Superhuman Civil War

Divided: Fantastic Four, Spiderman, X-Men

## History

### Prelude

When the topic of the Superhuman Registration Act was debated, the issue was explored in a national security context, with the utility of such a law being challenged. The Fantastic Four went to Congress where a committee was investigating whether a SRA was required. In his testimony & in evidence he presented to Congress, Mister Fantastic argued that the SRA was unnecessary as superhumans had been largely effective & trustworthy in their actions & government regulation would have only stifled their ability to protect the world. He argued that those individuals who were likely to act irresponsibly with their powers were likely to be super-villains & thus would not be candidates for registration anyway.

Iron Man initially opposed the idea but wanted his  colleagues to support the SRA in order to defuse it. He predicted that some super-human or group of super-humans would eventually make a mistake that will cost hundreds of lives. After such an event, he went on to predict, the government would inevitably rush to make an example of someone or everyone in the super-human community by passing legislation that would be even more restrictive or persecutory towards them then the proposed SRA. By supporting the Act before it was passed, he & his colleagues could help avert such possible future tragedies & moderate the legislation so that it would have the minimum possible negative effect.

His prediction came true when a conflict between the New Warriors & a group of super-villains ended with a massive explosion which killed over six hundred people, sixty of them being children. Public sentiment towards superheroes plummeted. The national outcry that followed this event led the government (with the support of Iron Man & Reed Richards) to quickly enact the SRA. This led to a major schism & conflict among the super-heroes, with one side (led by Captain America) opposed to the SRA resisting registration and the other side (led by Iron Man) supporting registration and trying to enforce the new law.

### Overview

#### Anti-Registration

Captain America was asked to lead a force to apprehend rogue heroes, but he refused as he felt that heroes needed to be above direct government control because when politicians could control the heroes, they could decide who the villains were. Cap began organizing other anti-registration heroes into a group the press dubbed the "The Resistance." Most of his core group (Captain America, Bill Foster, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Falcon & Cable) had to take on a series of identities to avoid capture, literally becoming outlaws. The Resistance apprehended a number of criminals while evading the opposing heroes & the new government "cape-killer" units. Other heroes (i.e. Cloak, Dagger) joined them or were liberated after their arrests.

#### Pro-Registration

Iron Man, on the other hand, felt that it was reasonable that heroes have proper training & oversight, that the casual self-policing the superhero community had enjoyed until now was insufficient & that it was now impossible to resist this change in the political landscape. He gathered his own pro-registration heroes to bring in Captain America's group & other non-registered combatants. Most of the pro-registration heroes, such as Mister Fantastic, Doc Samson, She-Hulk & Ms Marvel, already had highly public identities. However, one supporter, Spiderman, kept his identity a secret. Together with Mister Fantastic, Stark began work on designing a prison (nicknamed *42* because it was the forty-second idea on his list of ways to improve the world) to detain superpowered violators.

#### Mutant Matters

The X-Men, on behalf of the mutant community, declared neutrality in the growing conflict. Acting leader Cyclops felt that the mutants had already been through too much during years of abuse to take a stand either way & survive. Individuals within the X-Men had their own opinions on the matter, however. Wolverine felt that the act was every bit as racist & oppressive as the Mutant Registration Act, while others felt it was necessary to embrace the act and make sure that mutants could continue to self-police. However, some of the students & members of the X-Men were already in government databases after the school had gone public with its mutant status. The X-Men were not the only voices of the mutant community as the Morlocks remained easy targets for hate groups due to residing among the humans.

#### Criminal Responses

Meanwhile, Wolverine had begun tracking down Nitro the moment rescue efforts ceased. He was able to track Nitro's scent & determined he had skipped town hidden on a pick-up. After finding him & going toe to toe with the criminal, he was interrupted by a trio of Atlanteans before he could kill Nitro. The Atlanteans sought to bring Nitro back to Atlantis, where he was wanted by Prince Namor for the death of his cousin, Namorita. Wolverine decided to leave Nitro to Atlantean justice & focus instead on the SRA.

Meanwhile the government recognized that a war between superheroes left the country defenseless against the remaining super-villains. Their fears are well-placed as many villains such as Doctor Doom all has insidious plans in the works. The government tried to spearhead Operation: Justice Like Lightning, in which they would confront, capture & if possible, reform super-villains. The villains would be kept in check by nanites in their blood stream which can monitor & disable them at any time.

#### Direct Confrontation

Conflict among the heroes was constant, with the government-backed heroes tracking down unregistered super-humans & subsequently arresting or registering them while also trying to find Captain America's Resistance. The Resistance operated out of a series of secret safe houses set up by Nick Fury, which was kept secret from everyone within S.H.I.E.L.D. Cap's team continued to apprehend super-villains (usually leaving them bound for the authorities) & launched a series of well-coordinated attacks on prison transports carrying unregistered super humans.

The Resistance were lured by a false emergency call into an ambush by the pro-registration forces, in an attempt by Iron Man to talk the conflict out. However, Captain America attacked Stark, leading to a direct confrontation between the two sides. They first attempted to disable Cap & his team with sonics but as the battle began to turn, Stark realized the government had given their soldiers advanced weaponry to combat without making him aware. When confronted by Bill Foster, one of the soldiers sent a highly concentrated blast through the hero's chest, killing him. With both sides in shock, Cap ordered a retreat. Bill Foster's tragic death dramatically changed the way both sides looked at the conflict. The event shook up both sides in the war, with the hero Nighthawk finally surrendering & registering, while the Spiderman, Human Torch & Invisible Woman decided to join Captain America.

### Final Battle

The Resistance, now joined by Storm & the Black Panther, reach the Ryker's Island penitentiary & head through the portal to the 42 complex but the team is confronted by the pro-registration supporters, revealing each team had placed a spy on the other. They were able to release the incarcerated heroes from the cells of the 42 complex, making the odds more even.

As the battle began in the Negative Zone, Cloak moved the battle to the center of New York City. Namor & an army of Atlanteans join the battle alongside the Resistance. As the battle rages on, the city is badly damaged. Captain America's side seems victorious as Iron Man lays on the ground waiting for Cap's finishing blow. Just before Cap can hit Iron Man, several standard cops, EMTs & firefighters hold him back & Cap realizes how much damage the fighting has caused to the general population that they all want to protect. Wishing to avert anymore unnecessary bloodshed, Cap surrenders & the team follows suit, with many of the Resistance given amnesty by the government while Captain America is placed in jail.

### Aftermath

Two weeks later, the 50-State Initiative was officially launched, which called for one government sponsored superhuman team for each state. Some heroes chose to move to the United States, while some stay underground, such as many members of the Resistance.

Nick Fury is forced to stepped down as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. after his anti-registration views are discovered. Tony Stark takes his place as Interim Director.

## Trivia

* Pro-Registration: Black Widow, Doc Samson, Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Tigra, Wasp, Speedball (formerly Anti-Registration), Hellcat, Nighthawk (formerly Anti-Registration), Maria Hill, Deadpool, Happy Hogan, J. Jonah Jameson
* Anti-Registration: Cable, Luke Cage, Captain America, Colossus, Havok, Black Panther, Storm, Cloak,, Dagger, Spiderwoman, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Falcon, Wolverine, Goliath (deceased), Jane Foster, Nick Fury, Invisible Woman (formerly Pro-Registration), Human Torch (formerly Pro-Registration), Silhouette, Spectrum, Spiderman (formerly Pro-Registration), Justice, Firestar, Jessica Jones, Magneto, Quicksilver, Runaways, X-Men, Xavier Institute, Kingpin, Nitro, Black Bolt, Namor
* Casualties of the Civil War
	+ 600 residents of Stamford, CT (killed by Nitro)
	+ Goliath (killed by government soldiers)
	+ Namorita (killed by Nitro)

## Notes

* Superhuman Civil War is based on the first Civil War series of Marvel Comics & the movie, *Captain America: Civil War*.