I have loved watching superhero films for as long as I can remember. Something that has always interested me was the management and intricacies around superpowered rights within these worlds. It’s fascinating how different franchises tackle what would happen in reality if such powers were real, as we have seen in the past how people have been discriminated against for being different. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) this is touched upon with the film Avengers: Civil War around the laws of superpowers.
The Sokovia Accords are a direct result of the Avengers’ actions both in Lagos (a terrorist attack in 2016) and the fall of Sokovia (a made-up country in Eastern-Europe) for which the Accords are named.
The Sokovia Accords are a set of legal documents set to regulate the activities of enhanced individuals. The Accords were approved by 117 countries following the deaths of 26 people in the terrorist attack in Lagos, Nigeria at the beginning of Avengers: Civil War. After this, the UN began to set up a document to create a system of accountability.
An abridged version of the Sokovia Accords is as follows:
- Those with secret identities must reveal their legal names and true identities to the United Nations;
- Those with innate powers must submit to a power analysis, which will categorize their threat level and determine potential health risks;
- Those with innate powers must also wear tracking bracelets at all times;
- Any enhanced individuals who use their powers to break the law or are otherwise deemed to be a threat to the safety of the general public, may be detained indefinitely without trial;
- The Avengers will no longer be a private organization and will operate under the supervision of the United Nations;
- The use of technology to bestow individuals with innate superhuman capabilities is strictly regulated;
It is expressly mentioned in the Accords, that ‘The Avengers will no longer be a private organization and will operate under the supervision of the United Nations’. This means the UN will have to authorise any action made by the Avengers in an emergency situation which would drastically increase response time. Here is a clear negative of regulation: this would heavily impact those who would be saved; many events are time sensitive and require immediate assistance. If the Sokovia Accords limits the number of people saved, then they are negatively impacting the lives of citizens.
However, an argument must be made for the supervision of the Avengers as they have demonstrated their destructive capabilities countless times. The tragedy that occurred in Sokovia may have been preventable as Ultron (the synthezoid villain responsible for the Sokovia attack) was the product of power and fear built by Dr Tony Stark and Dr Bruce Banner, which may have been picked up by a UN panel. Nevertheless, it will never be known for certain whether that would have happened, indeed the impacts of Ultron could have been more severe if the Avengers had not intervened, which they may not have done with UN oversight. The negative consequences to civilians are huge, as the Accords don’t consider the inability of the police force to protect citizens, just large-scale events.
We should remember too, that The Sokovia Accords rely on the active acceptance of enhanced individuals to allow constant monitoring, which clearly would entail some problems. Additionally, you could argue that vigilantes are essential to keeping crime rates low.
The Accords state that those who use their powers to break the law ‘may be detained indefinitely without trial’. This is a breach of human rights as the extent of a person’s crime must be decided by a judge and one must have the right to a lawyer to defend themselves. It is also documented that those detained would be contained at the Raft; a maximum prison where there is very little human contact and location is unknown. The Accords also state that ‘those with secret identities must reveal their legal names and true identities to the United Nations’. The protection of vigilantes’ identities is a popular topic of conversation within MCU canon; with those who vehemently oppose secret identities and those who wholeheartedly support them. However, it must be addressed that as vigilantes with superpowers are rarely full-time, they have lives and jobs outside of their night-time (and sometime daytime) activities. This means that unlike the Avengers, who are paid for their power usage and seen as celebrities, vigilantes would not be protected from harassment and ostracization from their peers.
The consequences of a vigilante’s identity being revealed not only means that they will be detained indefinitely without trial, but it also puts the lives of those around them in danger. Legal superheroes are able to protect friends from danger, but the Sokovia Accords do not take into consideration the wellbeing of the citizens they are trying to protect. For example, Iron Man, who revealed his identity as Dr Tony Stark long before the Accords, has felt the consequences of these actions when his Malibu home was blown up and his secretary Pepper Potts (now CEO of Stark Industries) was kidnapped and experimented on for their connections to him. This shows that villains will attack the friends and families of heroes and despite Stark having some of the best security around, he still was impacted by his decision. It must be considered that vigilantes would be put in serious danger if their identity were to be revealed which would hinder them from protecting people. Given the number of people who are saved per night by vigilantes in the MCU uinverse, this would also put heavy strain on the law enforcement and governmental heroes.
An enhanced individual is defined as any person, human or otherwise, with superhuman abilities. This encompasses those with passive abilities, those who do not use their powers at all, and children who may not have a full grasp on their abilities yet. The Accords state that ‘Those with innate powers must submit to a power analysis, which will categorize their threat level and determine potential health risks.’. This is an invasion of personal privacy for something that cannot be controlled by the person from the age that their powers present, which may be from birth. The constant threat assessment breeds fear of powers which leads to ostracization which (often for ostracized enhanced individuals) lead to villains or vigilantes. One example of this is Raven Darkholme (AKA the shapeshifter villain Mystique) who was abandoned as a child because she was a mutant, at a time when no one knew what mutants were. She grew up with Dr Charles Xavier until he incessantly required her to hide her true self from the public eye. This caused her to act against those who hurt her and join the villain Magneto (an infamous villain with magnetokinesis, who was found guilty of killing JFK), who also suffered greatly as a Jew in WW2. Under the Accords an enhanced individual is also required to ‘wear tracking bracelets at all times.’ which is also a violation of privacy. This endangers the individual as if someone were to hack into the database, they would have access to where the person is always. However, the Accords do have the positive consequences of limiting villains access to technology which can facilitate enhancement. This means that is will be harder for villains to pose a far more dangerous threat to the safety of the public as Asguardian and Chitauri weaponry are more lethal than Earth weaponry.
In my view, the accountability of enhanced individuals through the Sokovia Accords causes issues such as the constant invasion of privacy, increasing response time dramatically and the consequences of ostracization for powered individuals; usually leading to villainy or vigilantism. The positive consequences of the Accords make sure to mitigate international threats such as a repeat of the fall of Sokovia and keep watch on potential threats for the future, however they don’t consider the impacts on civilian and hero wellbeing and safety.
