So: How should Civil War -or just a storyline dealing with the legality of super heroes in general- have gone about? (Please note that I’m not trying to write a better story than Civil War here- just a more logical one.)
First, it’s important to point out that this kind of thing had already been tried before in Marvel Comics, though not as extensively. During the 90’s there was the “Mutant Registration Act” in the X-Men comics; the American government instituted the Commission On Superhuman Activities (who tried to force Captain America to work only for them and then replaced him when he refused) and Project: Wideawake, which created the infamous mutant-hunting Sentinel robots. The thing with all these stories is that they never really tackled the issues at hand. Those who were in favor of restraining superpowered activity always ended up manipulated by villains and looking like idiots in the end, while the heroes looked good in the eyes of the public, so the matter would always be dropped without truly exploring it.
Still, this being the Marvel Universe, it isn’t that hard to believe that the public would eventually approve of a law such as the SHRA- all that it needed was the proper catalyst and handling. Did Civil War have it?
First, a scandal would be needed to bring attention to the matter. The Stamford incident would qualify… except it kinda pales in comparison with other events, such as the rampage of Magneto (or somebody pretending to be him, it’s complicated) on New York, which according to a Marvel editor resulted in thousands of deaths. Why THAT event didn’t result in harsher government action right away is the real wallbanger here. (According to CW, Stamford was just the last straw the public would tolerate. I don’t quite swallow it, but let’s ignore that one for now.) More than the number of deaths, it’s the fact that one (or more) heroes directly cause a disaster that is important- and that the public becomes aware of it the moment it happened. (Again, Stamford fails here because a) the cause of the disaster was a villain who turned out to be unexpectedly more powerful than usual, and b) it was NOT broadcast live- you can tell from the New Warriors’ dialogue.) If the explosion had been caused by a hero tampering with a bomb against other people’s instructions, the fact that it was the fault of superheroes not being careful enough would have carried more weight.
Next comes a problem of focus: you need to show the reactions of the people on the street, both for and against the proposed law. The series did not did do this enough, not even in CW: Frontline where it WAS supposed to be the point. In particular, I would’ve liked to see more people speaking in defense of the heroes; judging from the main CW series you’d think EVERYBODY suddenly assumed no superhero (even those who had nothing to do with the New Warriors) was trustworthy.
The main series should also have had The Commission present the law, since you know, this IS their job, but I think they only appeared in one of the tie-ins (smells of poor research to me.)
OK, now let’s assume the law is passed. I actually find most of its (basic) requisites believable: if you have dangerous powers, the equivalent of hidden weaponry that can’t be taken away, society has a right to know it. Similarly, in the real world vigilantism is illegal because only properly trained (both on the strictures of the law and the use of violence) police forces are supposed to deal with criminals- and let’s face it, most superheroes, being average Joes who suddenly gained powers and then went around beating punks, are not skilled in either facet. (Though the Avengers and Fantastic Four are exceptions, possibly the X-Men as well.) Note that The Avengers, due to their having made a deal with the government in order to operate freely in the US (and at one point, internationally) ALREADY have authority and training, in exchange for being identified by retina scans instead of by name or fingerprints- again, did Millar know this?) Note also that the SHRA could NOT force heroes to work for the government- only make them accept training if they want to be active, but they could also just retire.
Still, as I mentioned earlier, most “heroes on the street” would be very leery of trusting the government, MUCH less with their secret IDs. Too many bad experiences. Most notably, Spider-Man had just had a storyline where a villain learned his secret ID and went around psychologically torturing him by threatening his loved ones. Spidey simply would NEVER be convinced to reveal his identity, even if Stark watched over May and MJ 24/7. What about the REST of the people close to him? Even his boss, J.J. Jameson, who hates Spider-Man, would be a target! So basically, the Avengers and FF might accept the ruling, but most other heroes would not (The X-Men would definitely refuse due to their history with the government.)
Then comes the point of enforcing the law. Technically, if an unregistered superhero captured a criminal, he’d be breaking the SHRA. But, you know, it’s kind of hard to believe most people would react as badly as they did to people who are helping or even SAVING others. (I would write in at least one case of “______, you’re under arrest for violating the SHRA… oh darn, he got away. Clumsy of me, eh?” 
Would’ve been cute. Civil War however never even attempted it though.)
Of course, at SOME point the government would need to get serious and begin arresting heroes. An agency like SHIELD would definitely be involved… except SHIELD is actually an independent, INTERNATIONAL Agency (Marvel’s writers, in recent years, have been using it as a sort of super-CIA, answerable only to the U.S., not realizing that an Agency as visible as SHIELD is couldn’t operate out of American territory without causing international incidents.) We could, of course, get past this by simply having the US Government ask SHIELD for help. Of course, Fury would never hunt the heroes he’s trusted for years, but at the time of the series he wasn’t in control anymore. And of course, the registered heroes would be asked to help too. Sentinels would only be used as a last resort, given the troubles and bad PR they have caused in the past.
Any arrested heroes would be put in the same super-prison where the villains are kept. (No need for the dangerous negative Zone thing, ESPECIALLY since there had already been a prison there -for villains- and it ended disastrously. Again, how could Marvel miss this?) There they likely would be registered against their will (their powers examined and their identities sought out) thought that would be a field day for lawyers claiming civil rights abuses. Famous Marvel lawyers like Matt Murdock (secretly Daredevil) and She-Hulk would then come in. (In Civil War though, Murdock wasn’t available and Shulkie actually sided with the government!) Free heroes might then try to rescue the arrested ones (which would actually BE illegal, but as I said they don’t often think with their heads.) Of course, SHIELD and the Avengers would be waiting for exactly that.
From here on, the situation would logically carry on as both the people and the heroes try to adapt to the new status quo. Certainly there would be people (including notable heroes like Captain America) working to try fix things, possibly by arranging a deal similar to the Avengers’ for the arrested heroes, talking about things on talk shows, etc.
However, there’s a factor here we can’t just leave out: the villains. Bad guys fall in two camps: crooks with super powers, and the smarter kind who prefer to manipulate things from behind the scenes. The first kind would laugh at the heroes, but they too would be targeted by authorities, who might actually be more effective if they depended on trained agents and heroes- on the other hand, the arrested or retired heroes would not be around to help. (Note also that SHIELD is an anti-terrorist Agency; while they might help for a time, they couldn’t devote their full forces to arresting costumed characters.) The “Master Villains” would definitely see this as a moment to strike, while everyone is distracted. This might lead to some incident where the public begins regaining trust, since, as we know, they would beat the bad guys in the end. It should not be an immediate thing, though; the law may stay on but slowly lose its power as it becomes apparent that there will always be unregistered heroes- and that most of them CAN be trusted.
And this isn’t even mentioning the stuff that even the authorities would be at a loss to deal with- alien invasions, demons, etc. Such stuff ALWAYS happens in Marvel, sooner or later. After all, if they could handle everything, would there even had been a need for individuals to turn into supervigilantes in the first place?
…And that’s it, basically. Oh, you can pepper it with superbattles and what have you to make it more interesting, but that’s how I think the actual SHRA events would’ve turned out if more research (and more common sense) had been included. The most extreme stuff- like the nanite brainwashings- would never even be considered.
OK, your turn. Agree? Disagree? Other ideas?