Marvel's Civil War TV Mini-Series

Publicity Poster for Marvel's "Civil War" which mimics the two side poster from the comic series

"Marvel's Civil War" is a 2011 television mini-series based on the Marvel Comics storyline built around the limited series of the same name. A reunion of sorts for the 1996-2004 Spider-Man series, it utilized the show's established universe as a backdrop for the adaptation. It was written by Michael Dee, Jonathan L. Dee and Mark Millar, based on the books written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time.

The four part series was directed by Michael Dee (in his directorial debut) and produced by Avi Arad, Kathleen McCormick, Micheal Dee and Jonathan L. Dee, the producers of the original Spider-Man TV show. The original cast was reunited for the special, except for Jamie Luner (who declined a part) and Scott Bairstow (whose legal troubles made him unwanted by producers).

The plot of the series follows a framework storyline in which the U.S. government passes a Superhero Registration Act ostensibly designed to have superpowered beings act under official regulation, somewhat akin to police officers. However, those opposed to the act, led by Captain America, find themselves in conflict with those in support of the act, led by Iron Man, with a retired Spider-Man caught in the middle.

The events of the series touch upon themes of liberty, moral responsibility, and civil order, with good-intentioned superhero characters finding themselves upon different sides. The mini series received polarizing reviews, but was a commercial and ratings success in the summer of 2011.

Plot[]

Part 1 – In The Beginning[]

New York City, 2015

It has been 12 years since the end of the original Spider-Man series. Peter Parker, now a widower, works as a high school teacher and helps run the school’s paper. He has a prosthetic leg after losing his real one in a fight as Spider-Man. Peter is living quietly in Queens, New York with his two children, Joshua and May "May-Day" Parker, who are respectively 22 and 16 years old. Joshua is in college and May is in her senior year of high school, playing on the basketball team. Though it is common knowledge that Joshua has inherited abilities from his father, May has secretly kept her own powers from both of them. Both are happy that Peter had long ago gave up his role as Spider-Man and neither seem to resent the fact that he failed to save their mother.

It is revealed that Mary Jane Watson was killed in a revenge scheme perpetrated by the Green Goblin eight years earlier. Sgt. Thomas Newman had also been killed in that attack and the growing bond between Peter and Kimbra Goldman seems to be turning romantic. Goldman, however (unaware that Peter was Spider-Man) is no longer willing to trust any masked superheroes.

Meanwhile in Washington D.C., Congress is debating implementation and consequences of the Superhuman Registration Act, a legislative bill which would require the mandatory registration of any person based in the United States with super powers.

At the Daily Bugle, now a suffering newspaper with the advent of the internet and online news sources, J. Jonah Jameson sees an opportunity to boost sales by publicly denouncing the bill. The disappearance of Spider-Man for the last eight years has taken its toll on the paper.

In Miami, the disbanded Spider-Force, get together to discuss the Registration Act, none of them like it, but understand the need for some sort of oversight. Preston Harrad speaks with Tony Stark about creating a special division designed to protect the anonymity of the heroes, not unlike how the Spider-Force operate. Stark is open to the suggestion but thinks it’s not enough.

The act has been brought to the forefront due to recent public pressure for accountability following superhuman-related events that caused significant damage and death, in this new age people are less enamored of the costumed heroes. An attack on Manhattan by General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross against the Hulk has resulted in the death of 26 people.

As well the mutant population has been drastically reduced in the aftermath of an event known as the M-Day, itself caused by a mutant, and the resulting human toll is upward to over a hundred innocent civilians dead. Government agent Henry Gyrich, and Senator Robert Kelley have teamed up to deal with this and anti-mutant hysteria (caused by extremist groups) has resulted in a majority of the remaining mutants to relocate to the Xavier Institute.

While his children have always re-assured him they have no plans to use their powers to fight crime, (May even feigns having powers) an attempted mugging on the two, as well a sexual assault on May’s best friend forces May to reveal her secret to her brother and she convinces him to do something. Secretly they don makeshift costumes and make their first appearance at an industrial science expo which is attacked by terrorists looking to gain a new power source for a weapon.

The Spider-Duo, as the papers call them, causes a stir in Manhattan. Peter is quick to confront them both, forbidding them from risking their lives. Being a superhero has changed in this new age, a lot of the new generation is more apt to kill. “Times have changed,” he tells his kids.

Kimbra Goldman (who now works for S.H.I.E.L.D.) is promoted by Nick Fury as Assistant Director, his second in command. With her experience with superheroes, and Spider-Man in particular, her first assignment is to locate the Spider-Duo and convince them to join S.H.I.E.L.D..

After analyzing the footage, Kimbra realizes that Spider-Woman is May Parker, deduces quickly enough who the new Spider-Man is, and then comes to the realization that Peter Parker was the old Spider-Man. She confronts them and an argument results. While Kimbra is angry over being lied to, Peter’s vented up emotions over losing his wife due to his failure explodes. Their growing relationship seems to be over, but he does promise to end his kid’s new crime-fighting career.

Public sentiment, already at a new low, plummets after the “Stamford incident” in Stamford, Connecticut, in which the New Warriors, a fabricated group of young men turned into superheroes by the government and focus of a FOX reality TV show, fail in an attempt to apprehend a group of supervillains. In a quest for better ratings, the novice crimefighters are overmatched. In the resulting fight, a psychopathic villain known as Nitro uses his explosive powers to destroy several city blocks, including an elementary school at the epicenter, resulting in the death of over 6600 civilians, 260 of whom were children, with just Speedball of the Warriors and Nitro himself surviving. Although many high-profile superheroes assist in the relief and rescue effort, there are a number of isolated revenge attacks, and support for registration rises.

The prospect of registration divides the superhuman community down the middle, with Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man, becoming the pro-registration figurehead, and Captain America leading the anti-registration group. Iron Man, with Mr. Fantastic and a scientist named Henry Pym, argue that the changing political landscape means that resisting the law is pointless, and that it is reasonable for heroes to have proper training and oversight, whereas Captain America, alongside Luke Cage, Daredevil and Falcon argue that heroes require secrecy in order to protect aspects of their 'normal' life, such as spouses and children, and to allow them to act in by whatever means necessary against threats the ordinary emergency services can't cope with.

Despite all efforts to block it, the law passes. S.H.I.E.L.D. is assumed the brunt of enforcing the act under acting director Kimbra Goldman with the sudden disappearance of Nick Fury. Kimbra, with at least three names already, is conflicted. But then she calls Peter and instructs his family to turn themselves in. Peter responds by telling her to watch TV tomorrow as he’s already holding a press conference…

Part 2 - Escalation[]

J. Jonah Jameson gets a phone call the night of the passing of the Superhuman Registration Act. The caller identifies themselves as the original Spider-Man, and offers to turn himself in at the Daily Bugle. Jameson is untrusting, but agrees to host the event.

At the Daily Bugle, Kimbra Goldman is present as is Preston Harrad (who is there to stop Peter from revealing himself). The two confront one another, both realizing the other knows the truth of his secret identity. Spider-Man and his kids (the Spider-Duo) appear and declaring that the act is law, reveal themselves to the waiting public. Jameson faints at the sight of Peter Parker being Spider-Man.

Peter Parker reveals his history and the reasons for being Spider-Man, eliciting a lot of sympathy from the general audience. With a further announcement from Tony Stark, Peter reveals that he will temporarily join forces with the Pro-Registration side, help round up the villains who are loose and try to convince the reluctant heroes it is the responsible thing to do.

The Civil War begins.

At first the opposing sides trade only propagandic victories, with the anti-registration heroes continuing to fight super villains, leaving them restrained to be found by the authorities, whilst the pro-registration side attempt to locate and arrest any super person who is not registered. Wolverine hunts for Nitro who had escaped after fleeing the scene at Stamford. Wolverine tracks him down, defeats him and when it appears he’s going to kill Nitro, relents when Daredevil appears and asks him not to. Nitro is taken into custody.

Meanwhile Cyclops makes a declaration for the X-Men and all remaining mutants, stating they are officially neutral. And they will defend themselves if anyone attacks their compound at the Xavier Mansion.

The Fantastic Four break up with Mr. Fantastic and his wife Sue siding with pro-registration side and The Thing and Johnny Storm on the other side. Bruce Banner surrenders to SHIELD in hopes that they can help him cure his condition and because he fears another confrontation with General Ross.

Norman Osborn is among the many villains being held in the Vault who learn of Spider-Man’s true identity. He is pleased to know he killed his wife, but he vows to destroy him as well. They get their chance when Nick Fury resurfaces and allows a majority of the super villains incarcerated there to escape.

The Spider-Force reunites learning of the escape and confronts Spider-Man, who makes a promise to not reveal their names to S.H.I.E.L.D. He implores them to turn themselves in, but Harrad refuses. Neil and Peter remove their masks to have a heartfelt confrontation, but neither can convince the other.

The first major battle takes place between the two forces when Green Goblin lures both groups to his location. As the two sides fight, many heroes are injured as numerous villains show up to ambush both sides. Iron Spider is killed by Carnage and many others are wounded. Those from the anti-registration side are taken into custody. Peter, grieving the loss of his best friend, quickly becomes disillusioned about the whole thing.

Things go worse for Peter when he’s given legal notice that J. Jonah Jameson is suing him for fraud…

Part 3 – The Negative Zone[]

The Parker household is suffering from their reveal. The local high school suspends Peter from his job, citing the controversy of the former Spider-Man teaching there. Parents want him fired. Meanwhile the whole basketball team outcasts May, due to her having super powers. She vows that she never used them while playing, but the school board is investigating possible allegations of cheating.

Finally Jameson’s law suit is citing fraud against Peter who had spent years selling him photos of himself. Robbie tries to act as Devil’s Advocate between the two but Jameson is furious with Peter, feeling that he was made a fool in the industry by Peter.

The conflict escalates when Captain America leads the anti-registration heroes, now known as the Secret Avengers, into an ambush against the pro-registration forces. While shaking hands with Iron Man before a peaceful discussion of the crisis, Captain America uses a hidden device to disable Iron Man's armor and sucker-punchs him. A public brawl between the pro and anti-registration forces ensue and is only stopped when Kimbra arrives with S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements. The Secret Avengers flee yet again.

In order to contain the super people unwilling to register, Iron Man, Henry Pym and Mr. Fantastic build a prison in the Negative Zone; it is dubbed "Project 42" because it is the 42nd project they had developed after the Stamford tragedy. Learning that people who do not agree to register would be imprisoned indefinitely (on orders from the U.S. government) Peter cannot accept this as a solution. Following a battle with Iron Man, Spider-Man escapes the S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-carrier and quit the pro-registration side.

He manages to warn his kids in time before Joshua and May can be taken into custody. Using his old headquarters in the Harrad Apartments as a base, Peter joins Captain America's underground movement. Learning of the “Negative Zone” Captain America decides to sabotage the effort, but first they need to access the plans. Though more of an anti-hero, the Punisher volunteers for the job and obtains the plans for Project 42 by covertly infiltrating the Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four. He’s aided by Human Torch who is captured in the process. Learning that he won’t be sent to the Negative Zone for the time being, Johnny calls his brother-in-law a hypocrite.

Captain America and Spider-Man are able to devise a means to destroy Project 42 and launch an attack on the site of the Negative Zone. They manage to destroy it, but at a heavy cost when May Parker or Spider Girl is sucked into the Negative Zone in the process and Spider-Man is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., though Kimbra refuses to place him in handcuffs…

Part 4 – The Finale[]

Peter has become a broken man. His daughter is missing in another dimension, he’s now a prisoner held by his lover and he fears for his son’s life. Peter begs Reed Richards to help rescue his daughter, but Reed is not confident it can happen. But he promises to do everything in his power.

Fearful of the actions of the U.S. Government, Professor X and Magneto join forces to reveal the depth of their plot. It is soon learned (by their covert actions) that Henry Gyrich and Senator Kelly are members of a secret society that has been planning the heroes’ destruction for decades. Using numerous villains as pawns and unwitting foot soldiers. Gyrich and Kelly don’t want to rule the world, merely control as best as they can. The arrival of mutants and meta-humans has put those efforts in danger.

Still in love with Peter, disgusted with what is happening, Kimbra allows Peter to escape. Kimbra surrenders to Tony Stark and resigns her position. Nick Fury returns, apparently dying, and reveals that it was he who released the villains as a means to force the heroes to work together. But that plan didn’t happen and so he had to go with his plan B. In the process he learned of Gyrich’s schemes and has been poisoned for his efforts. He dies shortly thereafter.

Reed Richards and Sue have a difference of opinion when she blames herself for the loss of the girl, May Parker. Reed feels tremendous guilt and wants to put things right. Sue realizes that the whole war has been wrong since the beginning. Reed states; “All wars are wrong. From start to finish.”

Stark, feeling that he’s losing the war, rallies his forces to attack the Xavier Estate. Using that assault as cover, Captain America is able to rescue numerous members of his side on the Heli-Carrier. Kimbra is allowed to escape by Fury, who offers her a computer disk of information. Stark’s attack is proven successful, when he uses a new weapon that neutralizes the X-Men’s powers and they are taken prisoner.

Reed proves able to re-ignite the Negative Zone temporarily and offers Peter and Joshua the chance to rescue May. With only an hour to achieve they manage to locate her, before the portal closes permanently. Stark arrives, but allows them to escape, with a message. A mutant cure will be administered on the X-Men, who are being held at the Vault.

Knowing it’s a trap, the Secret Avengers go to the Vault regardless. They are met by Iron Man and the pro-registration forces, and a number of super villains who are being controlled by nanites. Hulk is now under Stark’s control, based on Banner’s own research. An all-out battle between the two sides commences.

During the fight Nightcrawler teleports the battle to the center of New York City (at the behest of Professor X), where the mutants reveal the special interests’ plot against them all. Captain America targets Iron Man, whose armor had been compromised by Spider-Man. As Captain America is about to deliver a finishing blow, several emergency service personnel hold him back. Wishing to avert further property damage and bloodshed, Captain America surrenders.

Two weeks later, the Fifty State Initiative is launched and the Mighty Avengers have reformed as a team. Preston Harrad has been given full control of all the identities of the heroes, as the only person they trust. Instead of forcing the heroes to be drafted into government service, they will work autonomously, with oversight comprised of a committee managed by other heroes they trust. All members of the Secret Avengers have been given amnesty by the government, though Captain America remains in jail.

Tony Stark has been appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and his first act is to release Captain America and request he act as Deputy-Director. Captain America reluctantly agrees. Henry Gyrich and Senator Kelly have been arrested and a probe into their secret society is underway. The remaining villains have been rounded up by the combined efforts of the heroes.

The lawsuit is dropped by Jameson when he and Peter have a long reconciliation. Jameson announces his retirement and Robbie Robertson is taking his place as Editor-in-Chief.

Joshua graduates from ESU with honors and promises his dad that his web slinging days are over. Harrad is quick to propose that Joshua work for him. Peter seems okay with that, since it would honor Niel’s memory.

With testimony from Tony Stark, the NY school board drops their investigation into May Parker’s athletics. Though she quits the team anyway and decides to focus on her studies. May, too, promises to stop being a hero, though her sneaky smile seems to think she might be lying.

Peter and Kimbra reunite when they realize their love is genuine and the civil war which has just taken place was a prime example of people doing "the right thing for the wrong reasons & the wrong thing for the right reasons." Peter officially retires from being Spider-Man for a second time, he finds work with the NYPD as Crime Scene analyst. Kimbra retires from S.H.I.E.L.D. and is offered a Captain's post back in the New York police department.

Cast[]

Michael Dee as Peter Parker/Spider-Man I
Natalie Brown as Kimbra Goldman
as Steve Rogers/Captain America
as Tony Stark/Iron Man
as Joshua Parker/Spider Man II
as May “May Day” Parker as Spider-Girl
Aaron Ashmore as Niel Matthews/Iron Spider
Colin Mochrie as J. Jonah Jameson
Maurice Dean Wint as Robbie Robertson

The Secret Avengers[]

as Luke Cage
as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
as Sam Wilson/The Falcon
as Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk
as Ben Grimm/The Thing
as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch
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The Pro-Registration Forces[]

Bruce Greenwood as Nick Fury
as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
as Sue Richards/The Invisible Woman
as Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk
as Dr. Henry Pym
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The Mutants[]

as Professor Charles Xavier
as Eric Lensherr/Magneto
as Scott Summers/Cyclops
as Wolverine
as Dr. Jean Grey
as Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast
as Ororo Monroe/Storm
as Kitty Pryde
as Peter Rasputin/Colossus
as Bobby Drake/Iceman
as Mystique
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The U.S. Government[]

as Henry Gyrich
as Senator Robert Kelly
as General Thaddeus Ross
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The Villains[]

as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin
as Carnage
as Venom
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Production[]

Filming[]

Marvel’s Civil War was filmed primarily in Montreal, from June 5, 2010 to September 12, 2010, using the old Parker Studios, (a studio built for The Amazing Spider-Man by Marvel Entertainment) which had been since used by numerous productions for the MCU. The studio consists of 2 mock downtown streets of Manhattan and the front offices for the Daily Bugle.

Other shooting locations included New York City, Miami, Washington D.C. and the suburb of Pointe Claire, which stood in for Stamford, Connecticut.

Music[]

The soundtrack for the mini-series was composed by David Leon who had been the composer on the original Spider-Man TV series. Leon had no problem coming back and re-visiting various motifs he had developed during the original series and the Spider-Force spin-off.

Coinciding with the release of the mini-series, a special four-disc soundtrack Marvel’s Civil War: The TV Soundtrack Collection was released under the Intrada Label and supervised personally by David Leon and Michael Dee on August 12, 2011.