when people are like “but steve was the one who caused the whole rift by not signing the accords” i want to ask, “what did you want steve to do?”
like, literally: what should steve have done that he didn’t do?
the SAME DAY, the SAME AFTERNOON, that he’s handed a copy of the accords for the FIRST TIME, he gets word that peggy carter has died. he’s got three days (three!!!! days!!! to accept the binding terms of this complex hundred-page arrangement) and the first day and a half are spent flying to the funeral of a woman he adored, and carrying her goddamned coffin. then, while he is STILL IN THE SUIT HE WORE TO HER FUNERAL, the vienna summit is bombed. and he gets the call almost immediately that they’re moving on bucky, with a shoot to kill order. he’s got very little time to decide whether he stands back and lets bucky die, or fights for his life.
what the FUCK was this man supposed to do? i mean, was he supposed to:
a.) sign the accords immediately? signing the accords would have put him under ross, who ordered the avengers to stand down on the barnes manhunt. if steve had signed the accords on day one, or day two, the VERY FIRST thing the accords would have required him to do would have been to stand aside while the government hunted and killed his best friend.
or maybe he should have b.) surrendered at the airport? turn bucky (and everyone) over to the authorities a second time? the first time, the authorities allowed a terrorist impersonating a psychiatrist to infiltrate their security. and bucky’s continued existence embarrasses the us government. who’s to say ross wouldn’t have arranged for his execution in custody? who’s to say that every goddamn member of team cap wouldn’t have still ended up on the raft prison, the way they DID? that would have been a great ending to cap3: steve, sam, clint, wanda and scott in prison, and bucky dead “resisting capture.” that sounds like a great, easy option for steve.
c.) maybe steve should have shared his intel on zemo to try and get someone to investigate and take the supersoldier threat seriously??? oh wait, he did!!! and ross was like, “lol, idgaf”!!!!! yeah, steve should have absolutely turned himself over to this very reasonable dude. thankfully tony listened, but sadly at the last minute he was replaced by his less analytical life model decoy, which let itself get played like a stradivarius so that some fucking cinematographer could get a great shot of the arc reactor versus the shield.
in which part of the movie did anyone listen to steve and say, “you know, you’re right, this is a big issue and maybe we should think carefully about the implications… let’s focus on bringing barnes in alive and then sit down for real negotiations on the terms of the accords.” ha!!! ha ha ha ha!!!!! it was, “sign here, right now, or you’re an outlaw. sign here, right now, and accept that whether or not your friend is guilty is not factoring into our decision to put him down like a dog.”
i’m not gonna hear the “steve and tony were both wrong and it’s both of their faults” routine anymore. steve didn’t get a choice. a coerced choice is not a free choice!!! a threatened choice is not a free choice!!! the alternative to the accords for steve was not just retirement, it was accepting the murder of an innocent friend. who the fuck, on earth, would fucking accept those terms???? fuck!!!!! if y'all can shrug that off, i’d be a little nervous to be on your christmas card list.
(and like, let me make it clear: i am not in any way talking about the larger philosophical implications of “but in reality should superpowered people be regulated in their global actions???” because of course they fucking should. but i’m not talking about that. i am talking about the movie that you and i both watched, where a man was backed into a corner by two dishonest villains– zemo and ross. there was no path– IN THIS MOVIE– for steve to take that didn’t end in either risking the death of bucky, or risking the fracturing of the avengers. no middle path was offered to him. if you want to talk about “what if” or comics canon, that’s fine, but that’s not what this post is about.)
