my thoughts on what happened between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers during Captain America: Civil War
Today’s post is kind of random, but it was inspired by the tweet posted above, which I saw yesterday while scrolling through the TL. The tweet, which has since gone viral, addresses the Iron Man-Captain America beef that we saw begin in Captain America: Civil War. Mainly, “The Hondulorian” expresses how wrong Steve was and how he betrayed Tony for Bucky. In the years since Captain America: Civil War was released, I have seen and had heated conversations about this idea quite a few times. So let me just start off by saying this: It’s wrong. It’s not 100% wrong though because the incident can not be so easily simplified. I know those who are caught up on all the events of the MCU are probably thinking that this post is a little bit late. And you’re right, but I didn’t have a blog when Civil War came out, so give me a break! If you’re not caught up, let me fill you in.
So Tony and Steve, Iron Man and Captain America respectively, did not start off as the best of friends. Tony saw Steve as a goody-two-shoes, whose holier than thou attitude was not only fake but also annoying. And Steve saw Tony as a selfish, self-centered silver-spoon fed man-child who wasn’t anything special without his robot suit. So yeah, not exactly a match made in heaven. But like any anime duo ever, they go on a few life-threatening adventures and along the way they develop a respect for and understanding of each other. They still didn’t always see eye-to-eye (i.e. Age of Ultron), but it definitely seemed like their friendship was solidified. Saving the world together multiple times can have that effect. Alas, the partnership that MCU fans had grown to love was not without a few bumps in the road. Very large bumps. But hey, we might not have gotten Tom Holland as our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man without those bumps. Silver linings people. Silver linings.
At this point, I know those of you who are still reading are probably thinking, “So, she just posted a very brief summary of Tony and Steve’s relationship? Is she Wikipedia? Is she gonna start asking us for $2.75?” No, I am not Wikipedia. However, I wouldn’t turn away the money. But let me get back to my point. I think some of ya’ll need to cut Steve some slack. In order to explain why, we have to look at this whole situation, starting at the beginning. A situation that, I will remind you, began decades before Tony was even a twinkle in Howard Stark’s eye.
James “Bucky” Barnes has always been Steve Rogers’ best friend. When Steve’s parents died, he went to live with Bucky and his family. Before he was Captain America, Bucky protected him and after the Super Soldier serum (try saying that 5 times fast), Steve protected Bucky. His first real mission as Captain America was him defying orders, to rescue Bucky. Then he watched helplessly as Bucky fell from a train off a cliff, seemingly to his death. Now, I like to look at movie characters and their actions and try to sympathize if I can. I have a best friend, two actually, both of whom I love dearly. I always feel the need to protect them. Even if it’s to my own detriment. In Winter Soldier, Steve was going to let Bucky beat him half to death if that’s what it took to get his memory back. That’s the other thing. When Bucky murdered the Starks, he had no idea who he was and no control over his actions. It’s not as if the Winter Soldier was Bucky consciously becoming an evil villain. He was brainwashed by Hydra. Didn’t even know his own name. Was Steve right for hiding Bucky’s secret? No. Was he wrong for trying to protect his brainwashed best friend? No. But, if Steve didn’t have Bucky’s back, who would? Tony has Pepper, Happy, Rhodes, and others. When the Avengers broke up, he still had a life. If Steve had abandoned Bucky, he would have, once again, been all alone in the world.
As much as Iron Man has annoyed me with his actions from time to time, I completely understood Tony’s reaction in Civil War. He had every right to be angry. Brainwashed or not, Bucky killed his parents. To top it all off, someone he trusted, the man his father praised his entire life, knew about it and kept it from him. Tony has always been an impulsive character, so of course, when emotions were added in, he was going to be even more bullheaded. So his response and subsequent actions made perfect sense. My confusion lies with the viewers who have seen the situation in its entirety, know all of the stakes, and still act like Steve simply didn’t tell Tony for no good reason.
It was impossible for everyone in this situation to come out unscathed. Say Steve told Tony the truth: It was Bucky Barnes who shot his father point-blank and snapped his mom’s neck. Do you think he wasn’t going to seek revenge? And when he found Bucky, which he would’ve, was Steve going to sit there and let him kill his best friend? Maybe he could have talked him down, maybe the other Avengers could have tried to intervene. But who’s to say he would have listened and who’s to say that all of the Avengers would have seen Bucky as innocent? Steve never wanted Tony to find out, and if he hadn’t, no one, except for Steve, would have felt any pain. But, thanks to Zeemo, Tony did find out and he was going to kill Bucky. Of course, Steve wasn’t going to let him do that, and when Bucky couldn’t escape, they had to incapacitate Tony so they could get away. Like I said, the situation was a bad one, and Steve probably didn’t make the best decision by hiding the truth, but it’s not a decision that he made lightly, and despite how some may view it, he didn’t just make that decision for himself and Bucky, he made it for Tony too. Some things are better left unknown. Honestly, if you were in Steve’s shoes, at that moment, what other choice would you really have had?
E. Watches T.V (and Movies) 