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Civil War II #3

Jul 2016
Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez

Story Name:

(no title given)


Synopsis

Civil War II #3 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4 stars
This issue describes a trial with accompanying flashbacks. Sometimes 1 side is just a single panel, so I have simplified the timejumps.

Matt Murdock is the prosecuting lawyer. Carol Danvers is giving evidence of how as Captain Marvel she led a superhero group to confront Bruce Banner at his 'secret' lab. (Tony Stark is called as a prosecution witness partway through, but then we unrealistiscally alternate them.)

Bruce has been 'cured' of being Hulk (since Totally Awesome Hulk #1) but in the fb CM is worried that Banner is dabbling with gamma rays and genetic manipulation. Tony Stark joins her without his Iron Man armour (mandated by CM because of his kidnapping of the Inhuman Ulysses last issue) and they lead Bruce outside where he sees a whole gathering of superhumans.

CM explains that Ulysses (who is there) gets warning visions from the future. (Stark interjects that it's only a possible future.) Each of those visions has come true but his warnings have enabled the heroes to avert the disasters. His latest vision (last issue) was of Hulk killing them all. But the super-community is split. Some follow CM wanting to intervene to stop the crises before they start. Others agree with IM that they should just prepare to deal with the crises if they happen ....

.... or at least get proof that they are going to happen. Cue Beast who has sneaked into Banner's lab while they were talking and discovered that he's been injecting himself with dead gamma cells. Both sides now accuse Bruce of trying to become the Hulk again. Despite his protests that he has actually been keeping Hulk at bay Maria Hill of SHIELD arrests him.

Banner starts to get angry. And an arrow pierces his brain, killing him.

In the fb Hawkeye gives himself up, and in the present we learn that it is Clint Barton on trial not Bruce Banner.

A different fb shows Banner coming to Barton saying that he dreams of being Hulk on a rampage. Every time he has to check the news to be sure it didn't happen, and he dreads the day when he'll find it was real. Bruce gives Clint a special arrow tip that will kill him, and tells him to use it if he ever starts to transform.

In the present Hank McCoy testifies that he found evidence that Banner created the arrow, and a video diary confirming Barton's story. And Clint says he saw Bruce's eyes turning green. Danvers claims that Barton's action saved many lives. But Stark, distraught at losing another friend due to Ulysses' predictions, says it's still murder. (And the fb repeats this disagreement, and shows other heroes taking sides.)

Later the jury reach a verdict. Tony Stark tells Mary Jane Watson he doesn't need to hear it because he knows what it will be. The AI Friday interrupts to say that she's analysed Ulysses' brain (recorded last issue) and she knows how his visions work. She shows them the future.


 

Review / Commentaries


Civil War II #3 Review by (July 17, 2016)
Olivier Coipel handles the art on the conversation between Bruce Banner and Clint Barton.

The assembled heroes I haven't mentioned are Avengers (Captain America (Sam Wilson), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Deadpool, Dr Strange, Human Torch, Ms Marvel, Nova, Quicksilver, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Thor, Vision), Inhumans (Karnak, Lockjaw and Medusa), X-Men (Colossus, Nightcrawler, Old Man Logan, Storm and X-23), Black Panther and Spider-Man (Peter Parker).
The cast page and Marvel Wiki say Crystal of the Inhumans is there too, but I can't see her. (Ulysses' hair is something like hers.)

Some of the above are shown watching the trial, plus Ganke Lee (Miles Morales' friend), extra X-Men (Iceman, Magik and Marvel Girl (Jean Grey)) and Ultimates (Blue Marvel, Ms America and Spectrum).

Bruce Banner claims to have gone a year without Hulk. But Totally Awesome Hulk #7 says it's only 4 months.

There are 3 flashbacks of results of Ulysses' warnings, none of which I believe are documented adventures.
MODOK Superior faces some of the ANAD Avengers including the new Wasp (Nadia Pym).
SHIELD defend the New York Stock Exchange against somebody.
Daredevil, Iron Fist and Power Man (Luke Cage) are chasing Black Cat.

Accused #1 reveals that there is a 1 month gap between the death of Banner and the trial of Hawkeye. This is an unusually short time but it has been rushed by the government. The trial itself then takes a further 3 weeks.

Tie-ins to this issue:-

Spider-Man #8. Jessica Jones & Luke Cage have discovered Miles' secret id. SM is there when BB gets killed. He, Nova and Ms Marvel are swayed to the anti-U side.
Spider-Woman #10-11. SW investigates various of U's predictions, and they all come true. But when she hears about H killing BB based on a prediction it confirms her fears. She tries to see her ex-lover H in prison but has to face her friend CM instead.
ANAD Av #14. The 2 Wasps watch as CWII happens up to at least the death of BB. Nadia tries to invent a way to make U's predictions 100% accurate, but it blows up.
CM#8-10. CM is getting good results from U but is beginning to have doubts. Black Panther is supportive but with questions. H is in jail. MsM and Miles Morales have defected to IM's side. CM has cloaked drones monitoring people like Magneto likely to be subjects of U's visions, but the info is leaked. A vision shows CM fighting Aurora, and she accuses her of being the spy. Alpha Flight support Aurora and they fight. But the villain behind all this turns out to be Philippe Beaulieu who is really the old AF foe the Master Of the World. The series ends ready for a new #1.
Uncanny Av #13. Deadpool offers to break H out of jail. U predicts Cable is going to start a war.
Ms Marvel #11. MM wants to disband the Cadets but CM persuades her to continue. So she sets up a fake crime to show CM that U is flawed. But CM just accuses her of conspiring with a criminal. MM defects to IM's side. After BB's death?
CA:Sam Wilson #11-13. CM and IM try to recruit Sam to their sides. Sam chooses Tony, but he's more concerned with the Americops and their racial profiling. (#10 was James Rhodes' funeral so this is probably after the death of BB.) Sam-Cap and Falcon fight the Americops. But secretly Steve-Hydra-Cap sends USAgent to take back the shield.

Scarlet Witch #9. Pietro wants Wanda to join him on IM's side. But SW chooses to remain neutral, although if she had to choose it would be to side with CM.
Spider-Man 2099 #13-16. SM2099 and Captain America 2099 are from different versions of that future stuck in the present. Learning that 2099 has changed again CA goes there via time-portal. But U gets a vision of that ending in disaster so SM goes after her. Miguel ropes all and sundry into the fight against Alechemax, including Strange knows what happen(ed) in CWII. The master villain turns out to be J Jonah Jameson. But he and his Power Pack turn out to be Skrulls. This unites both sides of this future Civil War. And SM gets CA back to our time.
Accused #1. Matt Murdock is hired to be co-prosecutor of Hawkeye. But he discovers that the trial is being manipulated by the government to bring back the Superhero Registration Act. He sabotages his own side to make the trial fairer.
Mockingbird #6-8. Bobbi goes on a 'nerd' cruiseship to meet someone who has info to exonerate H in his trial but he gets killed. There *was* no evidence, it was all just bait to lure MB into the clutches of her old enemy/rapist Phantom Rider.
CWII: Choosing Sides #3:-
--Kate Bishop/Hawkeye worries about CB's trial. (Hulkling and Wiccan also link in to New Av #15)
--J Jonah Jameson considers the trial and worries about an upcoming superhero war.
--Nick Fury catches up with the leader of the SHIELD rebels but fails to hold him.
CWII:CS#4:-
-- Punisher - Crooks break into Horizon Labs figuring that they're safe from precog visions because it's recently been robbed already. But Punisher gets them anyway.
-- Power Pack - The 3 remaining members (Alex Power and Franklin Richards are off exploring the new multiverse with Mr & Mrs Fantastic) discuss the ethics of the U situation after CB kills BB.
-- NF invades a SHIELD base and is nearly caught by Black Widow.

CWII:CS#5:-
-- Tony Stark tries to persuade Canadian PM Trudeau to stop Alpha Flight supporting Captain Marvel. Set after War Machine's death.
-- Colleen Wing fights Misty Knight for a prisoner of the Howling Commandos. It doesn't even bother to say that U predicted something.
-- Nick Fury Jr kills the rogue SHIELD leader. It's an LMD of the old NF who thinks SHIELD needs bringing back to the right path.
CWII:CS#6:-
-- Jessica Jones investigates U's background for Iron Man and finds amazingly no grounds for bias.
-- CM and Abigail Brand try to recruit White Fox but she decides to keep out of the argument.
-- Nick Fury part 6. He decides to return to SHIELD, but secretly keeping the info he's gathered and not trusting them completely.
New Avengers #13-17. Hawkeye's on trial for killing Banner. 1 of U's visions outs Songbird as a spy within SHIELD for Sunspot, and Roberto sends a team to rescue her. But Maker's Revengers attack Sunspot's AIM, and then SHIELD does too. But Songbird has misdirected SHIELD so they blow up Maker's base. The remaining New Avengers arrive to rescue her and some of the AIMers. The whole team re-assemble to defeat the New Revengers but Maker escapes. SHIELD attack the Savage Land base with corrupted Dugan LMDs. Sunspot defeats Maker. Rescue frees the LMDs and stops the SHIELD attack. Sunspot makes a deal with the government.
Ultimates #9. A U vision enables the team to help the 'invading' Infinaut. (Hawkeye is on trial for killing Banner.)


> Civil War II comic book info and issue index

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David Marquez
David Marquez
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David Marquez (Cover Penciler)
David Marquez (Cover Inker)
Justin Ponsor (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Daredevil
Daredevil

(Matt Murdock)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Clinton Barton)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)