Civil War remains one of the defining events in Marvel history, both in the comics and the movies. The epic battle between the forces of Captain America and Iron Man over the freedom and anonymity of superheroes set off shockwaves that reverberate through both mediums to this day.
The Civil War movie did its best to present both sides fairly, but arguably the comics came down pretty firmly on the side of Captain America. The behavior of Tony Stark and his forces in the fight was pretty reprehensible and led to a series of consequences that are hard to forgive or forget. Here are the ten worst things Tony Stark's side did in Civil War.
10 Supported The Superhero Registration Act
The sins of Iron Man's side begin with the inciting incident of the entire saga. After a terrible tragedy in which innocent civilians die, the United States government passes the Superhero Registration Act which forces all powered people to reveal themselves to government insight and become government agents. The authoritarian overreach is obvious from the jump, made worse by the fact that Iron Man leans into becoming its spokesperson. His advocacy for the law ignites a chain of events that ends in blood and violence.
9 Hunted Down Unregistered Heroes
Supporting a bad idea is one thing. Acting on it is another. Iron Man's advocacy accelerates from something misguided to truly sinister when he participates in hunting down superheroes who decline to register. It's bad enough to law compels them, but short of legal challenges - which in the real world would have delayed implementation of the SRA for years - Iron Man and his team's determined mission to bring in those who object reeks of fascism. The result is open warfare, which the side opposed wanted nothing to do with.
8 Convinced Spider-Man To Unmask
Tony Stark is one of the richest and most powerful people in the world. He doesn't need to twist anyone's arm to get them to see things his way, but that's basically what he does with Spider-Man. He convinces Peter Parker to stand for his side on the SRA, and publically reveal his identity. The consequences are swift and massive: longtime enemies of Spider-Man like Kingpin set out to get revenge, leading to an attack on Aunt May which then leads to one of the most consequential - and controversial - decisions in Spidey-history.
7 Negative Zone Prison
Tony Stark didn't have a monopoly on poor decisions in Civil War. Reed Richards had his back. The nominal leader of the Fantastic Four created a prison in the Negative Zone - a place the FF is more than familiar with - to place unregistered superheroes the Stark side captured in their pursuit of the opposition.
It's bad enough the Stark team is hunting down unregistered superheroes, but Mr. Fantastic has to go the extra mile to create an impregnable prison in a dimension from which there is really no escape. It is an utter lapse in moral judgment from one of Marvel's noblest heroes.
6 Cloned Thor
The ethical breaches only get worse. Since Thor isn't around during the crisis (he's off in Asgard dealing with literally the end of all things, AKA Ragnarok) Iron Man decides he still needs some god-level muscle. Anyone else might have just settled for the fact that it's an American law which certainly can't apply to an Asgardian god so why bother but Tony Stark clones Thor. That's right, he clones the God of Thunder and uses him in the fight against Captain America and his forces, with absolutely disastrous consequences.
5 Death of Goliath
The unethical cloning of Thor alone would have been enough to cement Iron Man's actions in Civil War as corrupt, if not criminal, but actions have consequences. One of the worst was the death of Goliath. The giant superhero died at the hands of Clone Thor marked a point of no return in the story. Though Goliath - who more or less shares Giant-Man's powers to increase his size and appeared in Ant-Man And The Wasp - died as a direct result of Iron Man's actions, the battle went on, and so did Tony Stark.
4 New Warriors Tragedy
The horrific death of most of the New Warriors (except for Speedball) and over 600 civilians in a battle with supervillains kicks off the push for the SRA. Such tragedy understandably prompts a need for legislation and oversight, but Tony Stark's actions go farther than mere support. He is instrumental in pushing the SRA through Congress in the aftermath of the disaster, and then takes an authoritarian stance on those who oppose it. He is many ways the architect of the conflict, and an exploiter of unbridled tragedy.
3 Created An Opening For Villains
Superheroes on both sides of the fight suffered enormously during Civil War. Supervillains benefited. Their stock went up right away, as many of them joined teams of government-sanctioned squads hunting down unregistered heroes. Among these opportunistic bad guys were Bullseye, Taskmaster, and Lady Deathstrike.
Villains got nearly free reign thanks to the SRA, getting their licks in against their enemies by being deputized to hunt them down or as in the case with Spider-Man, declaring open season on him and his family. The consequences were obvious, but not taken seriously by anyone on Iron Man's side.
2 Destruction of New York City
An effort to retrieve the plans of the Negative Zone prison from the Baxter Building leads to an all-out battle in New York City. It leads to massive destruction and loss of life, all of which were easily avoidable. The battle only ends when Captain America - opposed to the SRA and any conflict from the start - realizes the destruction the battle causes and capitulates. Iron Man fails again by not realizing what Steve Rogers does and continuing to hold the line of his beliefs and his decisions.
1 Death of Captain America
An inevitable consequence of this - and all of Iron Man and his allies' behavior - is the death of Captain America. After his arrest and arraignment, a brainwashed Sharon Carter assassinates him. Of course, he eventually returns, and arguably something worse happens to him later, but this final, bloody act proved the coup de grace in an utterly disgraceful period for Iron Man. Even after this, Tony Stark continued to hold to his beliefs, eventually allowing the Skrull takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D., and after that, losing it to Norman Osborn.