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The whole premise of Captain America: Civil War is that the Avengers need to be kept in check due to some unfortunate outcomes in their dealings with "the bad guy". This leads to the Sokovia Accords.

My question is this: If there were no Avengers, the outcomes of all their conflicts would be much, much worse. And they can hardly be blamed for destroying NYC or Sokovia when, had they done nothing, NYC nor Sokovia, nor the human race probably wouldn't even exist anymore.

Why isn't the blame for these outcomes be placed where they obviously should? On the Chitauri in the case of NYC, on Ultron in the case of Sokovia, and on Brock Rumlow in the case of Lagos (where Maximoff unfortunately killed people when trying to displace a bomb into the air?

(Granted, Ultron was ultimately Tony Stark's fault...)

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    There's a line in the film where they clearly say that the existence of people with their abilities and strength attracts the bad guys to the Earth... so, the implication is that, without the Avengers, none of the bad stuff would have happened in the first place.
    – Catija
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 20:18
  • @Catija That sounds like the core of an answer, not a comment. :)
    – T.J.L.
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 20:24
  • Yes, but only the core... and I have a feeling someone will beat me to answering in both speed and quality... I don't remember the exact line of dialogue...
    – Catija
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 20:26
  • One word: politics
    – sanpaco
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 22:19

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The scene with General Ross explains this part pretty clearly.

The Avengers are being hailed as heroes for saving the world, but they are also being condemned for the extreme amount of collateral damage they cause in the process. People are also very worried about the kind of problems any one of them could cause if they went rogue. (And this is not a hypothetical situation: Hulk tore up entire city blocks, and several of the Avengers were active criminals before they "straighted up.)

It's important to note which elements of the prior movies Ross shows the team to prove his point:

  • In the Battle of New York, he shows a scene where Hulk destroys a building with no Chitauri in sight (possibly the scene where he's saving Tony?)
  • The Battle of Sokovia, where the Avengers demolished buildings in heavily populated regions battling an enemy they literally created.
  • The fall of SHIELD, where Captain America intentionally crashes three SHIELD airships to crash into downtown DC.
  • Lagos, where Scarlet Witch was operating illegally when she hurled an exploding man into a building.

The point they are making is not that the Avengers are bad people; the point is that they go wherever they want, cause massive destruction while saving the world, then just leave and go back home.

The intent of the Accords is to put the Avengers, and all other enhanced people, under control of a regulatory body. That way, they are accountable to someone (if you screw up, you're off the team), and someone is responsible for dealing with the fallout (medical care, rebuilding buildings, etc.)

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    I understand your point, and can see the reasoning... it's still hard to agree with. Condemning the good guys because they ended up doing not ideal things while doing ultimately good things.
    – Benjam
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 21:05
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    @Benjam Why do you think governments do things that make sense? Do any of the governments you associate with do that?... Especially when emotions are involved and people die. No one cares how many people might have died... they care about how many people did die.
    – Catija
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 21:09
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    @Catija Not necessarily... it all depends on who's paying the most to the government officials making those decisions.
    – Benjam
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 21:40
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    @Benjam And therein lies the central conflict of the entire movie.
    – Roger
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 13:12
  • @Benjam yes, and that is the whole plot of the movie. Two sides of the same coin. The merits and demerits of government control over the Avengers.
    – NVZ
    Commented May 28, 2016 at 19:41

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