Civil War II #5 Review

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A failure to communicate leads to all out war among the heroes.

This review contains major spoilers concerning Marvel’s Civil War II #5.

Civil War II #5

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis | Artist: David Marquez | Art Assist: Sean Izaakse | Color Artist: Justin Ponsor | Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles | Designer: Victor Ochoa | Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

A Failure to Communicate

“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” Although that line comes from Cool Hand Luke, it applies to Marvel’s Civil War II #5. Presented with a source of knowledge of the future, the heroes have divided over how to, and if they should, use it. On one side, Iron Man recognizes an inherent danger in imprisoning and punishing individuals that have yet to commit an act. On the other side, Captain Marvel strives to save lives by preventing foreseen disasters. Unintended consequences result, and the fallout births a second Civil War in the Marvel universe.

Sides Were Drawn

To summarize what came before, the Inhuman Ulysses has the dubious gift of experiencing visions of the future. He can share these visions with others. Although one such vision prevented a cosmic assault on New York, another vision lead to the death to a classic Marvel hero. To make matters worse, that hero committed no crime. His murdered walked away as a free man after a trial. Emboldened, Captain Marvel continues to utilize Ulysses’s visions. However, she may have gone too far. When the young Inhuman envisions the possession of sensitive financial information falling into Hydra’s hands, Captain Marvel apprehends the woman believed to possess the data. The problem is, the woman didn’t have the information. Captain Marvel refuses to acknowledge there may have been a mistake and continues to detain the suspect.

Iron Man acts to free her. He has backup. However, Captain Marvel has allies of her own. The previous issue ends with sides drawn. Civil War II #5 starts with the heroes at war.

Arrogance

This issue is rife with arrogance. Most of the heroes find it unfathomable that the other side can’t see things their way. Iron Man and Captain Marvel demonstrate the pinnacle of this flaw. Iron Man proclaims that Captain Marvel is losing her mind trying to control the future. Captain Marvel retorts that he suffers from a manic episode. Both are oblivious to the damage done to them. In another example, Doctor Strange combats the X-men. Each declares their surprise that the other are present and on the other side. In yet another, Luke Cage and Blue Marvel question each other’s intelligence for choosing their respective sides. This confrontation echoes multiple times around the Triskelion, headquarters for S.H.I.E.L.D., and battleground for the heroes.

There is one notable exception. Iron Man attempts to reason with Peter Quill (also known as Starlord, leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy). Before he can get far, the Milano, the Guardian’s ship, blows up. That brings a halt to the conversation. Before the discussion can resume, the Inhumans arrive and interrupt. If that isn’t bad enough, Black Panther seems as if he is about to try to reason with Iron Man, although he has Iron Man in a choke hold, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. His attempt at reason fails when Captain Marvel greedily decides to take advantage of the situation to sucker punch Iron Man in an attempt to get him to submit.

Yet Another Vision

The Inhumans left Ulysses behind for this confrontation. While watching the fight from afar, he begins to experience another vision. Seemingly against his will, some sort of energy beam pours from him and envelops the heroes. They experience what he sees. In his vision, the Miles Morales Spider-Man stands over the impaled body of the Steve Rogers Captain America. Blood drips from Morales’s hands. The Capitol Building stands in the background.

A number of things are significant about this vision. First, Morales and Rogers are on the same side of this conflict. So, why would they have cause to fight in the first place? Second, the vision doesn’t actually portray Morales killing Rogers. Morales is only seen holding his body, although in a menacing fashion. Third, both Morales and Rogers witness the vision. It obviously takes place at some subsequent point, but the two weren’t even fighting.

Reaction

Morales is devastated. Ms. Marvel, not to be confused with Captain Marvel, is a close friend, and she moves to comfort Morales. Importantly, she declares her belief in Morales and this vision would not happen. However, Captain Marvel sees it differently. She ends the issue apologetically declaring that Morales is under arrest.

This reaction only makes sense from the perspective of Captain Marvel. Over the course of this series, she has come to utterly believe in Ulysses’s visions. She almost has no choice. Her belief and actions lead to the death of Bruce Banner. She has convinced herself that she must act on these visions despite the consequences. Failure to do so would be irresponsible.

She doesn’t stop to consider what she just witnessed. In addition, she doesn’t ask any questions. It seems a little odd that Tony Stark, Iron Man, has become the reasonable one. Although, you might debate how reasonable he has acted. He has taken action through brute force when a more controlled response might have been the better course of action. Then again, what is the best course of action when super powered beings are involved?

Furthermore, this series has proven that Ulysses’s visions can be avoided. For instance, Ulysses had a vision in which the Hulk murdered all the heroes. That never came to pass, although for a tragic reason. The very knowledge that Morales might be in a position to kill Captain America means that it could be avoided. Their experience proves this. What grounds does Captain Marvel have for arresting him? It amounts to nothing more than a suspicion.

Civil War II #5 Conclusion

The question of what to do with Ulysses’s knowledge has utterly divided these heroes. Their minds are closed. They won’t take the time to consider the other side. All they do is act. This failure to communicate caused the death of alliances, and more importantly, at least one hero. It’s causing the fabric of the super hero community to crumble.

There aren’t any super villains involved in this struggle. If there were, the lack of communication would be understandable. However, these heroes have fought side-by-side to defeat numerous threats to humanity. They have fought wars together. Now they turn on each other over what to do about visions of the future. Maybe it’s misplaced guilt. Perhaps there is a larger issue under the surface. At this point, the “heroes” are content to win the debate through force rather than reason. Regardless, as enjoyable as the debate between free will and determinism is, this series doesn’t seem like it will leave the Marvel universe in a good place.

Civil War II #5