In this review of Civil War: Unmasked #1, Tony Stark and Bishop travel to Bishop’s future and discuss the consequences of the Superhuman Registration Act’s failure.
CIVIL WAR: UNMASKED #1
Written by: CHRISTOS GAGE
Art: EDGAR SALAZAR
Main Cover: GEOFF SHAW
Variant Covers: STEVE MCNIVEN, PAULO SIQUEIRA, ACO, ROSE BESCH
Page Count: 28 pages
Release Date: 5/6/26
This review contains spoilers
“Look, is this ideal? Of course not. I tried to stop it from happening.”
Commemorating its 20 year anniversary, we begin with a flashback into the Civil War era. Tony is engaged in a conversation with Emma Frost at The Xavier Institute. Urging her to side with pro-registration, Tony is shot down.
Emma explains that this can’t be considered a war where mutants have to choose a side, since the act begins with the word “superhuman”. She knows it won’t lead to society trusting her people regardless. In addition, she’s focused on preserving mutantkind, who only number 198 after the House of M event.
Reflection takes over Tony Stark’s mind, as he reconsiders his support if someone as smart and aware as Emma Frost rejects it. As he leaves, he’s stopped by the time-traveling Bishop, who tells him not to waver from the path of the Superhero Registration Act. Bishop informs Iron Man that the future he comes from where the Act wasn’t obeyed is far more tragic than current events, as it leads to his timeline’s Project Wideawake. The grim reality is ruled by Sentinels that were brought in to assist against vigilante superheroes.
However, their programmed goal to “protect humanity” was taken to the extreme. The Sentinels believe protecting humanity requires the suppression of free will. They also eliminate anyone with superpowers to prevent rebellion.
To paint the image, Bishop hands Tony a broken time machine. Ever the genius, Tony fixes it in ten minutes and then visits the future with Bishop, who points to the concentration camp he was placed in as a child.
The duo witnesses a sentinel incinerate an older man for getting angry and throwing a molotov at it. The empathetic Iron Man is convinced that he cannot leave the course he’s on.
“It’s what he wanted. ‘Suicide by sentinel’, we called it.
…I’ve seen all I need to, Bishop. I’ll die before I even take the chance of this happening.”
Return to the present day is halted by Nimrod, a super-powered sentinel who’s aware of their reasons for travel. While Bishop attempts to re-boot the time machine, Iron Man engages the sentinel in battle. Despite its advantage in regrowing severed parts and adapting quickly, Tony outsmarts it.
Nimrod’s goal is to travel to the main 616 timeline and eliminate the remaining 198 mutants, as his programming requires it. Using a secure line, Tony tells Bishop to re-route the portal at the last possible second. When Nimrod flies through, he finds himself in the Hadeon Eon, 4 and a half billion years in the past.
Solidified is Iron Man’s resolve in the Act. When he returns, Tony calls a meeting with the President. Within it, Stark gives him vague reasoning, but mentions he knows about Project Wideawake. Tony declares that he began with a utilitarian outlook, believing the SHRA to be the least problematic. Now, his vision has changed, and the trip to the future has left him thinking the failure of the Act is the worst outcome.
Analysis
Both capitalizing on the Civil War brand—which enjoyed increased popularity through its Carol Danvers featuring sequel, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, its sequel, and the beloved MCU movie— and wanting to fix the criticized characterization of Tony Stark, Unmasked #1 serves its purpose.
Widely considered to be character assassination for Iron Man and many other pro-registration heroes, Civil War has received mixed reception for the 2 decades since its release. A lot of pro-reg heroes such as Carol Danvers, Araña, and Spider-Man received nuance takes and stances, while it seemed Iron Man lacked these in order to create a clear antagonist for the story.
Unmasked walks that back from the beginning, lifting a scene between Tony and Emma from the original story and changing its dialogue. It’s to the point the original scene becomes unrecognizable. The new lines portray Tony as hesitant and empathetic, which is unlike his Civil War counterpart and much more in tune with how his character usually is.
The rest of the issue is fun, leaning into Marvel’s science fiction side. At one point, Iron Man chops off some of Nimrod’s parts and traps them within a force field, but they become mini-versions of him. Essentially, it’s reproduction by fission, and it’s pretty creative.
The only part I felt the science fiction aspect lacked was the end. From Kang: Only Myself Left to Conquer to the recent Fantastic Four and Hulk: Smash Everything series, Marvel books have overused the time-travel to a prehistoric time-period trope. It doesn’t break the story, but new creativity with the trope would be appreciated, as this issue doesn’t do anything unique with the concept.
Final Thoughts
Civil War: Unmasked #1 starts the new miniseries off with a bang. Featuring creative fights and pathos-focused writing, it’s entertaining damage control for Iron Man’s character.
