We’re both old men, Cap. We need to do what old men should do and leave the world a better place... before we go. 
Appearing in "Chapter Five: Civic Engagement"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Claire Parker
- Benjy Parker (Apparent death)
- Mary Jane Watson-Parker
- Daily Bugle
- Maryam (First appearance)
- Betty Brant
- Avengers (First appearance)
- Cloak (Tyrone Johnson) (First appearance)
- Hawkeye (Clint Barton) (First appearance)
- Captain America (Steve Rogers)
- Dagger (Tandy Bowen) (First appearance)
- Luke Cage (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Morlun (Apparent death)
- U.S.Avengers (First appearance)
- Iron Man (Tony Stark)
- War Machine (James Rhodes) (First appearance)
- Black Widow (Natalia Romanova) (First appearance)
- Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) (First appearance)
- She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters)
- Iron Fist (Danny Rand) (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Spider-Man (Ben Reilly) (Death)
- Ezekiel Sims (Mentioned)
- Parker Industries (Mentioned)
- J. Jonah Jameson (Mentioned) (Deceased)
- Sam (First appearance)
- Daredevil (Matt Murdock) (Mentioned)
- Amadeus Cho (Mentioned)
- Vlad (Referenced)
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Spider-Totems (Mentioned)
Locations:
- Earth-19529
- Earth
- United States of America
- New York
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Parker Industries Tower
- Manhattan
- New York City
- New York
- United States of America
- Earth
Items:
- Spider-Man's Suit and Web-Shooters
- Iron Man Armor
- Captain Marvel's Suit
- Captain America's Uniform and Shield
Synopsis for "Chapter Five: Civic Engagement"
It is the year 2006, and superheroes have become divided as a result of the Superhuman Registration Act, which Secretary of Defense Tony Stark made in the wake of the September 11th attacks. In New York City, Spider-Man is fighting Morlun, who deduces that Spider-Man (Ben) is a clone of Peter. Spider-Man continues to fight him, when Morlun, who thinks Peter sent Ben as a decoy, suddenly grabs him by the throat.
Back in Portland, Peter has completely retired from the vigilante life, and works as a humble electrician. His children are now young adults, and both are aware of his previous life as Spider-Man and Ben’s clone status. On the same day, Peter is chopping wood in the back and talks to Claire about doing grad school at Stanford where she has a scholarship. Claire tells him she does not want to go, leading him to protest that her academic potential can go to waste just like his heroism did, especially in the wake of the Civil War. Before their conversation can escalate, Benjy comes out to inform them of the battle. It is revealed that Ben was killed by Morlun, and the world now thinks that Peter is not only Spider-Man, but also dead.
Peter recounts to his family that he was visited by Ezekiel, who warned him about Morlun coming to feed on him. MJ suggests they flee, but Peter refuses to let them come with him since he is the only notable Spider-Totem among them, and prepares to leave the country by himself.
As he is packing, he thinks about how Ben had no one in New York even though he had everything in the fear it would be taken from him. Claire confronts him again, telling him that he needs to go back to New York as Spider-Man. Peter refuses due to having been retired for so long, but Claire reveals that she knows he never really did. It is revealed that Peter was in New York on 9/11 for J. Jonah Jameson’s funeral, and when the towers collapsed, he put on Ben’s Scarlet Spider mask and began helping with the cleanup; Claire briefly spotted him on the news and immediately knew who it was, then deduced that he had done it before, otherwise he wouldn’t have the mask. Claire then tells Peter that he always reacted to people in danger as Spider-Man rather than directly going after a threat, which is why he secluded the family. She then encourages him to be different for the sake of his superhero friends he left behind, and actively take on the threat.
One week later in Washington, DC, Tony begins receiving bad press from people who think he only created the act as a means of undermining Peter. He learns from his assistant that his side recently won a battle against Captain America’s forces and captured Daredevil, but are struggling with Matt Murdock’s past career as a civil rights activist. Just then, another assistant arrives and reveals a story about Peter.
It is shown that Peter took Claire’s advice and traveled to New York, where he plans to publicly reveal everything via the Daily Bugle. Peter talks with Betty, now in charge of the Bugle, about the story. She warns him that not everyone will buy it, and that he can’t go back on his plan to catch Morlun. Peter thinks on her words as he comes to Parker Industries, only to find Tony waiting for him. Tony tells Peter he has a deal for him. He explains by saying that the war has left everyone weary, with old heroes prolonging the conflict while new ones fall in line. He also says that, since his powers could have affected normal life, he has effectively broken the law for not registering and could have his assets seized. His deal, therefore, is to grant Peter and his family amnesty in exchange for becoming a U.S.Avenger and assisting him in creating a structure for the act. Peter refuses, leading the U.S.Avengers - Iron Man, War Machine, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, She-Hulk, and Iron Fist - to attack him.
Back in Portland, Mary Jane keeps watching the news. Claire and Benjy talk about Peter’s chances of success, when suddenly the house is attacked by Morlun. The family tries to flee in their car, but find Morlun destroyed it. Thinking Peter ran away, Morlun decides to have Claire and Benjy instead, leading them to attack him.
Peter attempts to escape the U.S.Avengers, but they quickly knock him down. Before they can arrest him, however, Cap and his Avengers - Cloak, Dagger, Hawkeye, and Luke Cage - come to rescue him. As another battle rages, Peter flees and breaks into Ben’s storage room where he kept his Spider-Man suits.
Morlun takes Claire and begins absorbing her, but she scratches his face, allowing the Parker family to flee into the woods. As they try to think of a plan, they notice Claire drew blood from Morlun by scratching him. Benjy thus deduces that Morlun is vulnerable when he is feeding, removing his indestructibility. He charges Morlun, and intentionally allows Morlun to feed on him. While Morlun monologues, an enraged Claire takes a log and smashes Morlun with it; he is impaled on a tree and dies, but Benjy appears to also have succumbed to being fed on.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man rejoins the fight between the Avengers, where he reveals that Iron Man had fail-safes in each of his teammates’ suits should they turn on him. Spider-Man promptly short-circuits the suits, knocking out all of the U.S.Avengers except Iron Man, and rips Tony’s mask off. Tony retorts Peter, saying that they can’t comprehend the human suffering that non-powered individuals face because they see metahumans such as themselves as gods, and that the act is meant to protect those people. Spider-Man replies that Tony in particular can’t be trusted, but Tony - who is revealed to be a hologram - says that he is smarter than all of them and knows what the world is really facing. He makes one final plea for them to join his cause before departing.
Amadeus Cho informs the Avengers that Tony is sending reinforcements, so the team decides to flee to base via Cloak. Before he does so, Spider-Man apologizes to Cap for fleeing New York, saying that he wanted to be with his family. Seeing that Claire and Benjy are powered, Cap does not hold this against Spider-Man, but says that Tony will come for them and that it would subsequently be better if he joined the war. Spider-Man decides to join, with Cap promising to take care of Morlun together with him. But just as they depart, Spider-Man muses how they are both old now, and have to make the world a better place before they die.
Solicit Synopsis
THE REAL-TIME LIFE STORY OF SPIDER-MAN CONTINUES!
The superhero CIVIL WAR rocks the world! A hero’s death changes everything for both PETER PARKER and his family as LIFE STORY continues into the 2000s!Notes
- This issue references the story arc "Other: Evolve or Die" and the event Civil War.