Registration acts (comics)

Registration acts
A faux-advertisement for the "Mutant Registration Act" (featuring Franklin Richards labeled "Mutie") which ran in various Marvel Comics cover dated November 1987. Art by Jon Bogdanove.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics DC Comics
First appearance	(Marvel Comics) Uncanny X-Men #181 (May 1984)
In story information
Type	Federal law
Element of stories featuring	(Marvel Comics) X-Men, Avengers (DC Comics) Suicide Squad, Watchmen

The Registration Acts—the Mutant Registration Act (MRA), the Keene Act, the Superhuman Registration Act (SRA, or SHRA), the Sokovia Accords and the Vigilante Registration Act (VRA)—are fictional legislative bills that have been plot points used in various comic books and superhero films which, when passed into law, enforce the regulation of vigilante vs. criminal activity and/or the mandatory registration of superpowered individuals with the government. The issue that the government might seek to regulate the activities and civil rights of superheroes, or view them as valuable national security resource subject to conscription without notice in times of crisis, has also been explored in other comics, such as those featuring DC's Justice Society of America team, series like Watchmen, Astro City, and Powers; the films The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) and The Incredibles (2004); and in role-playing games Brave New World (1999), and Dawn of Legends for Savage Worlds.

This plot point is especially rich and extensively explored in the fictional universes of various comic book stories published by Marvel Comics. The first mention of the broad concept was in Uncanny X-Men #141 (January 1981). The term "Registration Act" was first used in Uncanny X-Men #181 (May 1984). As their names suggest, Mutant Registration Act and Superhuman Registration Act deal with the registration of mutants and superhumans respectively. The Mutant Registration Act has also been featured in both the original X-Men animated series and the X-Men films. Numerous versions of each bill have been proposed at different times and in different jurisdictions in the Marvel Universe. The Superhuman Registration Act is a major plot point in Marvel's 2006 crossover limited series Civil War, which was loosely adapted in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War.