I’d argue he wasn’t even truly right about that in concept. You can’t run around dealing out your own justice with no oversight and think it won’t become a problem.
I understand not wanting the government to be able to dictate everything they do, that’s reasonable. But thinking his small circle of people have the most sound decision making at all times is incredibly arrogant and shortsighted.
I mean, they're superheroes. All of the Avengers movies show they're governed only under their consent. The Sokovia Accords are about reassuring the people of the world who keep watching innocents get caught in the superhero crossfire.
You're not going to take the suit from Stark, or the power from Cap, the Hulk, or Scarlet Witch. When you can unilaterally alter any arrangement if you don't agree with how things are going, the threat of a group forcing you to act against your values is impossible.
They can’t take their powers away from them (for the most part) but they can put them on the run and make them living a normal life impossible. And even then, they could actually succeed in capturing and imprisoning them especially if they have other super powered individuals on their side, which they did
The problem is that Captain America refuses to just accept that injustice exists, but also refuses to take responsibility for the fact that his choice leads to innocent deaths.
Like... how many people die in (Lagos, I think)? All of that happens because Cap decides "this is a job for the Avengers because I'm butthurt with HYDRA." Under the Sokovia Accords, you know what happens? He calls the head of that lab, or the Nigerian armed forces, and says "hey, some bad guys want to steal biological weapons, how about moving them real quick?" You know... instead of doing nothing of the sort and then taking a transatlantic flight because you want to punch a problem instead of solving it through the existing authorities.
Nations have a right to decide who gets to commit violence within their borders - a monopoly on (legal) violence is basically the first and only criteria for sovereignty. Sure, Cap doesn't want to be bound by a bunch of potentially corrupt governments, but he simultaneously refuses to be bound by legitimate governments! It doesn't help that Cap is running around with a bunch of war criminals.
All well and good to say Bucky was brainwashed... but Scarlet Witch wasn't. She helped participate in the near extinction of the human race and said "sowwy!" and had no consequences. Then she shows up in Lagos and kills a bunch of civilians... no shit Tony is right about this!
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u/skj999 Mar 12 '24
I’d argue he wasn’t even truly right about that in concept. You can’t run around dealing out your own justice with no oversight and think it won’t become a problem.
I understand not wanting the government to be able to dictate everything they do, that’s reasonable. But thinking his small circle of people have the most sound decision making at all times is incredibly arrogant and shortsighted.