Marvel's new comic crossover "Avengers: Armageddon" is being credited with resolving a long-standing weakness of the acclaimed 2006 "Civil War" storyline: its central ideological conflict over superhero registration and accountability never received a lasting resolution. Both the original comic and its 2016 film adaptation, "Captain America: Civil War", saw one side triumph, but the consequences faded over time as later stories reset the status quo. Twenty years on, Marvel appears to be reviving and properly addressing that unfinished debate.

In the comics, the fallout from "Civil War" was gradually undone through subsequent events such as "World War Hulk" and "Secret Invasion", with Iron Man's disgrace and replacement by Norman Osborn eventually giving way to a return of a registration-free Avengers. Similarly, in the MCU the Sokovia Accords have effectively been phased out, with recent films like "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" showing heroes operating largely without legal restriction. The article, which contains spoilers for "Avengers: Armageddon" #3, argues that this new crossover finally reignites that dormant ideological split between Marvel's heroes.