MCU: Civil War

[tielan]

Are they really going to run the Civil War without Maria Hill? I can't find that Cobie's been signed on for Cap3.

And yes, I realise that Cobie has personal stuff going on in her life which should take priority, but it's a disappointment nevertheless.

To me, running Civil War without Maria Hill is like trying to run Dark Phoenix without Jean Grey. Which, yes, they tried in X-Men 3. 'Nuff said.

Comments

[endeni]

WTF?!? Maria Hill belongs to the Civil War storyline.

/I realise that Cobie has personal stuff going on in her life which should take priority/ - Oh my, I just found out about Cobie Smulders's health issues. Still, it seems to be a past thing?

[tielan]

WTF?!? Maria Hill belongs to the Civil War storyline.

Yeah, but it looks like Cobie isn't a big enough name (not like RDJ) to bring into the game. Which is especially sad given the way they've been building up the Maria & Steve dynamic in Cap2 and A:AoU.

And yes, the ovarian cancer appears to be a past thing, but I understand she has a newborn son and would probably want to spend time with him right now?

Still... *mourns the missed opportunities*

[endeni]

Oh, yes, I understand. Still, talk about missed opportunities... :(

[tielan]

I am looking at writing an MCU: Civil War fic in the next six months, though. No actor contracts, hollywood bigwigs, or favouritist directors required! (Although one favouritist author, maybe. :D)

[endeni]

Oh, wow, this so cool!!! I think I'd much prefer your version anyway! *g*

Are you thinking gen? I gather that a Maris/Steve angle might be difficult to pull off..

[tielan]

Primarily gen from Maria's POV, with a kind of UST/more angle to hit Steve's betrayal buttons. At this point, I think they've developed the Maria&Steve friendship enough that it would be a waste not to play on it.

It'd follow on from A:AoU, with a few shifts to a headcanon I'm more comfortable with for Clint.

And it probably wouldn't be quite as clear-cut as the comics Civil War, which was a little bit black-and-white.

[endeni]

/with a kind of UST/more angle to hit Steve's betrayal buttons/ - Oh, that'd be so cool, actually! *_*
/with a few shifts to a headcanon I'm more comfortable with for Clint/ - Thank god for that...
/comics Civil War, which was a little bit black-and-white/ - LOL, most comics tend to be, though, right? They're not much for subtlety. And, OMG, I'm so excited already!!! If you ever need to brainstorm something or just some cheer-leading to keep your writing going I'll be here, being all excited! ;)

[tielan]

I would definitely love some input from someone else, just to make sure my head is not completely out in lala-land! :)

eg. I'm thinking that the Superhero Registration Act starts as a (political) movement to have superpowers subject to the laws of the land they're operating in - with 'appropriate consequences'. This shifts to a push for everyone with atypical power being required to register their name, which then shifts to a hard ideological standard where superpowers are registered and employed by a set group of organisations through the world that will monitor them and be responsible for them.

So there are different levels of agreement and disagreement with the SRA - and the various MCU characters fall to either side of the line depending on what they value most (the way real political siding tends to work).

Except that it becomes very divisive.

For instance, Steve thinks that Maria should trust him because of their past work with each other; and Maria trusts him, but she thinks that the law is there for everyone - including the type of people who ended up in The Fridge because they had too much power and not enough conscience - and that the good guys will work with and around the law while the law will help them ID and separate out the bad guys. And of course any attempts to explain this just end in argument.

And things aren't helped by various people (and groups) starting to treat anyone who doesn't agree with them as the enemy.

I'm presently trying to work out the sequence of events, and how it resolves. (And I don't want to resolve it too easily, either, which presents its own set of issues...)

[endeni]

/I'm thinking that the Superhero Registration Act starts as a (political) movement to have superpowers subject to the laws of the land they're operating in - with 'appropriate consequences'./ - In the comics this movement is spurred by a major incident. Did you have anything specific in mind that could jump-start the movement into existence? Like, maybe the whole mess with Ultron (are people aware of the role Tony -and Bruce- had in his creation?). Or the Hulk laying waste to Johannesburg in AOU. Or Bucky/the Winter Soldier's past actions (again, how well-known are they?).

/This shifts to a push for everyone with atypical power being required to register their name/ - Which is a major issue in the comics but I feel doesn't hold much water in the movieverse since Daredevil is the only superhero I can think of right now who actually has secret identity...

And how do you envision MCU!Tony, with his well-known intolerance of authority, taking the law (and Maria's) side? Guilt over his past reckless actions?
The Civil War paperback issue I own (it's an Italian edition) has a beautifully written introduction where Marvel's Civil gets compared to the actual Civil War:
- much like the South, whose economy was based on those big cotton plantation and the use of slaves, Cap's side is the conservative one, supporting the defense of acquired rights. (Though, of course the acquired rights in the actual Civil War were about slavery, but bear with me...)
- much like the North, more industrial and progressive, supporting the end of slavery and a functional integration (or at least, paying lip service to it), Tony's side is the progressive one.
And, of course, both sides (Tony's and Cap's) are wrong *and* right at the same time.
Seen in this light, Tony supporting SHRA might be coherent with his MCU characterization, always seeking the next thing (and making even bigger mistakes when trying to repair his old ones).

/And I don't want to resolve it too easily, either, which presents its own set of issues.../ - Oh, is the resolution going to include Cap's death like in the comics? *_* (I admit I have a thing for drama and angst...)

[tielan]

There'll be parallels, yes, but I don't plan to replay the comics any more than MCU is doing.

So, yes, Ultron and the crises he precipitated are the kickoff, Tony is trying to repair his mistakes, and 'registration' is not just about secret identities, but really a more formal version of what SHIELD has been doing with superpowers: noting them, keeping an eye on them, and - in the cases of the ones they couldn't get to co-operate and couldn't coerce - locking them up in the Fridge. It's not 'being out' that the anti-Registration side is objecting to, it's the idea that some organisation gets the right to dictate how and when and where they act.

My story focus in this is going to be from Maria's POV as an entirely human 'protector' who's trying to do the right thing for a lot of ordinary people and having to deal with the anger and suspicion of a lot of superhumans at the same time. And yes, she will be wrong and she will be right.

Think of it as "a major disagreement over the nature and regulation of the superhero job that affects the MCU" with the same core as the comics and hopefully some of the same themes, but different characters and characterisation (since the MCU is quite definitely not the comics) and different outcomes/underlying causes since I don't have to sell another story using the cliffhanger at the end of this one! :)

[endeni]

/but really a more formal version of what SHIELD has been doing with superpowers: noting them, keeping an eye on them, and - in the cases of the ones they couldn't get to co-operate and couldn't coerce - locking them up in the Fridge/ - Oh, yes, this feels very coherent. Are you going to include the Agents of SHIELD bunch then? Also, I wonder about Maria's characterization: the one she had in Agents of SHIELD when she seemed to go all corporate leaving Coulson to fend for himself, and the one she has in AoU, being the Avengers management backbone, while still giving priority to her loyalty to Fury.
Could be she has always been first and foremost loyal to Fury and she only joined Stark to keep tabs on/help the Avengers.
Also, I wonder about Fury's role in the Civil War, is he going to stay missing and dump all the responsibility on Maria?

/it's the idea that some organisation gets the right to dictate how and when and where they act/ - Yesyes!

/My story focus in this is going to be from Maria's POV as an entirely human 'protector' who's trying to do the right thing for a lot of ordinary people and having to deal with the anger and suspicion of a lot of superhumans at the same time. And yes, she will be wrong and she will be right./ - Yum, love this concept so much!

/different outcomes/underlying causes since I don't have to sell another story using the cliffhanger at the end of this one! :)/ - LOL, that's definitely an advantage over the seriality of comics! Ah, I'm so curious!