Civil War II
Civil War II is a 2016 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in June of that year, it is the sequel to 2006's "Civil War" and consists of a nine-issue eponymous core limited series, by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artists David Marquez and Justin Ponsor, and a number of tie-in books. Functioning as an allegory about the nature of determinism versus free will,
the story sees opposing factions of superheroes led by Captain Marvel and Iron Man come into conflict when a new Inhuman named Ulysses emerges with the ability to predict the future. The debut of the series was scheduled to capitalize on the release of the 2016 Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War.
The storyline was preluded by a series of comic books collectively titled The Road to Civil War II. Civil War II also ties into several new limited series including: Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man, Civil War II: Choosing Sides, Civil War II: Gods of War, Civil War II: Kingpin, Civil War II: Ulysses, and Civil War II: X-Men, the one-shots: Civil War II: The Accused and Civil War II: The Fallen, and numerous ongoing series. The storyline was succeeded by the one-shot Civil War II: The Oath.
Civil War II received mixed reviews from critics and modest yet declining sales figures from its high in June 2016 to its end in December. The repercussions of the storyline resulted in the new status quo of the Marvel Universe presented in the subsequent "Divided We Stand" storyline, which was released as part of the company's 2016 Marvel NOW! relaunch.
Publication history
In December 2015, Marvel Comics announced the details of Civil War II, whose core miniseries would be produced by writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist David Marquez, colorist Justin Ponsor, and editor Tom Brevoort. The series, which debuted in June 2016, is a sequel to the 2006 "Civil War" storyline which pitted Iron Man against Captain America in a conflict about national security versus civil liberties. Brevoort, who also edited the first series, stated, "The attempt was to craft the conflict so that each side held a valid and defensible position, so that a reader could fundamentally agree with either one side or the other, with neither being painted as absolutely right or absolutely wrong. While the issues involved are different, we'll be taking the same approach to Civil War II." Bendis, who wrote the New Avengers tie-in issues for the original "Civil War" storyline, stated that he only agreed to write the sequel after Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, the creators of the 2006 miniseries, turned it down.File:7.24.19BrianMichaelBendisByLuigiNovi28.jpg|thumb|left|Writer Brian Michael Bendis signing copies of the central miniseries' first issue at Midtown Comics in Manhattan
The idea of the sequel was conceived at one of Marvel's semi-annual editorial retreats. Axel Alonso, editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, stated that unlike other major comic book storylines which take years of planning, he only had three to four months to plan Civil War II. This abbreviated timetable was necessary in order to capitalize on the release of the feature film Captain America: Civil War, which was released in May 2016.
The plot for Civil War II began to develop in the second volume of The Invincible Iron Man, which is also written by Bendis and drawn by Marquez.
In March 2016, Marvel revealed which characters will appear on the opposing factions. They also revealed two spin-off series: Civil War II: Spider-Man from writer Christos Gage and artist Travel Foreman, and Civil War II: X-Men from writer Cullen Bunn and artist Andrea Broccardo. Bunn explained, "This tale is set into motion by the same catalyst that sets Civil War II into motion. A new power emerges among the Inhumans. This power, in Magneto's eyes, could be very dangerous to the mutant population, so—in typical Master of Magnetism fashion—he decides to take it for himself. As you can imagine, something like that could very easily start a war between the Inhumans and the mutants. Storm sees this and decides to stand in Magneto's way." In Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man helps a precognitive Inhuman use his powers responsibly. "Over the course of the miniseries, the Inhuman will make a prediction that, while not of the world-or universe-ending variety, could well mean the end of one character's world. It's really dealing with classic Spider-Man themes: power and responsibility; facing a situation where even if you win, you can also lose - or you can just lose," Gage elaborated.
At the 2016 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo in March, two additional spin-off series were announced: Civil War II: Choosing Sides, an anthology series by Declan Shalvey which will feature a different character in each issue and have an overarching story involving Nick Fury; and Civil War II: Gods of War by writer Dan Abnett and artist Luke Ross, which stars Hercules. Abnett said, "Hercules is going to get involved more on a personal level in terms of his individual friendships with people rather than specifically taking a side because he objects to the whole thing anyway. He doesn't want to be taking a side." Marvel also named ten additional tie-in series: All-New Wolverine, Captain America: Sam Wilson, Deadpool, Invincible Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, The New Avengers, Nova, Totally Awesome Hulk, Ultimates, and Uncanny Inhumans.
The following month, Marvel announced Civil War II: Kingpin by writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Ricardo Lopez Ortiz. Rosenberg said, "Wilson Fisk is an opportunist, first and foremost. Under his selfish motives, his brutal exterior, or even the facade he puts up as a pillar of his community, he is a man who sees ways to benefit himself and he takes them ... He wants to get whatever he can, however he can, and see how far he can push things. He is in the business of furthering Wilson Fisk, and the new Civil War will provide him a unique opportunity. He is a Civil War profiteer."
In May 2016, Marvel released additional prelude stories in a Free Comic Book Day edition by Bendis and artist Jim Cheung, and a zero issue by Bendis and artist Oliver Coipel. Also in May, details were shared on a three issue tie-in series titled Civil War II: Ulysses from writer Al Ewing and artist Jefte Palo. The series focuses on Ulysses Cain, the new Inhuman with the power to predict the future at the center of Civil War II. Ewing described the series as "a prequel of sorts", explaining, "we're following Ulysses as he's taken to the Tower of Wisdom - a sort of Inhuman temple of learning, for want of a better term - to be trained by Karnak, whose Inhuman ability is to see the flaw in all things. Karnak's training methods might be more than Ulysses can handle, though." The next month, Alonso said Civil War II would set a new status quo in the Marvel Universe, which would be presented in the "Divided We Stand" storyline as part of the company's 2016 Marvel NOW! relaunch.
In July 2016, Marvel announced three additional one-shots: Civil War II: The Accused, Civil War II: The Fallen, and Civil War II: The Oath. Civil War II: The Accused, by Marc Guggenheim and Ramon Bachs, follows the events of Civil War II #3 and depicts the trial of Hawkeye for killing the Hulk with Daredevil as lead prosecutor. Guggenheim described the book as a legal thriller saying, "The way I pitched this to Marvel was that it is a 30-page Scott Turow novel. But at the same time it is also a comic book." Civil War II: The Fallen, by Greg Pak and Mark Bagley, takes place at the Hulk's funeral. Civil War II: The Oath, by Nick Spencer and Rod Reis, is an epilogue story that parallels Civil War: The Confession #1, the epilogue of the original Civil War, which featured the final conversation between Iron Man and Steve Rogers. In The Oath, Iron Man and Captain Marvel turn to Rogers, the one person that they both trust.
In August 2016, Bendis stated issue #5 was delayed due to the birth of Marquez's son and that Marvel extended the series to eight issues, explaining, "David has been handing in about a page a day for the last couple of weeks so we're getting back on track. So much so that Marvel greenlit an 8th issue for us. I came up with a better ending but needed the pages. Very grateful that they let us do our thing." The delay also caused the remaining issues to be pushed back with issue #8 being released in December 2016.
Plot
, a student at the Ohio State University, is exposed to the Terrigen Mist, which turns him into an Inhuman. When he emerges, Ulysses has a vision of a dystopian future.Weeks later, the Inhumans help the Avengers defeat an invading Celestial Destroyer. After Ulysses reveals to the Avengers that he foresaw the invasion, Iron Man protests the logic of stopping crimes before they occur and leaves in frustration. Three weeks later, War Machine is killed and She-Hulk is mortally wounded in battle with Thanos. When he learns that they used Ulysses' precognitive power to ambush Thanos, Iron Man vows to make sure that nobody uses it again. As She-Hulk goes into cardiac arrest, she tells Captain Marvel to fight for the future.
Iron Man kidnaps Ulysses from New Attilan, home of the Inhumans. In response, the Inhumans attack Stark Tower, but are halted by the Avengers. To avoid further incident, they agree to confront Iron Man together at the secret facility where he has been running tests on Ulysses. During the confrontation, Ulysses has a vision of Hulk killing the Avengers.
Later, Bruce Banner, Hulk's former alter ego, is approached by Captain Marvel at his laboratory outside Alpine, Utah. Captain Marvel asks Banner to step outside where the Avengers are waiting to confront him. During the confrontation, Hawkeye shoots Banner dead and is immediately arrested.
At Hawkeye's trial, Hawkeye testifies that Banner approached him months earlier and asked that he kill him should Banner ever lose control. After Hawkeye is acquitted of all charges, Iron Man informs the other heroes of his test results: Ulysses' power is based on probability calculations, not absolute truth. Unpersuaded, Captain Marvel returns to the Triskelion, headquarters of the Ultimates, to continue her investigation of a suspected Hydra agent. There, Captain Marvel, the Ultimates, Alpha Flight, and Storm's X-Men are confronted by Iron Man, the Avengers, and Magneto's X-Men. Outnumbered, Captain Marvel calls in the Guardians of the Galaxy as back up as Iron Man's team is about to attack.
As the battle escalates, the Inhumans arrive to aid Captain Marvel while Ulysses has a vision of Miles Morales killing Steve Rogers. In reaction, Captain Marvel places Morales under arrest. While Iron Man and Captain Marvel argue the merits of arresting Morales, Rogers gives Morales the opportunity to decide for himself and Morales asks to go home. As Morales leaves, Maria Hill places Iron Man's team under arrest but Doctor Strange teleports them to one of Nick Fury's safehouses. At the safehouse, the younger Avengers sneak off to find Morales before the adults. Meanwhile, Hill receives communication that Morales is at the United States Capitol, the location seen in Ulysses' vision.
Ulysses has a vision of himself in the wasteland of an unknown future and meeting an older Wolverine. Wolverine tells Ulysses that the Inhumans have left the planet because Iron Man "pushed her too far." When the vision is over, Ulysses warns Medusa, queen of the Inhumans, about what he saw. Meanwhile, Rogers approaches Morales at the Capitol to gain some understanding about Ulysses' vision.
As Captain Marvel arrives to take Morales into custody, Iron Man intercepts and attacks Captain Marvel. Medusa warns the other heroes of Ulysses' vision and they try in vain to stop the fight. After Captain Marvel delivers a seemingly fatal blow to Iron Man, Ulysses has multiple visions of possible futures. Ulysses is then approached by Eternity and takes a place at his side as a new cosmic entity. Later, Captain Marvel meets with the President of the United States and is offered unlimited resources to lead the superhero community into the future.