The Avengers were divided by the Sokovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War, but many of them didn’t choose the right side. Since they were formed in The Avengers, the Marvel Cinematic Universe continued to become a bigger world filled with more powerful heroes. But, as Vision states, there is a causality to their strength as the number of world ending events has grown as well.

Whether it’s the Chitauri invasion at New York, Ultron lifting Sokovia into the air, or three massive helicarriers crashing down on Washington D.C., the MCU became a much more dangerous place after the Avengers began trying to protect it. So, when Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) was partially responsible for the deaths of many civilians in Lagos, a change had to be made. The Sokovia Accords were formed and approved by 117 countries with a simple goal: no longer allow the Avengers to operate as an independent organization but instead under the supervision of a United Nations panel who will decide when - and when not - the Avengers can be active.

Despite the understandable intentions of the UN, the Avengers weren’t on the same page about whether or not they should sign the documents. The big divide came with the MCU’s two biggest stars, as Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) passionately sided with the Accords, while Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) believed they shouldn’t sign. After that, though, the teams they assembled didn’t completely line up.

  • This Page: Original Civil War Teams Don’t Make Sense Page 2: What Civil War Teams SHOULD Have Been Chosen

The Original Sides Don’t Make Sense

For anyone who needs a quick refresher, “Team Iron Man” consisted of Iron Man, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Vision (Paul Bettany), T’Challa aka Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), James Rhodes aka War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Their opposition, known by fans as “Team Captain America,” got Cap, Bucky aka Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Sam Wilson aka Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch, Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd).

It’s worth noting who clearly explained why they picked the sides they did. The true debate over the Accords began with War Machine and Falcon arguing back and forth over what the right thing to do was. Unsurprisingly, they both rightly chose to fight alongside their like-minded best friends, Iron Man and Captain America, respectively. Vision also clearly articulated his assessment of the world and how the Avengers’ actions impacted it, with his belief being that the more they got involved, the more threats arose. He decided to sign the Accords and move forward.

As for the rest of the heroes, though, the issues came with the different sides they were fighting for. Siding with Team Iron Man and the Accords meant an acceptance of oversight on the part of the heroes. This removed choice from them and could also be used to shift the blame to a higher power. Additionally, signing the Accords also meant revealing their true identity. On the other hand, going against the Accords meant risking free will as well as the choice to maintain it. For many of these heroes, there wasn’t a clear philosophical or ethical reason why they sided the way they did, and some appeared to just side with whoever called them first. The teams changed several times throughout the scripting process before the final lineups were chosen, but the teams should’ve been different in the final version as well.

Page 2 of 2: What Civil War Teams SHOULD Have Been Chosen

What Side Characters Should’ve Chosen

Let’s start with Team Iron Man. The team will keep Iron Man, War Machine, and Vision, but one of their new additions should actually be Clint Barton. Hawkeye refused to sign the Accords because he said he’s retired and wants to stay with his family, but he completely went against this by actually joining Team Cap. He would be putting himself in harms way more often than not fighting, but it’s better than potentially never seeing them again by being arrested for treason. With Hawkeye on board and the immediate lead up to the Accords being created, Scarlet Witch also should’ve sided with them. She was initially undecided, but if the team featured both Vision and Clint, two of the more important people in Wanda’s life, they would help convince her to sign the Accords. This would limit the chances that another Lagos situation could happen too, which she was still grieving over at the time.

As two members of Team Cap should’ve joined Team Iron Man, there’s even more change over for new additions to the anti-Accords side. They maintain Steve, Bucky, Falcon, and Ant-Man, but one major member they should’ve added is Black Panther. T’Challa decided to side with Iron Man largely out of his vengeful quest to detain Bucky and it’s even unclear if he even had to sign the Accords in the first place. Once he realized the errors of his ways, he actually agreed to try and fix Bucky, further showing that the king of Wakanda was acting out of character and wouldn’t submit himself to the leadership of the Accords (or want to reveal his true identity).

Additionally, Spider-Man should’ve been on Team Cap as well. Peter Parker was starstruck upon meeting his idol Tony Stark, and being called up to the big leagues appears to have clouded his judgement. Aside from their shared New York roots, Peter and Steve are also very alike in their attitudes and approach to being a hero. Siding against the Accords not only meant his precious secret identity would’ve remained intact, but Peter’s mindset of being hero was perfectly illustrated when he told Tony, “When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.” This attitude is exactly why Peter would fight for the right to choose when he’s allowed to be a hero, and not be held back from doing what he viewed was necessary.

Black Widow also should’ve switched sides to join Team Cap. Her decision to sign the Accords in the first place was more reactionary than logical, and her true feelings on the matter were ultimately revealed when she went against them after all. If the characters sided with our thinking, then the new Team Iron Man would be War Machine, Vision, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Iron Man, while Team Cap would have Falcon, Bucky, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Captain America. But, what if - just for the fun of it - other characters who missed out on the action got involved?

What Side Missing Heroes Would Be On

There were several known active heroes at this time who didn’t participate in Civil War, so let’s take a shot at figuring out where they would side. The list of possible movie character additions range from Thor to Captain Marvel to the Guardians of the Galaxy. For what it’s worth, the Guardians would undeniably side with Team Cap, as there’s no chance they’d let someone else boss them around, but they were nowhere near Earth at this time so we’ll leave them out. But what about some others?

Staying with new Team Cap members, they would likely be in line to receive some serious power through Thor and Captain Marvel. Thor rarely listens to authority, while Captain Marvel makes it clear that Carol Danvers doesn’t need to take orders from anyone. Both of them are free roaming intergalactic heroes too, so they wouldn’t let some governing board decide when they can get involved on Earth or have to provide them with updates on their location at all times. Wasp would also likely fall with Team Cap, but not only so she and Ant-Man could continue working together. Wasp is very confident in her own abilities and decision making - and Hank Pym probably wouldn’t like it if she teamed up with Tony.

Team Iron Man, on the other hand, could receive a heavy hitter of their own through Hulk. While Bruce Banner obviously wasn’t on Earth at this time, because he saw himself as a risk, it isn’t crazy to see him signing the Accords if he was around. He may not completely like the idea of the government having a say in his actions, but he still would see the documents as a form of protection, and he could be looking for that after Avengers: Age of Ultron. Nick Fury also came out of retirement briefly in Age of Ultron, and we think he could’ve sided with the Accords as well - but with one major contingency: he would be part of the board that decided when the Avengers could fight.

So where does this hypothetical scenario leave Captain America: Civil War? The pro-Accords team would feature Iron Man, War Machine, Vision, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Hulk, and Nick Fury. The anti-Accords team, meanwhile, would feature Captain America, Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Falcon, Ant-Man, Thor, and Wasp. Team Cap could have more people on it, but the power levels on each side would still make this a fair fight - if it had happened.

More: The Avengers Still Have To Deal With The Sokovia Accords After Infinity War

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