‘Civil War: Unmasked’ #1 Provides Unrevealed Insight Into Tony Stark's Support of Superhuman Registration

In 2006, Civil War tore the super hero community in half, drawing battle lines between those who supported Superhuman Registration and those who did not. Following a tragic incident in Stamford, Connecticut, the U.S. government  passed a bill that required all super heroes to register their secret identities. Iron Man spearheaded registration in the superhuman community, setting him on a brutal collision course with Captain America, who would lead the opposition against this new mandate.

Now, on the 20th anniversary of Civil War (2006), writer Christos Gage and artist Edgar Salazar revisit the seismic event that rattled the Marvel Universe to its core in CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED. The mini-series explores untold stories from the perspectives of different characters during the conflict. First up in CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED #1 is none other than Tony Stark himself as he follows Bishop on a revelatory journey to the Days of Future Past timeline.

Iron Man and Bishop battle Nimrod in the future in the CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED #1 preview below!

MARVEL.COM: Civil War was a seismic event in Marvel Comics history. Tell us about your experience revisiting it 20 years later.

GAGE: It’s brought back a lot of memories. I remember the excitement around it, both as a reader and a creator. While I’d been a screenwriter for a few years at that point, I’d only been writing comics for a year or two. So I was fairly new to writing for Marvel when I got the opportunity to write the Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War one-shot during the original Civil War event. Let’s face it, it was the beautiful Jimmy Cheung covers – one showing Iron Man victorious, the other showing Cap winning – that sold that book, not me! But it was my first “big” comic book writing gig, and I’m happy to say it was well received. When editor Sidney Stubbs approached me about this 20th anniversary miniseries, I thought it could be a nice full-circle moment both for me as a writer and for the characters, as we look at certain aspects of what happened in more depth than was possible back in 2006.

The really cool thing for me, re-reading the original event, was realizing how many opportunities there were to go deeper into the story. That’s why we called it Unmasked. It’s an allusion to the literal unmasking required by the Superhuman Registration Act, of course, but it also refers to getting into the heads of some of the main characters to “unmask” why they made some of the consequential decisions they did.

MARVEL.COM: Civil War was as much an all-out brawl as it was an ideological clash between heroes, with Tony Stark as a central figure in the conflict. How do you get to expand on his perspective in CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED?

GAGE: As a reader, I’m Team Cap, because I know the fictional heroes I love will always do the right thing. But if I actually had to live in the Marvel Universe, I’d totally be Team Iron Man – someone has to keep an eye on these walking bombs! My idea for our first issue picks up on a line from my Casualties of War one-shot, where Tony tells Steve about Project Wideawake, the plan involving the Sentinels that gets implemented in Days of Future Past. When I wrote that line 20 years ago, I figured Tony had learned about it when he briefly served as Secretary of Defense. But now I thought, hey… maybe he saw its effects first-hand?

We catch up with Tony at a crucial point in Civil War, right after Spider-Man reveals his identity to the world. Folks might not remember, but initially, Tony tried to stop the Registration Act. But after the explosion in Stamford killed innocent civilians, all hope of preventing it was gone, so he instead got on board with trying to implement it in the best possible way. Still, at some point, Tony went from a reluctant supporter of registration – a realist making the best of the inevitable – to a true believer in the cause. How? We reveal that for the first time.

MARVEL.COM: Where in the Civil War timeline do we find Tony in CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED #1?

GAGE: Specifically, four pages into Civil War (2006) #3, when Tony meets with Emma Frost in an attempt to get the X-Men to join the pro-registration side. Longtime readers will remember that he failed; the X-Men have their own problems, with the world’s mutant population having been reduced to just 198 mutants total in the aftermath of the Scarlet Witch’s reality-altering breakdown in House of M. As such, they declare their neutrality with one exception: Bishop approaches Tony as he is leaving the mansion.

In the original series, it appeared as though Bishop just wanted to join the pro-registration side. But in CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED #1, we see that something more happened: Bishop actually took Tony into his future, the world of Days of Future Past. In that timeline, humanity’s fear of beings with great power led to the mass production of deadly robot Sentinels. And as they stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back, in the form of the ultimate Sentinel, Nimrod…

MARVEL.COM: What can you tease about some of the other stories in this series following Spider-Man, Goliath, Tigra, and Captain America?

GAGE: With Spidey, we’re getting a chance to really examine the decision-making process as he considers the pros and cons inherent in the massive step of unmasking to the world. And of course, that process has to include Aunt May and Mary Jane… how did they help Pete take that step? Or did they have doubts? Then we’ll see the immediate aftermath, as the Maggia hires Hydro-Man to strike at some people Peter Parker is close to.

The Goliath issue is told from the point of view of Tom Foster, the current Goliath. He’s the nephew of Bill Foster, the original Goliath, who died in Civil War. We see Tom trying to come to terms with his uncle’s death and figure out what to do with his anger over it, weighing both his own anger and looking back over his relationship with Bill to try to understand what Bill would want him to do. This is the only issue that looks past the end of Civil War, as we get to the World War Hulk era, when Tom got his size-changing powers.

GAGE: Tigra’s issue examines something I always felt the original event never really explained: what motivated her to become a mole within Captain America’s team? We’ll take a look back at her past as Greer Nelson, the Cat, and Tigra to shed light on that. Carol Danvers features in this one as well.

Cap’s issue is one I’m working on now, and I don’t want to say too much about it, except that it’s a bit of a bookend to Iron Man’s in that it explores Cap’s commitment to his cause. We’ll also take a look at the civilian cover identity Steve adopted, courtesy of Nick Fury.

MARVEL.COM: What has it been like working with your collaborators on this special anniversary project?

GAGE: I’ve written four issues thus far, and it’s been a wonderful mix of classic and new. We’ve got original Civil War colorist Morry Hollowell on board, and he’s giving it the same feel he brought 20 years ago… everything feels powerful, impactful. Our artist, Edgar Salazar, is doing amazing things with every issue… I’m currently seeing inks for #3, and I know I’m kind of a sucker for giant characters fighting each other, but the battle scenes between Goliath and one of my favorite villains are just beautiful. And having Steve McNiven contribute a variant cover for our first issue, alongside the awesome Geoff Shaw regular cover with its classic design, is the perfect one-two punch!

CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED #1
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE
Art by EDGAR SALAZAR
Colors by MORRY HOLLOWELL
Cover by GEOFF SHAW
On Sale 5/6

Check out the preview now and pick up CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED at your local comic shop on May 6!

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