Marvel’s Civil War: The Events in Brief (Part 2 of 3)

Here’s the 2nd part of my posts on Marvel’s Civil War. In this post, I’d be writing about the major events that happened in the Marvel universe before, during and after the Civil War. Now, since most Malaysians don’t have access to comic book stores which supply regular comics, AND since the movie industry ALWAYS wants to make a comic book to movie transition with their OWN storyline, many readers wouldn’t be familiar with most of the characters in the Marvel universe other than Spidey (Peter Parker), Cap America (Steve Rogers), Iron Man (Tony Stark), the X-Men, and the Fantastic 4.

Now, here’s a brief rundown of the events that happened:

Prior to the Civil War:

• The New Warriors members (Night Thrasher, Namorita, Speedball, and Microbe) battle a group of villains (Cobalt Man, Speedfreek, Coldheart, Nitro) in Stamford, Connecticut while filming a reality television show.
• Nitro explodes, killing more than 600 people (including school children and all of the New Warriors except Speedball).
• The rest of the superheroes appear in Stamford to search for survivors.
• Public opinion turns against superhumans.
• Angry civilians attack the Human Torch outside of a club.
• Guided by Iron Man, Congress quickly passes the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), 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 with abilities acquired through science or magic, and non-super powered humans using exotic technology.
• 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.
• Captain America becomes a fugitive; forms an underground resistance movement calling itself the “Secret Avengers” with Hercules, Falcon, Daredevil,Luke Cage and the Young Avengers.
• Iron Man, Reed Richards, Henry Pym, and the She-Hulk support the Act.
• Spider-Man unmasks at a press conference to support for the Act.

The War

• The government-backed heroes track down unregistered superhumans and subsequently detain or register them.
• Captain America’s Secret Avengers are public enemies.
• The Thing, (Ben Grimm), disgusted with both sides, leaves the country for France.
• The Secret Avengers are lured into an ambush by the pro-registration forces.
• Thor’s Clone kills Bill Foster.
• The Human Torch and Invisible Woman oppose the act.
• Wolverine goes in search of Nitro and wants to find out the reason for his enhanced power that made him kill 600 people
• Spider-Man sees the concentration camp-styled prison facilities “42″ in the Negative Zone. He concludes that he has made a mistake by siding with Stark.
• Peter attempts to defect from Iron Man’s side but is confronted by Iron Man and after a brief battle, Spider-Man escapes but hunted down and badly beaten by members of the New Thunderbolts.
• The Punisher saves Spider-Man and after recovering from his injuries, Spider-Man joins Cap’s, and makes a public statement in which he pledges to fight the registration Act.
• Sue Richards travels to Atlantis to persuade Namor to join the Secret Avengers: he refuses.
• The Secret Avengers break into the Negative Zone prison & release the imprisoned heroes from their cells to join the fight.
• Namor and an army of Atlanteans arrive to fight alongside the Secret Avengers
• 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 of the battle.
• 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.

Post Civil War

• The president of the United States grants general amnesty to all opponents of the Superhuman Registration Act who turn themselves in or register.
• Captain America, the main opponent to the Act, is arrested and subsequently assassinated.
• Tony Stark is appointed director of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Maria Hill is demoted to deputy director.
• The 50-State Initiative is set up to eventually place a superhero team in every state.
• The Mighty Avengers assemble as a new team.
• Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Doctor Strange, Ronin, and Wolverine remain underground
• Mutants roam freely, overseen by the Sentinels posted at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning; Bishop leaves the X-Men and is offered a position with the Office of National Emergency (O*N*E).
• Peter Parker/Spider-Man is fired by J. Jonah Jameson, who sues him for fraud. The Kingpin places a contract out on Spider-Man and his loved ones. An assassin misses Spider-Man, but strikes the “secondary target” of Aunt May.
• Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman take a break from the Fantastic Four to work on their marriage and are replaced by Black Panther and Storm.
• Speedball’s powers (and sanity) are drastically altered, and he becomes the new Penance, a member of the Thunderbolts.

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This article is sourced mostly from Wikipedia coz i was lazy to think back of the whole story and rewrite it. Tomorrow, we’ll have a look at the final part of these posts, which deal with the Fallen Son series, which was released in 5 issues. The Fallen Son series deals with 5 different characters’ emotions and actions following the death of Captain America