Sallyp already discussed a little of the legal hellstorm heading Tony Stark way (probably a little of that'll be pointed at ole' Uncle Sam as well). Plus the Howling Curmudgeons have been hotly debating the legality of the entire Superhuman Registration Act/Initiative for awhile (that's only the most recent post on it I could find).
I find it amusing that Captain America and his Secret Avengers (now Luke Cage's Secret Avengers) couldn't stop Generalissimo Stark, but a bunch of lawyers just might. Given that you can sue anyone for just about anything these days in America, it would actually sort of be in keeping with Quesada's assertions that he wants the Marvel Unvierse to really be like it's happening in our world.
But I've been wondering what exactly Jennifer Walters, or Danny Rand's attorneys can accomplish. Rand's apparently going to contend with the Registration Act over the definition of "superpower", which given Danny's situation is probably a good idea. After all, is Iron Fist superpowered, or just a really well-trained everyday human? Having watched lots of anime leads me to believe anyone could have a sort of Iron Fist, if they just learn to focus their chi. . . stuff. Silliness aside, by the definition of "superhuman" the Act has no hold over Frank Castle, even though he's supposedly exactly the kind of person they're trying to rein in, but it forces a teenager who just wants to fly, with no real desire to do the vigilante thing, to sign up. That'll cut down on those costumed types acts of destruction.
For the sake of argument, let's says Rand (or Jen, though I'm not sure what angle she's taking) gets the Act repealed. What happens to all the secret identities that were already registered? Do those get deleted? If so, how would anyone know for sure it actually happened, or that there weren't backup copies? Stark is the one who supposedly has all of them, and given his Tech God state, I'm sure they're stored as a zip file in his brain somewhere. How does one deal with that? (Answer: Total lobotomy! Dr. Banner, would you care to do the honors? Here's your axe.)
Would repealing the Registration Act end the Intiative, with the teams in every state, and the training camp where stupid Gauntlet guy uses "New Warriors" as an insult, and God, I hate stupid Gauntlet guy! Grrr! I'd imagine if people still wanted training, and wanted to serve as government sponsored superheroes, then Gyrich would be happy to have them dissected, I mean, happy to have them.
Would the heroes refusing to play ball get amnesty, since they're technically fugitives, or would they still have to answer for that even after the Act was repealed? On the off chance it can ever be proven that Danny Rand is the Iron Fist running with the New Avengers, this would be a good thing to have his legal staff investigate.
If the Act was repealed, would Tony Stark be bounced as Director? I doubt he'd willingly resign, I'm sure his "futurist instincts" tell him that only he has the vision to lead such an important organization of good guy cannon fodder as SHIELD. But, if the whole thing falls apart because he couldn't keep all his friends in line, then I could see the Powers That Be (whoever that is) giving him his walking papers. Maybe they could ruin Stark Enterprises as a finally "Thanks for nothing, loser" gift?
So many questions, so little chance they'll ever actually be answered.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
It Is The American Way, After All
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7 comments:
We lawyers have taken down harder people than Tony Stark, and for the right price we'll take him too. Just say the word, Jen!
The thought of Tony Stark quaking in fear, faced the awesome might of a super army of Angry Attorneys, makes me giggle in delight.
Of course, as a business man, Tony probably has his OWN angry horde, so the entire case could be tied up in court for the next twenty years. Kind of hard to run SHIELD if you are giving depositions all day.
matthew: If you need representation, if you can find them, and if you can afford them, maybe you can hire...
The L(egal)-Team! *machine gun fire*
sallyp: I'll enjoy seeing Tony Stark being cited for contempt by a judge who doesn't feel "stopping HYDRA from destroying Utah" is a valid reason to skip a court date.
"Given that you can sue anyone for just about anything these days in America"
snrk! The courthouse door has been slammed shut. The small and weak are simply not permitted to challenge the powerful and rich in court anymore. And even if they accidentally win, it will be overturned or reduced on appeal. If Stark REALLY wanted to be scared of something, wait until the Insurance Lobby gets after him...
hale of angelthorne: That's probably true. Fortunately, Jennifer Walters has an entire law firm behind her, and Danny rand owns his own company, so they've theoretically got the bank to challenge him, especially if they were to join forces.
I'd also like to see some of Stark's manufacturing competitors challenge him on an anti-trust level. The head of Stark industries is the Director of SHIELD? Gee, I wonder which company would win their defense contracts?
An Anti-Trust lawsuit? Oh that is delicious! There can also be some conflict of interest stuff, in that Tony was quite recently the Secretary of something in the government, and here, he has jumped into another cushy government-backed job at SHIELD! And didn't he manipulate his stock during the whole Civil War thing? The SEC should be coming after him as well.
Why, I'm just giddy with delight.
sallyp: And you know what would help with those cases? If Sally Flyod and Ben urich had done their duty as journalists and reported all the manipulative stuff Mr. Stark did, rather than burying it because they thought he did the right thing.
What happened to you, Urich? You used to be cool.
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