Arguing Who's Right in Civil War, MCU Fans Forget One Crucial Thing
Just like the comic series that inspired it, the MCU's Civil War event was divisive among fans who agreed with either Team Cap or Team Iron Man. And in both cases, fans who pick a side are missing the point.
Captain America 's defenders are well supported by the creators. The comics are mainly told from his point of view, while the movie serves as the conclusion to the Captain America film trilogy. Team Cap says that the government can't always be trusted and heroes sometimes have to go above the law to do what's right. If they're forced into registration, they may be unable to fight where necessary or forced to fight when it's wrong.
The comics give a little more strength to Team Cap, given that Iron Man's Pro-Registration team did some dastardly things left out in the movie. Reed Richards, an important part of the comic series, recruited murderous super-criminals for his team. They also cloned the (assumed) deceased Thor, but without his empathy; the clone blasted a hole in the heart of Anti-Registration hero Goliath.
Team Iron Man makes the point that, without laws, the heroes are no better than villains. The amount of heroes is growing exponentially, and without accountability, they are subject to catastrophe.
More than anything, Team Iron Man believes that Captain America is working mostly out of pride. He's willing to break up the Avengers to prove his point – which may have led to Thanos' initial victory in Infinity War.
Both arguments are valid, but both miss the entire point of the story: Neither side is right.
Just like in real life, Marvel's Civil War is based on a political argument in which each side wants the same thing: Peace and justice. They both want to save the world but have different opinions on what that means.
In the process, the discourse stops being about the point itself. It's now about who is right and who is wrong. In doing so, both sides do terrible things.
In the movie, Captain America's actions led to the dissolution of the Avengers and the paralysis of Rhodey. In both the movie and the comics, it led to unnecessary calamity and inflicted pain on civilians.
Stark did a lot of shady things (though his comic counterpart was far shadier) under the assumption that the ends justify the means. He was just as stubborn as Captain America, and just as responsible for the Avengers' breakup.
The story serves as a practical life lesson. When the argument becomes more about being right than doing right, everyone loses.