Hello and welcome to another thought of mine, this one being generated my the geekular lobe of my brain.
Why you ask? You all know that I'm a huge geek, part of that being my great love for the Marvel superhero universe, both cinematic and comic. If you are a fan as well, you would know about the recent blockbuster that just hit theaters, Captain America: Civil War! I saw it and it actually doesn't require a review because all you need to know is "THE MOVIE IS AWESOME" and "GO SEE IT NOW!" But related to this movie is a topic that has caused quite a stir among Marvel fans. And today I will tell you the Pros and Cons I have gathered on this highly controversial topic.
For those of you who haven't seen the movie, Captain America: Civil War has the word "war" in the title because of a little something called the Sokovian Accords. Basically this is an international contract formed by the UN and proposed by the country Sokovia which states that the members of the Avengers superhero league who sign the Accords are to be placed under direct supervision and receive orders from the UN. The whole reason Sokovia even came up with this idea was because of the incident which occured in the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron. To be clearer, Ultron is the antagonist of the film and is an AI robot who was originally created as a peacekeeper but saw that man kind was too chaotic to save and instead resorted to wiping out the human race instead. His plan was to lift an entire city in Sokovia really high into the sky and then propel it down causing a massive devastating explosion (basically just like the theory of how dinosaurs went extinct). The Avengers of course managed to stop him but in the process caused an inadvertently big amount of collateral damage, including several deaths. After this incident, in the Civil War movie, the team had a mission in the country of Wakanda in Nigeria which also lead to several lives lost to collateral damage. The combination of these two events eventually lead to the creation of the Sokovian Accords.
The Sokovian Accords basically say that the Avengers can only go to where trouble is in the world if the UN allows it. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where things get a little complicated.
I won't say any details to avoid spoilers, but basically the team was divided between Iron Man and Captain America. Iron Man is for the Sokovian Accords, and Captain America is against. First we will assess the Pros of the Accords (Iron Man's side of it).
Looking at the situation from Iron Man's point of view, the Sokovian Accords is a way for the Avengers to be kept in check. This is all primarily to avoid any more collateral damage. Society as a whole functions more properly with well written and clear rules and regulations for members of that society to abide by. Yes, freedom is in fact encouraged, but it has its limits. Every human being is free with exception to that human's freedom causing harm to another human. That is why we have laws. Laws that reprimand people who abuse their freedom and in turn cause any harm to other people, be it a reduction in their freedom or any physical/mental harm, intentional or not. The Avengers are superheroes, yes, and are always trying to save the world. However, any individuals who are advanced among others (super powers, political power, financial power, social power, or military power) should be kept under radar. Something that usually happens with people who possess a lot of power is that it goes to their head. In this case, these individuals have the kind of power that can cause mass destruction when used for purposes other than good. If they were ever allowed to get a little power hungry, the rest of the world would have a hard time fighting back. So there has to be someone to remind them when necessary that they are still human (well excluding Vision) and that they are prone to arrogance because of the power they possess.
Another very important point to consider is the political issues that have to be considered in this situation. Suppose the Avengers go on a mission in a country that is on good terms with the US because of some sort of deal. This mission then leads to collateral damage that causes tension between the two countries because the damage was done to whatever arrangement they had as well as to the literal country. Things like this can cause an actual war. And for the US to prevent a war it might have to agree to some very harsh terms demanded by the other country, such as the imprisonment of the Avengers or worse. So the Sokovian Accords can regulate which missions to go on according to certain political territories and agreements. This is something that Captain America should have thought of with him having previously fought in World War II and seeing what war does to a country. To sum up Iron Man's side, no one is above the world, even superheroes.
Now we consider Captain America's side. His point of view is based upon the previous Captain America movie, Winter Soldier. Basically S.H.I.E.L.D has been infiltrated completely by Hydra (evil organization FYI) and Cap had to completely dismantle and expose it. This lead to him being extremely cautious around political figures because many of them could be Hydra. So the thought of possibly being under orders from members of Hydra is a huge "Hello NO!" for him because it is the organization that has caused damage to the world since World War II. The last thing he wants is for them to gain more power through controlling the Avengers. But on another note, if the UN was not infiltrated by Hydra, the Avengers would have to answer to 117 countries should they sign the Sokovian Accords. This means that for a decision to be made about whether or not the Avengers should partake in a mission would require deliberation from all 117 countries. As we all know, people can't agree on the spot. Thus this would mean that while there is a crisis happening somewhere in the world and people are dying, the UN will still be figuring out if the Avengers should do anything about it. Moreover, the decision could be to not send the Avengers on the mission, which may lead to tremendous amounts of casualties. The Avengers, of course, cannot stand for that. Especially Captain America because he is the first superhero freedom fighter and it goes against all his moral ethics and principles to let people die. A more serious point to consider is that even if the UN was not infiltrated by Hydra, politicians almost always have their own agenda. This could lead to countries wanting to use the Avengers as weapons against other countries. And little by little, this may lead to a super powered World War III. Iron Man made a point that the Accords can have amendments made to it in court but that still would take too much time and any calls for amendments may be rejected in the end. To sum up Captain America's side, they should be free from political influence and left to do their jobs how they see fit because they are the only ones capable.
Before going to see this movie, I was team Iron Man, and still am. However I think that the whole issue could have been solved if the Sokovian Accords was made gradually or started off flexible and over time had amendments made to it when necessary. Like if Hydra members were discovered among the UN members, the Accords would have to be dissolved because the terms set were made by individuals who had agendas other than the safety and security of a country. Then the Avengers would be left to handle Hydra and then if the situation settles and more screening on members of the UN happens, the Sokovian Accords can be rewritten depending on the current situation.
So what do you think? Team Iron Man or team Captain America? For or against the Sokovian Accords? Tell me what you think in the comments section! Also share this with any other Marvel fans, like the facebook page, and subscribe to be told when I post anything new! You can also follow me on any of my social media platforms links located in the top right section of the web page!
That's all for me this week, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and I will see you all next Thursday! Hue Mann, over and out!! ;)