And why are they a thing now?
Unless you’ve been cut off from the internet, we’re guessing you’ve seen the Captain America: Civil War trailer. In between the super powered brawls and the emotion of friends turning on each other, you might be wondering what started all this commotion. You might have heard the phrase “Sokovia Accords” in the trailer, which seems to be an inciting factor in the film’s conflict.
Well, if you want to know what the Sokovia Accords are we’re here to help.
So, what are the Sokovia Accords?
Straight from the mouth of the Russo Brothers in an interview with Empire:
“The Accords are the world jointly trying to govern the Avengers moving forward. It has to do with the effects of Ultron and Sokovia, and New York City , and Washington D.C. Examining the third acts of all the Marvel movies, we’re saying, if you could point to the collateral damage in all those incidents, could you use that against the Avengers to control them?”
So, if you remember how S.H.I.E.L.D. operated under supervision of a world council in The Winter Soldier, it seems that the governing bodies of the world are trying to do the same thing to the Avengers. After all, in Age of Ultron the Avengers were operating on their own without any oversight and kind of leveled an entire city in Eastern Europe (Sokovia), not to mention a city in Wakanda. That’s going to bring some heat on them and thus there is going to be a call for regulation. The Sokovia Accords is the official call for that oversight following the conflict in Sokovia.
“You cannot have a character called Captain America without examining the politics of what that means, especially in this day and age. The heroes in this universe operate under their own auspices, not under the directive of a government, and that can cause a lot of problems. There’s a certain level of imperialism that we’re examining – what right do those that have power have to use that power, even if it’s to do good? How do you govern that kind of power?”
How will this impact the MCU?
Well, if you recall in The Winter Soldier… Steve Rogers really hated working for S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, dismantling that organization when they learned it was infiltrated by HYDRA brought him a lot of pleasure. He’s seemed to enjoy his time as an autonomous unit leader in Tony Stark’s funded version of the Avengers despite the collateral damage.
The introduction of the accords means that Captain America would essentially be going back to his position in The Winter Soldier: working for a government organization that’s working at the pleasure of elected officials. When you get the government involved there’s a lot more room for crippling democracy and corruption which really hurt S.H.I.E.L.D by the end of its existence.
As a lifelong soldier, Steve isn’t going to be comfortable with that situation which one probably one of the reasons he’s rebelling. Obviously, a lot more is going to be factoring into the fight between his side and Tony’s but that’s a major pillar.
We don’t know if the Accords will be implemented by the end of the film… but either way it’s cause for a lot of conflict.
