Warning! Spoilers for Captain America: Civil War below!
It can't be easy living in the Marvel Universe. It seems that every other week, there's a brainwashed super-assassin, an alien invasion, a robot uprising, or vengeful god to deal with. Naturally, when these things happen you can rely on the Avengers to tackle evil head on and save the day. These battles often level entire cities and unfortunately, ordinary people are often caught in the crossfire. Because of this, over 117 countries team up to draft up the Sokovia Accords. The Accords are a series of bills proposed by the international community that would require super-powerful individuals to sign themselves over as peacekeeping agents of the government. Clearly, the Accords caused a rift among the Avengers, causing them to split up and fight each other. Take a look below at both sides and decide for yourself who was right.
Team Cap
Captain America was by far the most vocal opponent of the Accords. In his eyes, the Accords violate the personal freedom of super-powerful individuals by making them essentially a military force, able to be deployed by bureaucrats. After personally dealing with corruption in the government after HYDRA infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D in The Winter Soldier, Cap does not trust governments to do the right thing. He views bureaucracy as too slow and limiting to deal with international threats that concern the Avengers. He questions whether or not those in power would send the Avengers to a place that desperately needs them, or conversely, that they would send the Avengers into a situation that they do not agree with. Cap believes that the Avengers are too powerful to be under the control of world governments, because governments have agendas that the Avengers themselves may not agree with. Ultimately, Cap is all about freedom over security. He has experience dealing with corruption and believes that the strongest tool against fascism is free agency.
Team Iron Man
Tony Stark is an individual who has been constantly wracked by guilt. His company Stark Industries sold highly advanced weapons that eventually fell into the hands of terrorists. In addition, he created the robot Ultron as something that could protect the world from threats, instead of the Avengers. Despite this, Ultron ended up turning on Tony and the Avengers and destroyed the city of Sokovia. In Civil War, a woman whose son died in Sokovia after the Avengers "dropped a building on him" berates Tony for the carelessness of the Avengers. Tony feels responsible for the destruction indirectly caused by the Avengers in the past, and as such is the most ardent supporter of the Accords. In his eyes, the Avengers lack any accountability for their actions, which causes ordinary citizens to suffer. He wants to gain back public trust by placing the governments of the world in control of the Avengers. Secretary Ross, who presented the Avengers the Accords, likened superpowered individuals such as Thor and the Hulk to "megaton bombs," due to their destructive capabilities. As such, these individuals must be placed under the control of governments, so that they can be under the control of the people. They are too dangerous to use their powers for their own ends.
The only question remains: whose side are you on?
