It'll be interesting to see how they adapt the comics to film. My main problem with Tony agreeing to be controlled is that he knows that Hydra pretty much controlled the whole government just two movies ago. The World Council. Everything. So that's who he wants to put in charge of the Avengers?
And each of those big destructive events - what would have been the outcome had the Avengers not acted independently? New York City nuked & the world conquered by aliens. Every special/consequential human on earth executed. And total global extinction.
So it just seems there has to be a breach in logic to go along with the "we caused this destruction" argument.
There is a world of difference between saying "You are a superhero, you need to register with the United States, be properly trained, and may be called into service when we need you" versus "Do anything I say because I'm the government." I think Tony's side is attempting to obey the law, but would be watchful of anything that didn't fit with humane, ethical decisions. Think of it more like a draft - the world could be called into a war with aliens or Asgardians or evil robots or whatever. They can't fight that with conventional weapons, so they want the super hero community available to help as needed versus just hoping they show up. The government might even have better intelligence to help the Avengers pursue common interests. If they really thought there was any chance Hydra or something other nefarious group was still calling the shots, I think both Steve and Tony's teams would be trying to root out the bad guys. As for previous destructive events, I think the government would argue that a registered, coordinated force of super powered people might have been able to better defend against those threats and maybe even prevent them all together. Fewer deaths in New York, better ability to have infiltrated and shut down Hydra, no Ultron battle in the first place because they'd have oversight to Tony's defense plan.
I haven't read the comics either, even tho I've heard that someone dies, but I wonder after all the fighting each other how do you even team up again as Avengers how do you be 'friends' again? I can't wait to see the movie but I'm interested in how the post Civil War plays out.
The comic is really good, with some great battle scenes and ethical debates. There are obviously way more heroes involved in the battles and Spiderman plays a pretty pivotal role. Looks to me like Black Widow will be a bigger factor this time around. Without giving to much away, it is eventually discovered that a third party was helping orchestrate the civil war, and nothing brings people back together like a common enemy. Thor helps them reconcile, as does time. Like always, the movie version will change some things around. They don't have the time to rebuild relationships in little 2 hour spans. Far easier to just dispose of the characters...Its definitely possible that we see someone else in the armor or carrying the shield after this movie.