Marvel’s Civil War

Grace Hill, Opinion Editor

Fans of the Marvel universe have been disputing over the conflict in Civil War, the third and final movie in the Captain America trilogy. Social media and trailer releases have increased the divide between those who support Tony Stark and those who side with Steve Rodgers. The debate is over whether superheroes should be registered by the Government, Tony believing the world is made safer when the government possesses the data on potentially dangerous people, while Steve holds onto the idea that registering would create a constant threat of danger for super humans.

 

When their lifestyles are considered, each stance taken by the clashing heroes is reasonable. As seen in the Iron Man trilogy, Tony Stark produced weapons for, is watched by and interacts with the Government consistently as he creates new technology.  He does not have secrets or privacy, even the public knows his identity and what machines are from the Stark Industry. Tony is Iron Man and he is so open about his identity that he invited a terrorist to his house in the third Iron Man film. Tony does not lose privacy by the government knowing he has superhuman abilities, he only gains the sense of security of every other person with superpowers being known. Steve Rodgers lived through WWII and saw the extreme misuse of a Government that forced a group of people to register their identities. He also experienced the emergence of Hydra, a massive corruption of the Government organization of S.H.I.E.L.D. which ended in attempted murders of Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff and Steve himself. The knowledge of every superhuman is as much a potential hit list as it is a potential warning against evil super humans.
The rift opening between Marvel fans is reflective of the beliefs held by the fans themselves as to how the Government should handle this inevitable turn in the society of the films. While supporters of Tony’s stance trust the Government to use the registration peacefully and only in the service of protection, I stand with the believers of Steve’s fear of the registration being used for malicious purpose against people with powers. This debate is comparable to gun control, where those who possess dangerous weapons must register their property with the Government. No one is born with a gun or mutated against their will to possess one, they must be purchased therefore to own the weapon is a choice and part of that decision is knowledge that the Government will know. In terms of super humans, those who choose to have their abilities, Captain America, Iron Man, etc. should be required to register their identities and enhancements with the Government. The problem with those who did not chose to have their powers, Hulk, Thor, Vision, etc. is that their difference from the majority of other humans (term applied loosely to Thor for sake of his presence on Earth) is the reason for registration and that is inherently wrong. Similar to the religion and race argument, forcing people to register because of a trait they were born with is an abuse of rights by the Government and punishment based on discrimination.