If Civil War Ended Differently?, a stranger appears in front of Iron Man, who is visiting Captain America's grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Tony Stark is told of two alternate ways the Civil War could have concluded:
Faced with this vision, Tony believes that this proves that he was right to pursue his pro-registration course of action, but the stranger then reveals another possibility;
The stranger is revealed to be Uatu, Earth 616's Watcher. Upon learning of the possibility of this alternate reality, Tony is devastated and weeps for the bright future he helped prevent.
In What If: Annihilation by David Hine and Mico Suayan, the cosmic Annihilation War reaches Earth during the War. The heroes unite to neutralize it, and many die in the first clashes. Captain America and Iron Man, after a final reconciliation, sacrifice themselves alongside Nova to deflect the full Annihilation Wave.

''Civil War'' in ''Secret Wars'' (2015)

The "Civil War" storyline is featured in the 2015 storyline "Secret Wars", a crossover storyline, which revisits previous Marvel Comics storylines in the form of isolated geographic locations on a planet called Battleworld. The "Civil War" area is referred to as the Warzone.
In this story, the Stamford incident leads to a polarising political debate that culminates with the two sides clashing in the Negative Zone Prison. During the fight, Black Panther hacks into the prison's computers and sees that the portal will explode, killing most of the combatants and stranding the rest. Black Panther assumes that Stark will teleport his combatants out at the last minute, but meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill tells Stark that Black Panther activated the explosives on the orders of Steve Rogers. Deactivating the teleportation device, Black Panther tries to shut down the bomb. Everyone in the prison rushes to escape through the power of the hero Cloak, who drops them all in midair over St. Louis. Unfortunately, Cloak can not shut off his powers fast enough to block out the explosion. The resulting beam of explosive energy creates a vast chasm called the Divide, destroying St. Louis and leaving millions dead.
The two sides regroup, with the Pro-Registration group taking control of the land to the east of St Louis, while the Anti-Registration group takes control of the land to the west. Each side blames the other for the deaths. The East became "the Iron", run by Tony Stark, and The West became "The Blue", run by Captain America. Differences in politics have caused people to pick one side over the other, with the split ossifying every year. The only place in the country that embraces both is a community in the ruins of St. Louis, built on a bridge over the Divide. One of its inhabitants is Miriam Sharpe, a woman who lost her child at Stamford but who wants to bring peace.
Six years after the start of the conflict, Sharpe brings the two leaders together to discuss peace. At the meeting, Miriam is able to get the two men to open up. Stark explains that the Iron has wealth and resources from trade with the outside world where the Blue is regarded as a rogue state. However, his citizens are running out of space while the Blue has twice the space but half the population. He proposes that the Blue shrink, giving his people more space in exchange for which Stark will make trade concessions. General Rogers dismisses the offer, which leads to the start of an old debate between the two men. As Miriam Sharpe tries to intervene, she is shot in the back by a sniper. Reacting first, General Rogers calls Peter Parker to catch the shooter. Parker finds a remote-controlled sniper rifle. As Miriam dies, General Rogers realizes that from the angle of the shot that the shooter was most likely aiming at him. President Stark denies the shooter is one of his, but renewed civil war seemed inevitable.
President Stark sends a drone to track the killers, but it is shot down and its datacore claimed by the Blue. President Stark discovers certain anomalies regarding past events, leading him to believe that events like Sharpe's murder were caused by a third party. Meanwhile, Hank McCoy shows Rogers the results of "Project Bellcurve", a procedure capable of depowering superhumans. Numerous resources from the Iron are needed to continue the project, for which Rogers sends a team composed of Parker,, Azari, and Venom/Clint Barton to infiltrate Stark's territory. At the same time, Stark sends Jennifer Walters to infiltrate the Blue and continue investigating Sharpe's murder.
Spider-Man's team suffers the first casualty when a Stark Sentinel kills Elektra. The team manages to overcome the rest of the defenses thanks to Venom, and return to the Blue with the components needed for "Project Bellcurve." At the same time, She-Hulk had been able to infiltrate Steeltown. However, Agent Robbie Baldwin of the Punishers recognizes her and follows She-Hulk. She discovers the assassin was Bullseye. Baldwin attacks Jen as she is spying on Bullseye, and is forced to flee. Before she can leave Steeltown, she is knocked out by an unidentified attacker. She-Hulk awakes in an undisclosed location having been captured by Bullseye's client Black Panther.
As the Blue prepare to invade the Iron in a last-ditch attempt at ending the war, Iron Man tracks down Jen's position and flies to rescue her. He finds her, but his armor is neutralized and stripped from him. Tony is brought to Black Panther who reveals himself as the Skrull Queen Veranke. Veranke tells him that she is the cause of every single failed attempt at reaching peace in a part of a plan to benefit from the never-ending war. Iron Man uses additional weaponry that was not in his armor to free himself, fend off the Skrull guards, and break She-Hulk free from her cage. Meanwhile, the Blue invade the Iron while General America prepares to detonate a bomb derived from Project Bellcurve.
As the conflict escalates, Iron Man is able to reach General America and reveal that Bucky is a Skrull, prompting General America to accept a telepathic 'update' from Emma Frost that confirms that the Skrulls have manipulated the conflict for years. Accepting their mutual responsibility for the situation, Rogers and Stark sacrifice themselves to detonate the Bellcurve bomb. The blast depowers the superhumans and reverts the Skrulls to their true state. A few months later, a powerless Peter and Jennifer are shown discussing the tentative truce that has been formed between the two sides, and wonder whether Stark and Rogers knew that peace would be the result of their sacrifice.

''Civil War II'' (2016)

A direct sequel to the original series debuted in June 2016, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by David Marquez. Unlike the previous story and the film, the conflict in this storyline is not about issues of government registration; A new Inhuman, Ulysses emerges with the ability to see predictions about the future, resulting in conflict emerging between heroes led by Iron Man and Captain Marvel respectively, Stark favoring self-determination and concerned about the prospects of coming to depend on the visions while Danvers feels that his visions represent a potentially valuable asset.

Reception

At the time of its release, Civil War received mixed reviews. Comic Book Round Up gave the series an average rating of 6.5.
According to a scholarly analysis presented at the 2007 Comic-Con International, this story's conflict is a natural outgrowth of what psychologist Erich Fromm called "the basic human dilemma", the conflicting desires for both security and freedom, and "character motivations on both sides arise from positive human qualities because Fromm's image of human nature is ultimately optimistic, holding that people on either side are struggling to find what is best for all".
However, over time, Civil War has become more well received. IGN ranked it as one of the greatest Comic Book Events.

Tie-ins

Road To Civil War

Novels

Marvel adapted Civil War into a prose hardcover novel in July 2012 as the first of a series of four novels adapting some of Marvel's most significant fictional events. It was written by Stuart Moore, the writer of Namor: The First Mutant. The book expanded on the story and set the events during Barack Obama's first term in office, rather than George W. Bush's last term; Tony Stark makes reference to the Affordable Care Act when speaking to Spider-Man in the first chapter of the novel. The novel is set in the alternate timeline created by the controversial storyline "" and detailed in "One Moment in Time", as Spider-Man is depicted as never having married Mary Jane Watson, having never arrived on the day of their wedding. In the original comics version, Civil War was a lead-in to "One More Day", depicting May Parker's assassination on the orders of Wilson Fisk near the end of the main Civil War storyline.

Film

The 2016 film was a cinematic treatment of the story, albeit focusing more on the issue of government control rather than public knowledge of secret identities, matters also being escalated by the interference and manipulation of Helmut Zemo as his plan for revenge for the Avengers' role in Ultron's assault and the deaths of Zemo's family. The movie version of Civil War also differs from the comic substantially, with the fate of Bucky Barnes being a key element of the war after he is framed for the assassination of the Black Panther's father, the king of Wakanda. As in the comics, Captain America and Iron Man are the respective leaders of the anti-registration and pro-registration sides of the conflicts, with Cap's side including the Falcon, Bucky, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, and the Scarlet Witch, and Iron Man's side being Black Widow, War Machine, the Black Panther, Spider-Man and the Vision. Stark and Rogers reconcile after realizing the truth of the king's assassination, but it is short lived as Zemo reveals Barnes' role in Stark's parents' deaths, and that Rogers kept the truth from him. Stark angrily attacks both Rogers and Barnes, and the fight culminates with Rogers abandoning his shield and identity. The film concludes with Cap's side seeking asylum in Wakanda after the Black Panther recognizes that he was wrong to target Bucky. The latter is then put in a cryogenetic sleep. Black Widow goes on the run, and War Machine is left crippled after injuries sustained in the final battle.

Television

A different variation of the Civil War storyline closely resembling Civil War II as it features Iron Man and Captain Marvel in opposition to each other was adapted in the four-part Season finale of Avengers: Ultron Revolution. In this version of the storyline, the Registration Act targets new Inhumans, and teams of Avengers come into conflict over the issue, as in other adaptations. It is revealed in Part 3, however, that the Inhuman Registration Act is actually part of a plan by Ultron to begin the Ultron Revolution by manipulating humans and Inhumans into destroying each other, which is foiled by the combined efforts of the Avengers.

Video games