When superheroes take on superheroes the collateral damage is just part and parcel of what's to expect, but as Marvel Comics recent Civil War II storyline is proving, no one is safe, not even the imprint's most popular and prolific characters. Writer Brian Michael Bendis is the mastermind orchestrating this latest contest of champions which has pit Tony Stark against Carol Danvers the still-freshly minted Captain Marvel.
The issue at hand, Danvers has adopted a much more progressive tactic to policing dangerous situations and has indoctrinated The Inhumans to her cause. After discovering a new inhuman that has the ability to see into the a "possible" future, Captain Marvel and her team of Ultimates have taken it upon themselves to prevent dangerous events from occurring. Already one such occurrence had them face off against the mad Titan Thanos but at the cost of several lives including James Rhodes.
That was just in the first issue of the sequel series. Since then Stark and Danvers have stood firm pleading either case and drawn the lines of which the superhero community is (once again) being forced to choose a side. Stark is morally opposed to Captain Marvel's reliance on seeing into the future. It's already proven a dangerous folly and doesn't always result in the most trusted consequence, but if Danvers has her choice, she'd rather prevent crimes and acts or terror before they happen.
There is no side of the angels here. The situation among the heroes in the Marvel Universe has been extremely tenuous as of late. After the entire Secret Wars II debacle that tore the Marvel Multiverse asunder, various groups have risen with no particular structure, The Avengers have not emerged the super power they once were, as a matte of fact, Danvers Ultimates have proven a much more cohesive force recruiting some of Earth's Mightiest Heroes among their numbers.
When the future-seeing Inhuman, named Ulysses, gets a glimpse of a rampaging Hulk laying waste to a major city and taking some innocent lives with him. Both Stark and Danvers intervene on a reclusive reclusive Bruce Banner in an attempt to bring him into custody and prevent the Hulk from being unleashed, but once Banner realizes what is happening he becomes agitated. Before the situation is allowed to escalate any further, Banner's life is snuffed in a quick second! The consequences of that act shake the superhero community to its core, and Secret Wars II is far from a conclusion.
Secret Wars II #3 written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by David Marquez is available now on newsstands and is published by Marvel Comics. ★★★★