Avengers Civil War

"I knew I couldn't kill them. More powerful men than me have tried. But if I could get them to kill each other? An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That's dead...forever."

- Helmut Zemo

The Avengers Civil War was a conflict between the two factions of the Avengers based on their opposing stances toward the Sokovia Accords. The conflict was secretly masterminded and manipulated by Helmut Zemo to avenge his family's death in the Battle of Sokovia.

Attack on the IFID Headquarters
"This is for dropping a building on my face!"

- Crossbones to Captain America

Approximately a year after the Ultron Offensive, the Avengers tracked Crossbones and his mercenaries to Lagos, Nigeria, who were planning to attack the Institute for Infectious Diseases and repurpose a virus into a biochemical weapon. They immediately rushed towards the IFID, with Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch neutralizing the hostiles outside and within the IFID. However, they discover that Crossbones had already stolen the virus and attempted to escape into hiding. The Avengers then chased them down to the marketplace.

Black Widow and Falcon quickly took down the engaging hostiles and secured the virus. Meanwhile, Crossbones and Captain America fought furiously until Captain America managed to disarm his mechanical fists and subdue Crossbones. While on his knees, Crossbones taunted that the Winter Soldier had hired him to steal the virus, who was once again under HYDRA control. Suddenly, Crossbones pulled the cord on his suicide vest, intending to kill him and Captain America at once. Scarlet Witch had managed to quickly shield the explosion around Crossbones and tried to move the blast away from the citizens on the ground, but inadvertently destroyed a nearby building, killing many people, including several Wakandan humanitarian workers.

Sokovia Accords
"For the past four years, you operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."

- Thaddeus Ross to the Avengers

Following the increasingly divided opinion on the Avengers after the destruction and loss of life caused by the Battle of Sokovia and the Attack on the IFID Headquarters, the United Nations and several international leaders called for a system of accountability for the Avengers, including Wakandan King T'Chaka, US President Matthew Ellis, and US Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross. One month after the incident in Lagos, Ross gathered the Avengers at the New Avengers Facility and announced that the UN was in negotiations of the Sokovia Accords, which mandated that the Avengers would operate at the decree of a UN panel and would no longer be allowed to operate freely and unregulated. Ross warned that anyone who rejected the Sokovia Accords would be subsequently forced to "retire" their superhero duties.

Following the debriefing, the Avengers and Tony Stark argue and discuss the Sokovia Accords and their impact on themselves and the world at large. As Rhodes and Wilson argue over the Accords, Vision notes that in the eight years since Stark revealed himself as Iron Man, the rate of hostile enhanced individuals has grown exponentially and as a result, the number of potential world-ending events has risen just as much. In conclusion, he admits that oversight is necessary for the Avengers. Stark furthers this by mentioning that the Avengers must be put under control. Rogers argues with Stark that the Avengers must take responsibility for their actions as opposed to shifting the blame to the United Nations. Rogers continues that if they sign the Accords, then they surrender their right to choose for themselves and may negatively impact the effectiveness of the Avengers.

Bombing of the Vienna International Centre
"Don't worry, Ms. Romanoff. I will kill him myself."

- T'Challa to Natasha Romanoff

Three days after Ross' debriefing, the United Nations held a special council of 117 countries at Vienna to ratify the Sokovia Accords. At the council, Prince T'Challa and King T'Chaka of Wakanda met with Natasha Romanoff, and thanked her for her agreement of the Sokovia Accords and her responsibility for the incident in Lagos. During the council, T'Chaka expressed regret and reconsideration at the theft of Wakandan Vibranium to upgrade Ultron and the future legacy of Wakanda. As he continued on, T'Challa noticed a bomb planted inside a van outside the council and tried to warn everyone, but the bomb detonates near the council. Amidst the destruction, T'Challa crawls to T'Chaka and cries as he cradles his dead father in his arms.

Later, news footage shows James Barnes, known as the Winter Soldier, was identified outside the UN building in Vienna and is considered the prime suspect in the bombing. At the UN building, Romanoff expresses her apologies to T'Challa at the death of his father. Consumed with anger, T'Challa vows to Romanoff that he will personally kill Barnes to avenge his father. Romanoff then speaks with Rogers on the phone and she tells him to stay out of the way. Rogers replies says he has to find and protect Bucky, no matter the cost.

Hunt for the Winter Soldier
"I didn't kill your father." "Then why did you run?"

- Bucky Barnes and Black Panther

As the news broke that the one who crafted the terrorist attack was Winter Soldier, T'Challa donned the Panther Habit in order to avenge his father's death. He managed to track Winter Soldier to Bucharest, where he fiercely hunted Barnes down to a traffic tunnel, battling Captain America and Falcon as well. He proved to be a real match for all of them, but eventually was stopped by War Machine and an entire police squad, to which he revealed himself. The police apprehended Barnes, Rogers and Wilson, who were fugitives due to the Sokovia Accords and brought them to Berlin, where Barnes was locked up in a maximum security prison of the Joint Counter Terrorist. T'Challa was also brought in, and was kept in an office.

Clash of the Avengers
"You chose the wrong side."

- Iron Man to Captain America

Around 24 hours after Thaddeus Ross gave Stark his 36 hour deadline, Iron Man and his team confronted Captain America and some of his team at the airport on Leipzig, Germany, bringing in Spider-Man in his new suit to bound Captain America's hands with his webbing and stole his shield. When Rogers refused to listen to Stark and back down, Ant-Man stole Captain America's Shield back for him, and Hawkeye shot an arrow to break the webbing binding between Captain America's hands, and a battle broke out between both two teams. Iron Man went to apprehend Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch, but the two worked together to bring cars crashing down on Stark and kept him trapped temporarily. Meanwhile, Spider-Man went in to take out Winter Soldier and Falcon, using his super strength to block Barnes' punches, and his webbing to stop Falcon's wings from working. As he fought the two, he continuously spouts witty lines and jokes, something which Falcon picked up on. When it seems like Spider-Man has the two defeated, Falcon uses Redwing to grab Spider-Man and throw him out of the airport window. As everyone escapes the various predicaments they have got themselves into, the twelve heroes all end up coming together in the airplane parking area outside the airport. The six heroes on each side begin to run at each other, and all the heroes pair off, clashing with each other, each in an attempt to subdue and take down the other, but with no one having the desire to kill anyone else. In the process, Black Panther got in a hand-to-hand fight with Barnes. A massive battle unfolds, resulting in the destruction of much of the airport. Rogers and Barnes, however, knew they need a way to get to Siberia so as to stop Zemo from reactivating the five Winter Soldiers. They noticed Stark's Quinjet parked in a section of the airport, and realized that they are going to need a distraction so as to escape in the jet. Ant-Man volunteered a distraction he had attempted in a laboratory before, using his suit to make himself grow to be giant instead of shrinking. Taking Iron Man's team by surprise, the team worked on taking down Ant-Man's new "Giant-Man" form and all but momentarily forgot about Captain America and the Winter Soldier. After Giant-Man grabbed War Machine, Spider-Man wraped his webbing around Giant-Man's legs to make him fall over. Meanwhile, Vision noticed Captain America and the Winter Soldier running for the Quinjet, and caused a tower to fall on them to stop them reaching it. Scarlet Witch managed to use her telekinesis to hold up the tower long enough to allow them to reach the jet's hangar but she was attacked by War Machine. However, they found that Black Widow whom betrayed Iron Man's team and used her Black Widow's Bite to subdue Black Panther. She told Rogers and Barnes to escape in the Quinjet. As the Quinjet flew away, War Machine and Iron Man flew in pursuit, and Falcon pursued them in order to help his friends escape. War Machine told Vision to attack Falcon but he missed the shot, catching War Machine's arc reactor instead of Falcon's wings, and causing Rhodes to fall uncontrollably from the sky. He crashed to the ground before Iron Man or Falcon could catch him. He survived the fall, but is severely injured, and the Quinjet flew away. Iron Man shooted out Falcon in rage, and the authorities soon arrived to arrest Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Scarlet Witch and Falcon. Parker soon returned home.

Helmut Zemo's Success
"I've lost everyone. And so will you."

- Helmut Zemo to Captain America

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes flew to Siberia to stop Helmut Zemo from releasing the other Winter Soldiers. When they arrived, Iron Man followed them and stated that Captain America was right about the whole event. When they enter deep into the base, they find that the other Winter Soldiers have been shot and killed. Helmut Zemo reveals that he was a Sokovian and that his family was killed during the Battle of Sokovia. In order to get revenge, he shows the clip from December 16, 1991 and reveals that Bucky killed Tony's parents. An enraged Tony demands to know if Captain America knew about this. Steve admits that he knew Tony's parents were killed by HYDRA, although he didn;t know it was Barnes specifically. Blind with rage, Tony attacks both Captain America and Bucky while Helmut Zemo escapes. Outside, Black Panther, who followed Tony in the shadows, stops Zemo from commiting suicide. Back in the base, Iron Man blasts Bucky's robotic arm off and Captain America beats up Iron Man and shoves his shield in to his arc reactor. Captain America picks up Bucky and drops his shield, knowing that he is unworthy to wield it.

Asking for forgiveness and new partnerships
"Your friend and my father. They were both victims. If I can help one of them find peace..." "You know if they find out he's here, they'll come for him." "Let them try."

- T'Challa and Steve Rogers

Tony Stark received a package containing a cell phone and a letter from Steve Rogers, who apologized for keeping the truth from him while also informing him that the others are just a phone call away if he needs help.

Thaddeus Ross then contacted Stark, informing him that Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Ant-Man had managed to escape from the Raft. Stark, however, deliberately ended the call by pretending to be busy, implying he was letting them escape.

Rogers and Barnes then made their way to Wakanda, where T'Challa granted them asylum and promises to watch over Barnes, who chose to remain in cryogenic stasis until his mind could be cleansed of the mental programming.

Impact on S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I'm here because the President sent me. The Sokovia Accords are the law of the land now and he's concerned you might have some undocumented "assets" working for you."

- Glenn Talbot to Phil Coulson

Since the end of the HYDRA Uprising the US intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. officially didn't exist anymore. However, it continued to secretly operate as the black ops division of President Matthew Ellis's administration. When the Accords were ratified by the US Government and the Captain America was named a fugitive from justice after his previous feud with Tony Stark, the President sent Brigadier General Glenn Talbot to speak with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Director Phil Coulson about registering all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "undocumented enhanced assets", mainly the Inhuman operatives, because that was required by the Accords. Talbot and Coulson had a discussion about the rightfulness of the Accords themselves, compared to the Index of Superhumans once used by S.H.I.E.L.D. and eventually regretted.

Several months after the defeat of Hive and the Leaking of the Raf, Quake's vigilantism made some people question the effectivity of the Accords in actual implementation of the measures.

Appearances

 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Season Three
 * Failed Experiments (mentioned)
 * Captain America: Civil War
 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Season Three
 * Emancipation (mentioned)