‘Till the End of the Line: Team Cap For the Win

With the release of Marvel’s new Captain America movie only days away, Avenger’s fans are in an uproar, dividing themselves into what has truly become a fandom-wide Civil War. The reality of the matter, however, is that we have no real reason to go to war with each other. In the midst of the social-media-fueled chaos, it is easy to forget to think rationally. Many people are choosing sides without thinking their decision through. “Iron Man has a cooler suit!” and “Captain America is the best!” are common in the team-choosing thought process. When one begins to really think through what he or she is implying with the simple “Team Cap!” or “Team Iron Man!” it becomes apparent that really, truly, there is only one logical side in this war.

First and foremost, Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) has better values and, in general, is nicer than Tony Stark. In the Civil War comics, Captain America has a chance to kill Tony, but refrains from doing so because, no matter how much may come between them, it all comes back to their friendship. With Steve, friendship lasts “till the end of the line,” and he will never give up on his friends, as demonstrated every time he appears in the movies (or comics); most prominently with his best friend, Bucky Barnes — but that's an entirely different subject to be expanded upon at a later time.

When we direct our thoughts towards Iron Man, we see a stark (pardon the pun) contrast in loyalty. From the very beginning, Iron Man has been bad with loyalty. He’s constantly shifting, and can’t seem to form a strong opinion worth sticking with. In The Avengers, he agrees to join the Avengers Initiative to save the world; but he spends half of the movie trying to enrage Dr. Bruce Banner into becoming the Hulk, which, as demonstrated when Banner finally loses his cool and releases the “other guy” (admittedly not at the hands of Tony, however) results in near-catastrophic disaster.

Similarly, when speaking to others, mainly those of lesser rank than themselves, Captain America and Iron Man respond very differently to the situation. As a very wise man once said, “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” (J.K. Rowling The Goblet of Fire) If this were how we chose our Civil War sides, there truly would not be a war to begin with. In the movies, Captain America is consistently kind and respectful to everyone. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a child spies under-cover Captain America. With a little nod, Captain America silently gives the child a mission: keep Captain Rogers safe by being quiet. Imagine the feeling that little boy gets when Captain America gives him a mission. Sure, it’s not a real mission, but to that little boy, it's the coolest mission ever. Though he could have walked over and told the kid to keep quiet, or shooed the kid away with a flick of his wrist, Steve Rogers acted as though the young boy was one of the Avengers, and simply gave him a mission to complete.

Iron Man, however, specifically in Iron Man 3, demonstrates a lack of respect for others, and treats his inferiors very poorly. At the beginning of Iron Man 3, we see Aldrich Killian approach Tony Stark and request to speak with him. In an attempt to get Killian out of his sight ASAP, Tony promises to meet Killian on the roof later that evening. This promise, however, was never intended to be fulfilled, and this, as we see later on, begins a dispute that is quite disastrous, not just for Tony Stark on a personal level, but, by extension, the entire world.

Aside from their character qualities, the true cause of the upcoming civil war is the Superhuman Registration act, which would require, by law, for all people with special powers to be registered. At first, this doesn’t sound too bad, but, upon further contemplation, it becomes apparent that this is not the best option. For one, there are always lawbreakers out there, so the people that this act seeks to control would not submit to it. The unknown supervillians would stay unknown, and the ‘good guys’ would develop a huge weakness. Though the files containing the superhumans’ information would certainly be under high security,  an experienced supervillain could easily attain these records, gaining access to the heroes’ files, and learning detailed information about their powers, where the heroes live, and who the hero's family members are, making it all too easy for the heroes’ weaknesses to be exploited. Furthermore, this is assuming that the government has the heroes’ best interest in mind. We see in The Winter Soldier that HYDRA has succeeded in infiltrating SHIELD, and there is no way of knowing just how deep their infiltration goes. The Superhuman Registration Act could be entirely of HYDRA’s design, and, if this is the case, the act could lead to the extinction of all heroes, and then who would be able to stand against the enemy? Tony, once again, fails to see the big picture of the law he’s fighting so desperately for. The suit of armor he sees around the world, will only block out the light.

Some people undoubtedly read Captain America’s fight against this as an uncharacteristic act. Why would the ideal soldier, loyal to his country, suddenly decides to rebel against the government? It may seem like a confusing question at first, but herein lies the true loyalty of Steve Rogers; not to an infiltrated government of corrupt leaders, but to his friends, and to what’s right. He is loyal to freedom, to morals, to the base values that his country was founded upon; not to the over-controlling mass it seeks to become. Here is where we return to the winter soldier, Bucky Barnes, and Steve’s best friend. How Steve treats Bucky in The Winter Soldier is a perfect depiction of his loyalty to friendship. Bucky Barnes, his friend from over eighty years before, seemingly returns from the dead as a  mindless murder-machine. Steve, seeing his old friend underneath the mask and the metal arm and the brainwashing, seeks to bring his best friend back. Tony, on the other hand, sees only the winter soldier, a murderous force that needs to be eliminated. He sees a threat, and wants to kill it, without any thought for the person beneath the metal. This is exactly what we can expect in Civil War. While Tony Stark, blind to the pain his fight  is causing others, focuses mechanically on a target and pulls the trigger,  Steve, loyal to his friends is willing to give his life while fighting for what he believes in. He’s ready to give his life for what's right.

CREDIT: THANK YOU GRACIE M. FOR ALL YOUR HELPFUL IDEAS/POINTS/TEAM CAP SUPPORT!