Extreme Anger Management: Is It O.K. to Kill the Hulk’s Alter Ego?; New York Times, 7/14/16

George Gen Gustines, New York Times; Extreme Anger Management: Is It O.K. to Kill the Hulk’s Alter Ego? :

[Spoilers]

"Marvel’s heroes have found themselves divided in the mini-series Civil War II and the conflict has taken another victim. In Wednesday’s issue, Bruce Banner, the alter ego of the Incredible Hulk, is killed by his fellow hero Hawkeye, who believed he was preventing an even more horrible future from coming to pass: a rampage by the green behemoth that would have left even more heroes dead.

Like the 1956 short story “Minority Report” by Phillip K. Dick, Marvel’s champions are dealing with questions of free will and determinism. They have encountered Ulysses, who has the power to see the future. Some of the heroes, led by Captain Marvel, want to use that knowledge to prevent crimes before they occur, while others, who stand behind Iron Man, wonder about the ethics of prosecuting people for crimes they might commit."

Marvel had one Avenger kill another. It’s a turning point in Civil War II.; Vox, 7/14/16

Alex Abad-Santos, Vox; Marvel had one Avenger kill another. It’s a turning point in Civil War II. :

[Spoilers]

"The trial gives Bendis the structure to really spell out the personalities at play, and to let him fiddle with Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Hawkeye’s individual points of view. At the same time, we get to see three different interpretations of who Bruce Banner is but don’t get to witness what actually happened.

And it’s hard to cleave Bendis’s interpretation of Hawkeye without thinking of recent examples from American reality, specifically the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police. To be clear: Civil War II and crossover events like it are planned out far in advance, and months and months before the recent tragedies in Louisiana, Minnesota, and Texas. But the ideas and debate surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and police accountability extend far beyond this month’s tragedies."