*DISCLAIMER*
This Editorial is almost completely pointless (as are most) due to the fact that the possible catalyst for CIVIL WAR in the MCU has already been spoiled. However, being the optimist I am, I'm going to detail how I would handle it......not that my opinion means anything. Also I'm a longtime reader, but have only made an account very recently....also Pasto and Gusto are the same person...Just sayin'. Also this is kind of long, and I lose focus toward the end...Sorry, I guess.
Hey guys, I'm BrettMan. This is my first written-anything on this site (aside from a few anti-Teen Titans GO! comments), and it is solely based on opinion. I ain't lookin' for no controversies, I just wanna put what's in my head onto a computer screen.
Though I don't want to spoil the supposed cause for CIVIL WAR that was leaked today, I will say I found it underwhelming. There is more that MARVEL could have done to please fans and audiences alike, and expand their growing universe in more creative and intriguing ways. Let's start at the beginning of how CIVIL WAR begins in the comics. New Warriors are a bunch of marvel's C-level heroes broadcasting their amazing efforts on live TV. They face a bunch of supervillains in their garage, one goes boom, and only he and Speedball survive. Destruction and hilarity ensue.
Now (if I'm not mistaken), MARVEL had cast Speedball in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (if this is not the case, don't tell me because it ruins the fun of my article), but he has yet to appear in any episodes. We all know that AoS hasn't been very successful (though I've stuck with it), but I think I've found a way to increase some of its popularity. See, MARVEL's tried to pick up the intrigue by tying it into after-the-fact MCU events (Thor: TDK, anyone?...also Hail Hydra), but these have so far been relatively unsuccessful. See, I believe this is because they are acting in reverse. Instead of tying AoS to the MCU, ?they should tie the MCU to Aos.? Let the fan-fiction commence.
An episode of AoS relatively close to the release date of Ant-Man centers on a group of cocky kids riding the coattails of the Avengers by live-streamingg a weekly show where they display their "amazing feats" in a very campy, poorly acted way, by trying to stop local crime in their hometown of Connecticut. The team consists of a relatively powered Speedball, a rough, homemade Night Thrasher, some high school swimmer that can breathe in water using that as the basis of her persona, and an obese adult in the vein of Microbe. [ At this point, I feel like some BS'ed event in Age of Ultron should give random people all over the world powers the same way it gave them to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, giving the MCU a form of mutants (People have speculated Inhumans but AoS has made Inhumans a rarity in the universe)]. Now, these young adults' live-stream is super popular on social media, and it's gained a lot of attention. The S.H.I.E.L.D. folks are PO'd that these kids are endangering their lives in such a reckless manner, and possibly inspiring others, too. They confront them and give 'em a warning to stop. They don't.
Fast forward to the post-credits scene from Ant-Man (supposing there is one). The scene unfolds as if we are literally watching one of the New Warriors' live-streams. They all describe in a very face-in-camera way, whilst figting for the spotlight, that there have been rumors in the underworld of an arsonist/terrorist/evil bomb-making fella hiding out a couple blocks from their HQ, and that they are going to confront him. They carelessly kick down the front door of his supposed home to find a man in his living room meditating. The house is decorated with a bunch of zen stuff, and it has a calming atmosphere. He looks up, sees them, and begins to panic. Night Thrasher grabs him by the collar and starts loudly interrogating him ala TDK (WHEEEARRARAEE ISSSZZZ SHHHHUUUUHHEEEEE???!!?). He freaks out with like a "No! You idiots! I can't control it! I CAN'T CONTRO-" First his eyes. Then his skin. Then the whole room is glowing orange-red, and BOOM.
The next few episodes of AoS are the team interrogating an immensely sorrowful, more human Nitro who was given powers he couldn't control (by previously mentioned event), and an emotionally damaged Speedball, whose kinetic powers saved him from the blast. His friends are dead, his hometown destroyed, and an entire community despises him. S.H.I.E.L.D. aren't helping this as they conduct their investigation in very insensitive means, and finally a broken Speedball is once again allowed to walk the streets. Nitro, however, opts to be arrested in a facility that can contain him (for the sake of others).
Fast forward to CIVIL WAR. The Spidey subplot ain't happenin'. So instead, we should haves an Speedball subplots. He sees the heroes fighting. Nobody really considers it, but he knows he's responsible. At the climax of the film, when everyones battlin' and stuff, he sees the destruction they be causing. He's all like "Their fighting without considering the damage they're doing. People are hurt, dying, and they don't care. All they do is fight. They don't know the trouble they're causing..but I do...I understand it...I can stop it. This is my fight. This is my penance." And so when everyone's passed out in the streets and Iron Man is borderline-killing Cap, a stranger in a metallic, spikey, rough lookin' suit walks through the ashes. He steps over bodies, and rubble. He contemplates the burning buildings behind him, and he comes right up to Antonio and Estephen, and he says stop.
And then like maybe he releases some god-like Kamehameha devastation powers, I don't really know. But anyway, Speedball would be the emotional center of the film's resolution. FIN.