Superhuman Registration Act

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The Superhuman Registration Act is a fictional piece of legislation introduced by Congress in several magazines published by Marvel Comics in 2006 as a key plot driver of its linewide crossover story Civil War. The Act requires that anyone possessing superhuman abilities and/or wishing to be allowed to operate within United States borders as a superhero must register as such with, and reveal his/her civilian identity to, the U.S. Government.

   See also: Civil War (comics)

In Amazing Spider-Man #529-531 (April-June 2006), following the events of "Decimation" and the sudden dramatic fall in the Mutant population, the U.S. government considers a Superhuman Registration Act (not for the first time; see Registration Acts (comics)), and Spider-Man and Iron Man travel to Washington D.C. to discuss the issue. In those issues Iron Man is shown to be initially opposed to the idea, while Spider-Man is unsure of his opinion.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In The New Avengers Special: the Illuminati (May, 2006), Iron Man attempts to persuade his Illuminati colleagues to support the SRA, in order to defuse it. Iron Man predicts that some super-human or group of super-humans will eventually make a mistake that will cost hundreds of lives (he specifically mentions the Young Avengers and the Runaways as candidates for causing such a catastrophe). After such an event, he went on to predict, the government would inevitably rush to make an example of someone, or everyone, in the super-human community by passing legislation that would be even more restrictive or persecutory towards them then the proposed SRA. By supporting the Act before it is passed, he suggests, he and his fellow Illuminati might be able to help avert such possible future tragedies and also, by becoming a part of the process, help moderate the legislation so that it would have the minimum possible negative effect on the super-human community. However, most of the Illuminati members flatly reject Stark's proposal, leading to the disbandment of the group.

In the same issue, the first part of Iron Man's prediction is shown to be accurate when a conflict between the New Warriors and a group of super-villains in Stamford, CT ends with a massive explosion which kills hundreds of children attending a nearby school. The public outcry that follows this event leads the government (with the support of Iron Man and other Illuminati such as Reed Richards) to quickly enact the SRA.

This leads to a major schism and conflict among the super-heroes, with one side (led by Captain America) opposed to the SRA resisting registration and the other side (led by Iron Man) supporting registration and trying to enforce the new law.

As one of the many major character changes wrought by the crossover, Spider-Man unmasks himself at a live, televised news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Civil War #2 (June 2006). He announces to the world, "My name is Peter Parker and I've been Spider-Man since I was 15 years old." In the aftermath, his employer, Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson, feeling betrayed, files a lawsuit against Parker, demanding repayment of money paid for Spider-Man photos over the years, with Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk) as his attorney, and Tony Stark drafts Spider-Man into a task-force to hunt the rebel superheroes.