Have you guys ever read the "original" Civil War concept?

[kguillou]

Ok so i just bought the Mark Millar Civil War script book. And in it, theres a four page outline/pitch that Millar wrote for his original idea for Civil War and its very interesting to say the least.

To summarize, originally this was going to be 12 issues ala Secret War. Basically instead of a big Stamford explosion killing 600 people, what kicks everything off is a battle between Speedball and some villain and in the midst of it, a little boy gets killed because of Speedball's carelessness. This boy's death then sparks the whole registration debate and push for it.

Then basically what happened in issue #7 of Civil War happens in halfway point of this story where theres a big battle between the two factions of heroes but Cap doesnt get arrested, he instead realizes that he's doing more harm than good and the people are very much in favor of registration. He then retreats with the rest of his troops realizing that he has two options: unmask or disappear.

Then, and this is where things get interesting. Now there's a new status quo where nearly everybody is registrered. The US government is using this device from Dr. Doom to de-power heroes who are captured and refuse to register. Thor comes back, the REAL Thor and he sees what a different world this is. Then, the Hulk comes back and he's pissed off and he's got an army of Hulk babies and they unleash a massive attack on New York. Eventually Cap, Thor and Tony all reunite to fight against this common threat of the Hulk and a big battle ensues and eventually take him down.

But after the threat of the hulk is gone, a corrupt senator, the one behind the registration act, gets his hands on the Doom device and tries to eliminate all the superpowers of the world. Steve Rogers eventually makes the ultimate sacrifice and destroys the device but not without getting rid of his powers thus reducing him to a 90lb skinny man again permantly. And the 12 part series pretty much ends with the heroes friends again, Hulk imprisoned, Thor back, and a skinny Steve Rogers pursues the normal life he's always wanted.

So im just curious what you guys think of this "original" concept of Civil War? I'll tell you one thing, the ending seems alot cooler than the one we got (steve arrested and locked up). But i wonder if 12 issues wouldve been a bit much and it seems like the story is much more self-contained than the story we got which caused a ripple effect in the MU for a long time.

 

[Drz]

It's also interesting because the original pitch instead of heroes vs. heroes was infact heroes vs. SHIELD which might happen in the Avengers cartoon, funny right? Nick Fury is pro-super heroes so Millar had some tough time trying to make this work so i guess the story went to his advantage when Maria Hill took over.

I loved the last page ending idea for the story with skinny Steve just walking off the sunset like a real champion, and the idea of the Gladiator armored Hulk coming with a legion of Hulk babies seemed like a huge "oh shi-" moment along with the idea of Thor and Captain Marvel coming back, ultimately it was Tom Brevoort who wanted Planet Hulk to remain Planet Hulk and Civil War to remain Civil War.

Mark Millar's thoughts/scribbles you can see how he digs the big superhero vs. superhero fight until the heroes realize that "oh wait, why are we fightning again? Baron Zemo is the real villain here!" or someone else is the true mastermind behind this.

It's also really cool how they had Hawkeye considered as the new Captain America but it worked so much better for Bucky Barnes to take over, but i wish the Ultimate Hawkeye could lead the Avengers because Hawkeye seems like the great leader type in both universes.

The original pitch also had Steve's "Secret Avengers" in new costumes so satelites couldn't pick them up which could have been a cool "toy" idea lol really. Overall you can see the Civil War we got ended up being much more down to earth story.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I actually think that sounds pretty awesome. I didn't mind the story we got, but that sounds awesome as well. Combining Civil War and World War Hulk would have been cool.

 

[kguillou]

The Hulk babies thing sounds a little weird and im not sure how i wouldve felt about the heroes reuniting to fight the Hulk. I would rather it be a genuine evil force that they all ban together to fight like what we got in Siege with Osborn and the Void. The Hulk is their friend and ally after all.

That said there are some very interesting concepts here. I really love that ending and i like Thor coming back in the midst of it.

 

[runawayboulder]

Hmmmmm......I do kinda like the idea of Steve making the ultimate sacrifice to protect his comrades. The angle of Bucky replacing Cap still could have worked in the aftermath. Only with this version Steve could have been there to monitor Bucky and be like his version of Oracle. It was also easily reversible/practical instead of the magic time bullet we ended up getting.

It would be better if the random Senator guy was a villain in disguise. The Red Skull would have been a perfect fit but Geoff Johns already did that years ago (Dell Rusk anybody?). It could have been maybe someone that hasn't been seen in a long time. I also wonder if the Spider-Man unmasking would have been the same? Also the length was too much. The finished product ran over-due.

I can see why it didn't see the light of day, it basically crammed in 1 event what Marvel ended up doing over the course of the next 3-4 years. Marvel made more $$$ in the long run.

 

[WolfCypher]

You had me up until the Hulk babies invasions. If its Civil War, then its not Hulk War. I think Marvel realized they could split this up into two profitable events, and CW was followed a year later by WWH. Which was for the better, instead of forcing an act 2 that would be out of place.

And this unused CW doesn't make mention of Iron Man's status as head of SHEILD, which would have been a shame had it not happened. I liked that status quo period of Marvel.

But Thor's early return would have been nice.

Marvel couldn't even keep the Civil War we got on schedule, it would have taken two years for a 12-part Civil War to finish. And the tie-ins would have never ended...

 

[Anubis]

Sounds just as dumb as what actually went down.

 

[kguillou]

I agree the whole Hulk thing feels very out of place within the context of the story. Even Brevoort in commentaries of the draft pointed out that Hulk really has no place in this story.

But man i love that ending. If Millar had used that ending in the final product, Civil War would've been a MUCH better story imo. The ending we got was just....unsatisfying.

 

[PaleRider]

I love this idea except the hulk part, I think it would have been cool if the villain was Doom the whole time.

 

[The Morningstar]

Yea, sounds just as terrible if not, even worse, than what we got. The ending is better though.

 

[Union Jack]

why would steve need to un mask??
his identity is public anyway isnt it??

i prefer the storyline of what actually came out,the idea of hulk being the major bad guy i don't like so much..world war hulk was understandable as he was cheated,shot into space and stuff.

i like hulk to be the hero...like in the avengers toon.

 

[runawayboulder]

One other thing to remember is while the outline seems appealing, it's the meat and potatoes of the story that makes the difference. A lot of people weren't crazy about the way Cap and some others acted and came across during Civil War. The original beginning, middle and end may sound cool but what's in between needs to be good.

 

[Drz]

why would steve need to un mask??
his identity is public anyway isnt it??

Steve didn't believe SHIELD could keep all the registered heroes and their private identities as a secret and that there would be leaks and thus the personal information of countless of heroes would get exploited. Hence Steve didn't agree with registaration and went underground with the other heroes.

 

[Union Jack]

i for one liked all marvels big stories up to press..
not one i haven't liked.
i did like dark reign and seige tho...this fear itself seems interesting so far.

the explosion in stamford is more cataclysmic than some poor boy dying tho for civil war..its a lot more of a massive tragedy..it would warrant the mass public outcry more than a single person.

 

[Tron Bonne]

It sounds better overall, I guess. But the whole Hulk baby invasion is a big ol' bucket of what the hell.

 

[kguillou]

I can only imagine how long it would have took tho if it was a 12 issue series. Mcniven would've prolly quit after it was done. lol

 

[Phaedrus45]

I definitely don't like the sound of it. It tries to be and do too much. I think the original was a lot more powerful; and, the stuff that came from it only made things more interesting with many of the other comics. The death of Steve Rogers and Bucky becoming Cap was a dang good storyline. (It's just too bad his return was botched so badly.) Not everything that spun from it was fabulous...but, it set up an event and subsequent storylines that I'll never forget.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sounds just as dumb as what actually went down.

I'm gonna go ahead and agree with this. It's not really better or worse, it's just dumb in different ways.

 

[Scourge2099]

I liked it up until the Hulk coming back with an army of Hulk babies.