….What movie did you watch?
The accords were about Steve thinking his Bucky was more important than the crimes that he had committed
Nope. Objectively wrong if you actually watch the movie. Steve was hesitant to sign the Sokovia Accords before Bucky was ever on anyone’s radar, based on the lack of agency, and the danger of the Avengers’ poweres being misused by outside parties. He even considered signing the accords after taking Bucky in, which would have been to Bucky’s advantage at the time. He didn’t, partly because he found out about how Wanda was being kept under house arrest with no rights, among other reasons.
Also he fuckin knew who murdered maria and Edward stark and he hid it.
Steve admits he didn’t know for sure that Bucky murdered them, and there’s a lot of evidence that’s true. There was a heavy implication that HYDRA had a hand in their murder, but no proof. Consider the lengths Zemo had to go to in order to find proof throughout the entirety of CA:CW. Steve had a hunch and an implication made by a malevolent nazi AI, that’s all. There was no evidence to hide. He didn’t tell Tony “hey, there’s a slight chance with no proof whatsoever that someone I knew murdered your parents”, and sure, that wasn’t the best move. But it’s not like he was rigging a trial.
Do you think, that if you have some kind of superhuman power, that puts you against the law?
If the law is criminalizing my very existence? Yes, that would put me very much against the law. Because I would like to keep living. The Sokovia Accords put huge restrictions on enhanced people and treated them like weapons. Like objects, not people. For people like Tony who can just take the armor off? Not a big deal. For the heroes whose powers are melded into their DNA? Kind of a problem.
Steve basically deciding ‘‘Fuck everything I’m done with this shit’‘ and throwing a temper tantrum against all governments of the world basically makes him a fuckin hypocrite.
Except that never happened. (And it’s deeply ironic to call Steve a hypocrite, when it’s Tony who breaks the Accords he already signed the second he finds them inconvenient, and proceeds to flaunt them by fostering an illegal protégé. More on that later.)
Steve repeatedly tries to communicate and compromise, but ultimately is forced into a situation where it’s either “allow extrajudicial murder of an innocent man” or act. Then, he tries to explain the situation about Zemo and the other Winter Soldiers, only to be ignored, and has to go off on his own to deal with the threat because no one will listen because it doesn’t fit the politically advantageous narrative Ross wants.
Steve’s main disagreements with the Accords are not “I can’t do whatever I want” but “I don’t want to be at the whim of potentially corrupt institutions who will use me as a weapon for their own agendas” – a very real concern given what had happened with HYDRA/SHIELD, and frankly with everything the US government has done since WWII.
Steve’s argument was never “we don’t need any kind of oversight” but “surrendering ALL responsibility in the way these documents demand is equally irresponsible.” And he balks at the dehumanizing attitude and disregard for human rights. Because when that comes into play, it looks a lot less like the Accords are about protecting people, and a lot more like governments are looking to force enhanced people into being tools in their arsenals.
Considering the folks promoting the Accords also:
Support extrajudicial execution (kill order on sight of a man without trial, just because he was scary to them)
Mock the idea of giving Bucky a trial (in violation of human rights)
Lock up the Avengers in superhero guantanamo with no legal recourse, and again, no human rights
Refer to people as weapons and engages in dehumanization of powered persons (I guess they’re okay with the no human rights thing if they stop considering people human?)
… that makes me think that concern is pretty justified.
The Sokovia Accords also require any enhanced person who uses their powers to work for the government or face being locked up indefinitely without trial. They require the person to be registered and have their DNA on file with their government. They cannot leave their country’s borders without UN approval. Anyone with innate powers is forced to wear a tracking bracelet at all times (see Agents of SHIELD.)
This means that, according to the Accords, Peter Parker being Spider-man is in violation in multiple counts (not registered with the government, not wearing a government tracker, acting under an assumed name, being a vigilante, operating overseas without UN approval when he went to Germany) and can legally be made to disappear in the RAFT at any point with no trial. Ever.
Tony also deliberately did not tell Peter about what this would entail for him. When we see Peter’s video journal in Homecoming from the events of CA:CW, he says he was told “Cap went crazy or something” – when Steve tries to tell him there’s more going on that he understands during CA:CW, Peter says that Tony told him he would say that, and that Cap is dangerous – ensuring Peter wouldn’t listen to the other side and potentially find himself with qualms about the situation.
Also, when Tony plans a press conference at the end of Homecoming, he doesn’t tell Peter anything about the Accords. He doesn’t tell him he would have to sign them, and would no longer have the ability to be Friendly-Neighborhood Spider-man anymore without government oversight of his every move, or that he would be required to give up his secret identity and be outed. There is no warning there, at all.
The idea of the Accords is that:
With Great Power Comes Great Government Control of You.
With Great Power You Are Not Allowed Agency.
With Great Power Comes You Being Someone Else’s Instrument.
Never With Great Power Comes Great (Personal) Responsibility.
For Peter’s entire philosophy, modus operandi, and character? That’s about as wrong a side as it can get.
