Throughout the pages of the Marvel Comics event Civil War, Captain America and Iron Man face off in a battle of convictions that leads Tony Stark down a villainous path.
Written by Mark Millar with pencils by Steve McNiven, Civil War sees a crisis unfurling across Earth-616 after the villain Nitro blows himself up setting off a nuclear level explosion in a suburban neighborhood. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the Superhuman Registration Act is ed and presented to the heroes of Marvel Comics with the orders to as government agents or cease all vigilante activities. Captain America takes up the anti-registration position, citing that in a world where heroes work for governments those in charge will determine who is and is not the enemy. On the contrary, Iron Man takes up the pro-registration position... and becomes the public face of the cause.
Throughout the conflict, Iron Man develops into the main villain of the story with many of Tony Stark's actions showing a descent towards authoritarianism. After recruiting a roster of Pro-Registration heroes, most of whom already had public identities, Stark also allied himself with “reformed” villains who were released under the watch of the government to help keep the peace. He went on to develop the oppressive technologies needed to imprison the fugitive Anti-Registration heroes led by Captain America. Although Iron Man believed he was acting for the betterment of the people, in reality he was using the same logic that countless other world-ending villains have used before him. His argument that the ends justify the means is nothing new to Marvel Comics, with characters like Thanos, Kang The Conqueror, and Magneto using a similar justification in their plans for world domination.
Stark’s most villainous act is also his most Shakespearean as he plays his relationship with Peter Parker against the Web-Slinger, convincing Peter to reveal his identity as Spider-Man in a live press conference. Stark gives Spider-Man a brand new Iron Spider suit in exchange for his allegiance, secretly placing a number of tracking devices and controls into the armor. When Peter s Tony on a visit to Prison 42, the faculty designed to hold their super-human prisoners, he discovers that many of the imprisoned are being held without trial or access to a lawyer. Not only was this imprisonment illegal but Prison 42 was located within the Negative Zone, a life draining alien universe composed entirely of anti-matter where time moves faster than on Earth. Peter is outraged by this overreach and immediately protests this. During his attempt to flee with Mary Jane and Aunt May, Iron Man attacks him and sends several “reformed” villains to capture the Wall-Crawler. Peter barely escapes with his life thanks to last minute aid by The Punisher, and later makes a public reformation on his of the Superhero Registration Act and exposes the many atrocities being carried out due to its enforcement.
While Tony Stark’s attempt to find a way to control this destruction can be seen as valiant by some, it is his quick transition towards fear mongering that reminds readers of the adage that even the best intentions can go awry. MCU fans will his creation of Ultron in Captain America: Civil War, Stark makes the argument that if they don’t sign the Accords then they will be forced to eventually. A showing moment of his personality, where Tony knows that if needed he would force his will upon the rest of the team because he felt he knew best. While it can be argued that Iron Man was trying his best to save the world, in reality Civil War shows us that our favorite superheroes are closer to becoming villains that we thought.
