For a while, most superhero movies were bad. For every Batman Begins , you got a Hulk and an Elektra . For every Spider-Man 2 , you got a Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer and an X-Men: The Last Stand . But then the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Kevin Feige came along, and suddenly adapting comic books into consistently good movies didn't seem so implausible. But even the steadiest hands can sometimes drop the proverbial phone in the toilet. So it's worth looking at some of the cases where the Marvel source material just did it better. Like how ...

5 The Inciting Event Of Civil War Was Much More Meaningful In The Comics

Civil War was a comics crossover event that masterfully explored themes of freedom and security. Captain America: Civil War was an MCU movie that happened when they needed to introduce Black Panther, but also needed to cap off Steve Rogers' trilogy with something loud.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

If that seems harsh, look at the differences in how the story plays out. The inciting event of the comics version involves a group of superheroes who are filming a reality show. They basically stage an encounter with a group of supervillains and fight them while nodding to the camera, until one of the supervillains goes supernova. The explosion kills 600 people, including many, gulp, school kids.

The resulting public backlash causes some heroes to publicly disclose their identities, others are assaulted by civilians, and it ultimately leads to a congressional act requiring superheroes to register with the U.S. government. This is powerful because it creates a real moral dilemma. The supposed "heroes" clearly acted irresponsibly. Who gave them the authority to fight crime in the first place? Who decides which superhuman is a "hero" and which is a "villain" if both groups think they're above the law?