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| Major Spoilers ahead for Iron Man 3, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Captain America: Civil War. |
Picking up the Story of Steve and Tony...
- Tony Will Never Be the Same (Iron Man 3): After his self-sacrificial trip through a wormhole to save a civilian population from a nuclear attack, Tony clearly will never be the same again, for better and for worse. For better, because it is clear that we see his growing sense of responsibility moving him to even greater selflessness. For worse, because after the whole experience of fighting off an alien invasion, led by a foe as formidable as Loki, who awakens him to the much greater threats within the universe, he is left with a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder. While the central conflict of this part of the story foreshadows the next part, in that the villain is somewhat of Tony's own making (as he comes from Tony's pre-conversion past), leaving Tony to become all the more aware of the consequences of his actions, this is overshadowed by the obsessive fear plaguing him. We begin to see that his constant upgrades to his suit (quite expansive by this point) manifest more than an addiction to tinkering. They are the product of his fear that the alien threat which sent Loki to Earth in the first place will one day return and he must be prepared. This has such a hold upon Tony that we see his awakened sense of responsibility begin to transform into a genuine Messiah complex, which has yet to reach its full culmination. As we see this all begin to take a heavy toll on his relationship with Pepper, we see a great turning point when he finally gives Pepper the "Christmas present" of destroying his thirty-some suits and even having the shrapnel and device removed from his chest, as a gesture of his desire to detach from the suit, which becomes his protection and means of believing he can save the world, in order to finally commit to Pepper. But, the messiah complex still has a hold upon him...
- Steve Pays It Forward (Captain America: Winter Soldier): Meanwhile, Steve continues to find his place in this world, in a very different generation. The gradual erosion of his optimistic view of mankind continues as it begins to be discovered that Hydra, not only was not entirely defeated in WWII, but has remained hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D., the very organization he now serves, and has even risen into its highest ranks. Still, he does not allow his faith in humanity to be completely shaken. He is the weak man who knows the value of strength: to be able to fight for what is truly good. Unlike the messiah complex, which would take the weight of saving the world completely upon his own shoulders, Steve continues to call others to both goodness and greatness, as he has always done. His "price of freedom" speech to the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, calling out the Hydra agents among them and calling upon those who are faithful to take a stand, brings great results. But, we see this most boldly in his conflict with Winter Soldier himself. This becomes a key moment for Steve, which ultimately leads to him being a rather bold and clear Christ-figure, even more so than his previous sacrifices. All of the lessons of integrity, through which he struggled and suffered, become something he is able to "pay forward" when he discovers that his best friend (Bucky) is, not only still alive, but no longer able to "remain who he is... a good man" because his memory and identity have been robbed from him, transforming him into a weapon by the evil Hydra (Winter Soldier). Steve faces his old friend, who views him, not only as an enemy, but even more heartlessly as his target, insisting upon the truth of who he is, as his friend. So great is his insistence that Bucky is, not his enemy, but his friend, that he is willing to allow his old friend to kill him, in order to save his soul.
- Tony Creates a Monster (Avengers: Age of Ultron): With the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. (and Winter Soldier still at large), Steve reaches out to Tony for assistance in reuniting the Avengers, this time as a self-governed group of independent super-powered global vigilantes, determined they will be different than S.H.I.E.L.D. For the time being, their primary task seems to be hunting down and shutting down remaining Hydra cells worldwide, through a series of "raiding parties." On the raid they believe to be their last, they come upon the scepter that Loki used in his attack on New York. During the raid, they encounter a pair of twins given superpowers, through Hydra's experimenting with the scepter, one of whom (Wanda) has mind-control abilities, including hallucinations. Wanda induces Tony into a vision, which manipulates his growing messiah complex to believe that he will bring about the end of the Avengers because he "could have saved" them. With this fear having taken a firm hold of him, she gleefully allows him to take the scepter. Tony and Bruce Banner run analysis on it, only to discover a gem within (the Mind Stone - another Infinity Stone) that is apparently the key to developing Artificial Intelligence. Fearing the obstacles the team will present them with and believing this is necessary to keep the world safe, Tony persuades Banner to assist him in secretly working toward this goal, resulting in the A.I. villain, Ultron. Coming to the logical conclusion that humanity appears to be its own downfall, he seeks mankind's extinction. Despite the disastrous results of their efforts to create Ultron, after some initial very tense conflicts among the entire team, Steve still defends Tony's ability to make this right, until Wanda (who has now changed allegiances, along with her brother, after discovering the horror of Ultron's evil plans) convinces him that Stark's own insecurities are what gave birth to Ultron and will continue to mislead him. Steve, Wanda, and Pietro (her brother) confront Tony and Bruce, attempting to stop them from placing Tony's U.I. (Jarvis) inside the android body that Ultron initially created for himself, which happens to have the Mind Stone embedded into its forehead. Thor interrupts some more very intense infighting, in order to re-initiate the process of bonding Jarvis with the android body, having seen a vision indicating that a hero borne of the Mind Stone itself will be needed to defeat Ultron. Thus, Vision is born - an android hero who is part-Jarvis, part-Ultron, part-Mind-Stone and part-whatever-Thor-did-with-his-lightning and he helps them defeat Ultron. In the process, Steve leads the others in proceeding by keeping the safety of civilians a heavy priority, because of his conviction that this battle is "about whether (Ultron) is right" that the Avengers are more of a threat to the world than legitimate defenders. Again, we see Steve holding to the hope that their fight can actually preserve true and genuine goodness, including the value of every human life (again, persevering in the good, not just in the fight) and not simply obsessing over keeping the world safe, allowing that fear to lead them into countless compromises. At the conclusion, Tony still seems to want to retire, leaving the (new) team essentially in Steve's hands, since he is very much "at home" leading soldiers in fighting to keep the world safe, leaving us with the contrast between one who needs to find a reprieve from his obsession with saving the world and another who is calm, confident and very much at peace in leading a team of heroes to simply do all that they can to fight for justice and peace. Meanwhile, these two initially very reluctant allies are clearly now genuine friends. In their deepened respect for one another, we can better appreciate the best of both of their intentions: Steve maintains that the fight for goodness and truth requires constant vigilance (integrity and fortitude), while Tony is increasingly motivated by a vision of safety, peace and rest.
- From Allies to Friendship to Fracture (Civil War): Ironically, it will be the one who created the "murder-bot" in the first place (Tony) who will allow the impact of this event to cause him to lead the charge in supporting a U.N. mandate (The Sokovia Accords), which would require the Avengers to register and allow themselves to be governed and directed. Having seen the organization that was previously giving him orders be corrupted, almost at its very core, and being subsequently determined that the Avengers would be better than that, ever free to remain committed to goodness and truth (more on that here), Steve cannot accept this kind of governance. We are given a hint that he's onto something in the fact that the Secretary of State who is managing this whole arrangement is the same military leader who was previously seeking to capture Bruce Banner, in order to turn the Hulk (and hopefully, eventually others like him) into a weapon at the military's disposal. Not only his involvement with the accords, but even the fact that this man has been able to rise to such a position of authority in the government should certainly give them pause about placing themselves under such direction. Meanwhile, Steve's position might be well summarized by Natasha's much earlier words on Capital Hill, after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.: "It's a vulnerable world and yes, we helped to make it that way... but we are still the most qualified to defend it." Naturally, however, Natasha is torn between them, as she was once working with S.H.I.E.L.D. to bring Tony to a point of similar cooperation, as she continually genuinely strives to do what is right. Thus, she initially sides with Tony, while still pleading with Steve, only to later switch sides. She offers an interesting point of perspective in the conflict, as she clearly cares for both of them and sees the best of both of their intentions, but manages to remain objective and convicted about what she believes is right, even as that belief continues to evolve. It is fascinating to consider all of the many perspectives and motivations in the various players in this whole conflict. As tempting as it is, I will refrain from trying to discuss them all. But, we see in this dark episode of the story the constant human tension between our personal convictions to what we hold to be true and our loyalty to those we love. We see how the strength of these convictions motivates Steve to fight, regardless of how much he respects and cares for the person who stands against him. Meanwhile, Tony seems to be desperately trying to hold things together, clearly hurt and frustrated that the "righteous man," Steve Rogers, his good friend, doesn't see or agree with the fact that he is trying to repent in the only way he knows how, by taking responsibility and trying to make things right. He is clearly motivated by a deep remorse, after the tragedy with Ultron and this is clearly a part of how his ongoing conversion is plagued by his messiah complex. Nonetheless, Steve insists, "When I see a situation headed south, I can't ignore it," and he has the clarity of mind to not be controlled by his emotions, after he let his emotions get the best of him at the beginning of this part of the story, resulting in tragedy. We see so many in this story who clearly are controlled by their emotions - Tony, Zemo (the villain who orchestrated many of the events that unfold) and T'Challa early on, just to name a few. In fact, there is a parallel between Tony and Zemo, as both use their superior intellects to work toward a goal that is being clouded by their emotions. Meanwhile, Steve clearly is neither mindless nor heartless. He feels very deeply and this is very personal story for him as well. He is all the more driven by the fact that this new conflict has arisen at precisely the time that Bucky has resurfaced. Despite that Tony and his "legal" Avengers remain determined to bring Bucky in (and Steve, if he attempts to stop them) for a crime for which he has been framed by Zemo, Steve remains determined to finish what he began, in fighting to help him recover the "good man" he truly is, underneath the layers of Hydra's brainwashing and manipulation. Meanwhile, Zemo's plan culminates by baiting Steve, Bucky and Tony to be all in one place, as he reveals - just at the point they seemed to be nearing reconciliation - that Bucky (under Hydra's brainwashing) killed Tony's parents. Early in this episode of the story, Tony had openly acknowledged how many of his problematic behaviors in life were in fact "the things I did to avoid my grief" over the loss of his parents (recall the "father-wound" deeply explored in an earlier episode). Thus, this final revelation sets Tony completely off the chain, causing him to lose sight of all reason. Not acknowledging what Steve, in his quite reasonable and merciful compassion, had told Bucky shortly before this whole sequence unfolds, that the things Bucky did under under Hydra's mind-control were not him, Tony turns relentlessly against both Bucky and Steve (for not telling him that he knew Hydra, and possibly Bucky, was responsible). Thus, this great fracture between these two initially reluctant allies, turned true friends, is both political (representative in part of the rejection or acceptance of a large and powerful government, intensely regulating our lives in an apparent attempt to promote peace and justice) and profoundly personal and emotional. Regardless, the fracture between them is deep and strong... seemingly insurmountable, despite the message Steve sends Tony at the end, that he and the "secret" Avengers who side with him (which is most of them by the time it all concludes) will always be there when they need them.
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