Do superheroes have diplomatic immunity?

[Fantasyartist]

This post was inspired by a post on the Catholic Community Forum MB that mentioned a man who tried to sue Satan. I noted that as it would difficult to sue the Devil simply because not only is his domain (Hell) on a different dimensional plane, but as a head of state in his own right( this was before Pinochet, Milosevic, Saddam Hussein and other indictments and conviction of tyrannical heads of state)as Prince of Darkness and supreme ruler of Hell. As most superheroes are now de-facto deputized by the SHRA does this mean that they have diplomatic immunity( several heroes, Thor, Sub-Mariner and The Black Panther are heads of state as is at least one villain, Doom of Latveria-but most are not)?

Terry

 

[BrianWilly]

Honestly? It depends on whether the writer wants them to have it or not. It's completely conceivable that, say, Black Panther's status grants him complete and inviolate immunity in one story, and then in another it becomes just lip service. It truly just depends on whether or not the writer wants him to be immune that day.

Now, with that said, I have noticed that the idea has been played-with more often and taken more seriously in recent times with the SHRA in the fore. It's become a pretty common subject matter to handle in terms of characters like Doom, Namor, and Thor. Even, so, whether or not those characters' diplomatic immunity works in any given situation still completely depends on the writers' whims. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

 

[The Question]

Well, diplomatic immunity only applies to diplomats. Super heroes deputized by the SHRA aren't diplomats. At most they're federal agents, but more likely they'd be considered civilian consultants to the federal government. And those don't get diplomatic immunity. There would probably be a lot of hubub as to where he or she should be tried if they commit a crime in another country, as the U.S. would want it on their soil and the other country would want it on theirs, but regardless, they wouldn't be immune to the laws and would be tried and convicted if guilty.

 

[Dread]

During CIVIL WAR, several superheroes and criminals who were not American citizens were deported rather than imprisoned in the Negative Zone. The SUPER HEROES of EUROPE, or S.H.E., may have diplomatic immunity. During CW, they had a meeting (where Norman Osborn, under orders from Stark, organized an attack on an Atlantian official) and some NYPD officers grumbled how "their" heroes had to register, but superheroes from Europe (and presumably other nations) didn't.

Granted, other countries, especially Canada, Japan, and Russia, had some version of a SHRA (with the former Soviet Union being the most restrictive about it, of course).

But, yeah, it does depend on writer whim, of course.

As for supernatural realms, as the example cited of Satan (or any one of the Hell-Lords like Mephisto or Lucifer or Marduk Kurios, who rule other dimensions considered "Hell"), I doubt they would be free from arrest under any sort of diplomatic immunity. Granted, it would probably be impossible to "arrest" most demons or mythological threats anyway. Usually you either slay them, or they escape, and can often be reborn through arcane means. Considering how much Tony Stark (who runs SHIELD) and other feds "hate magic", I doubt they would allow diplomatic immunity to any mythical being. Thor had to basically pummel Iron Man and threaten Washington with a thunder-strike to get considered "neutral" to the SHRA. Hercules is a god from Olympus but he is still considered an unregistered fugitive. If given half the chance, I am sure the feds would go after Ghost Rider. You could even stretch and claim that Moon Knight is a "diplomat" working for an Egyptian God, but that didn't work and the feds are after his wack-job butt.

 

[hippie_hunter]

It all depends.

Black Panther and Storm have diplomatic immunity because they are the regents of Wakanda. The US government tried to force Storm to register on the basis that she has joint Wakandan-American citizenship, but they pretty much gave up on it and it was ******ed writing on Hudlin's part to make the SHRA to be the bad guys by completely ignoring that there are specific clauses in the SHRA that does not force mutants to register like typical superheroes have to (hence why the X-Men are currently not part of the Initiative).

Iron Man probably has diplomatic immunity because he is the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D., an international organization run by the United Nations.

Iron Man granted Thor diplomatic immunity by setting Asgard up in an embassy/consulate type setting.

Regular superheroes however are not granted diplomatic immunity. The point of the SHRA was to establish accountability and training to superheroes. They're basically treated like the police, FBI, etc. If they break the law they will be punished accordingly.

 

[Dread]

To be fair, one of the hurdles is that Marvel has never specifically nailed down what the SHRA is and all of the rules that it entails. It simply lets the writers do what they want with it, which makes a very vital law seem inconsistent. Some writers thought it meant unmasking in public, some went with Millar's version and didn't. Some had cape-killers detain foreign heroes and others had them deported. Some heroes were arrested just for walking outside in costume and others, specifically Moon Knight, were allowed to operate under "watch".

Over a year and a half later and you still can't get one straight answer about SHRA, and that stinks. If anything needed an across the board definition and consensus, it was this.