Civil War

The movie Captain America: Civil War is coming to Swedish theaters on the 29th of April, and I wanted to get the full story. So I managed to get my hands on the whole comic book series on .cbr format so I could read em on my computer.
There is over a hundred comics spaning several different comic books from The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men all the way to Deadpool and Cable. In the end, I think they put in every super hero and super villian that Marvel has created since the 50s or something.

Now the main story, is about something called the Super Human Registration Act, S.H.R.A. This means, that anyone that is a masked hero, or even villian, must register with the American Goverment with their actual name, what their powers are, and probably if they are a good guy or bad guy.
This has been a thing that Tony Stark aka Ironman, has wanted for a long time, and after a very sad thing happened, in the comics, with the death of 60 school kids, he set to work to make it happen.
The Registration Act means, that if you are a masked hero or just have super powers, you are bound by law to register and work for the goverment. And if you don't, you are breaking the law, and are thus persued and caught by the super people that has registered.

Not everyone is happy about this idea thou. Captain America is one of them. Others are for it, and some try to remain on the outside (unsuccessfully I might add).

The reason for the Registration Act, is to have a better control and view of the various heros and the things they do to battle the bad guys. But it also means, that the reason they hide their true identity, is removed.
The amazing thing about reading all these comic books, is the chance to see inside the minds of all the heroes. For instance Spider-Man, he is unsure, but his wife, MJ and aunt May convinces him to register and stand by Ironman who is a great friend of his. But so is Captain America (Steve Rogers). And following him, you can really see the doubts and hesitations, and it will be interesting to see if he turns to the "rebels" and join Captain America.

I've only so far read the first 49 comic books, so I'm just half way finished, but I have done what the comic books asks in almost every issue: What Side Do You Choose?
And I pick Captain America's side.

I find the idea of registering ones alter ego and power a good idea... but what Ironman, S.H.I.E.L.D and the goverment does with it, is not okay. If someone doesn't want to register, they are considered criminals and are sent to a prison outside of our dimension where they are no longer considered human and have no rights. They are never given a trial, they are rarely given a second chance to register or even leave the country. If you don't want to put your family, friends and loved ones in danger by "outing" yourself, you are a criminal, and thus, you have no rights.

Aunt May said that police officers and politicians don't hide behind a mask and an alter ego, so why should heros with super power do? She has a point, to a degree. But my counter to that is, if a cop or politician dies, a new one can easily take it's place, if a cop has his family treaten, it's okay for that cop to leave his job to protect them and a new cop fills his spot.
But a superhero has powers beyond any cop or politician. If he dies or have to go away to protect his family, he/she leaves a void that often can not be filled.

If a super wants to register, than fine, go ahead. But if you don't want to, than I think they should be allowed their privacy. And if they joined, they shouldn't have to hunt down the ones they once called friends, just because they are oppose to the idea. If you enjoy having the power to save people, and you save people, why is that a crime?

It's a double edge sword... and neither side is correct or wrong. But what is happening so far in the comics, the S.H.R.A is so far very bad. Like Cable said; In the short run, it's a great idea, but further down the line, it will create a police state where noone is safe.

So... which side are you on?

Cya