Marvel Civil Wars
(Hero vs. Hero, again and again)
by Phil Perich for the Nuff Said Universe
In 2007, Marvel Comics debuted a historic storyline that impacted most of their characters. Civil War was the story of the American people & government demanding that all super heroes register themselves under their true names after a superhuman battle killed a large portion of the population of Stamford, Connecticut. The hero population of the Marvel Universe was divided over this, with Iron Man leading the pro registration heroes as the then head of Shield vs. the heroes who thought the Superhuman Registration Act was a violation of their civil rights, led by Captain America.
The arguments and battles divided teams down the middle, and even families. Mr. Fantastic and his wife the Invisible Woman temporarily separated during this time as they took opposing sides in the argument. Probably the biggest shocker was when Spider-Man, then allied with Iron Man’s pro registration forces revealed his identity to the whole world.
Eventually realizing his mistake, Spider-Man switched sides and allied himself with Captain America’s forces. Don’t worry, everyone forgot months later after Spider-Man made a deal with the devil to save his Aunt May (long, horrible story).
The war ended when Captain America surrendered to Iron Man, when Cap realized the toll the war was taking on the heroes and the world. Which prompts the question, who’s the greater hero, the one who fights on no matter what price or the one who sacrifices himself for the greater good.
The whole world will discover a version of this story in May 2016 when Captain America 3: Civil War hits theaters around the world. The story will of course be somewhat different, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe differing from the comics, especially the fact that there will be fewer heroes on the big screen.
While the movie will not have as many heroes, it will introduce a few new heroes to the MCU, including Black Panther and Spider-Man. While rumors say that Black Panther does not take a side, which sides will Spider-Man fall on? I don’t believe Spider-Man will reveal his secret identity in his very first MCU appearance.
And just when you thought Civil War was a thing of the past for the comics, Marvel has announced a Civil War II miniseries that starts a month after the movie (product placement?). The official description of the story from writer Brian Michael Bendis and editor-in-chief Axel Alonso is as follows:
“A mysterious new Marvel character comes to the attention of the world, one who has the power to calculate the outcome of future events with a high degree of accuracy, this predictive power divides the Marvel heroes on how best to capitalize on this aggregated information, with Captain Marvel leading the charge to profile future crimes and attacks before they occur, and Iron Man adopting the position that the punishment cannot come before the crime.”
So this time it is Captain Marvel that Iron Man faces, not America. Even though Steve Rogers has lost his super soldier serum and is now a senior citizen, he has kept a hand in the hero business, usually working with Shield or the Avengers. Sam Wilson, former Falcon and new Captain America can be seen in some images fighting Iron Man and another one apparently on his side. Is it possible the hero that dies is Steve Rogers? Would that mirror a similar retirement or “death” of Steve in the upcoming movie? Share your theories with me any of the following ways before we learn for sure this May.
nightwingpdp@gmail.com or marvelroundup@gmail.com
@nightwingpdp or marvel_roundup on Twitter
You can hear me and my cohost Charlie Esser (@CharlieEsser) review new Marvel comics every week and talk everything Marvel on our shows All New Marvel Roundup and Superconnectivity, both part of the Nuff Said podcast. I also write another blog, Legends of DC where I discuss anything and everything DC comics. All of my podcasts, blogs, and many others can all be found at www.southgatemediagroup.com
That’s it for this week, until next time…NUFF SAID!