Civil War #3

History

Civil War was written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, with inks by Dexter Vines, colors by Morry Hollowell, and lettering by Chris Eliopoulos; the series was edited by Tom Brevoort under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. Issue #3 was released on July 19, 2006, with a September 2006 cover date, and shipped alongside a retailer-incentive variant cover by Michael Turner. The series became notorious for production delays starting after issue #3: Marvel announced in August 2006 that McNiven's schedule required pushing back issue #4 and subsequent chapters by weeks to months, a cascade that ultimately stretched the seven-issue series from May 2006 to February 2007. Former editor Tom Brevoort later revealed that Mark Millar's original pitch had envisioned the Thor clone's arrival as a heroic moment rather than the catastrophic one that appeared in print, a divergence that underscores how substantially the story evolved during production.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Ragnarok (the cybernetic Thor clone, initially codenamed 'Lightning'), created in-story by Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and Hank Pym using a strand of Thor's hair collected at the Avengers' founding meeting — Ragnarok was created on the page by writer Mark Millar and penciler Steve McNiven.
• Released July 19, 2006 (cover-dated September 2006); written by Mark Millar, penciled by Steve McNiven, inked by Dexter Vines, colored by Morry Hollowell, edited by Tom Brevoort.
• Ragnarok's debut attack on the anti-registration Secret Avengers occurs in this issue; his killing of Goliath (Bill Foster) takes place in Civil War #4, not #3 — a distinction frequently conflated online.
• The issue depicts Reed Richards traveling to Wakanda to recruit Black Panther to the pro-registration cause; T'Challa refuses, noting that Reed seems unaware of his own family's condition — a character beat that foreshadows Sue Storm's later defection.
• Tony Stark meets with Emma Frost and is told the X-Men will remain neutral, citing mutantkind's history of government persecution; Bishop, however, signals he may take a different position as Stark departs the Xavier Institute.
• Spider-Man's public unmasking (which occurred in Civil War #2) resonates throughout this issue as other heroes — both pro- and anti-registration — react to and discuss the fallout of Peter Parker's revelation.
• The issue shipped with a standard cover by Steve McNiven and a retailer-incentive variant cover by Michael Turner.
• Marvel issued facsimile reprints of the original Civil War series in 2025–2026 to mark the event's 20th anniversary, bringing issue #3 back to print in its original format.

Cast · 29 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Civil War

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#1 Key event — Marvel Civil War begins

Variants (4)