When the Superhuman Registration Act was introduced in the Marvel Universe, the opposing views of Captain America and Iron Man led to Civil War, a battle between liberty and security. However, all of this started shortly after Marvel's mutant population was drastically reduced by the decimation of M-Day, and these laws loomed even larger as they served to remind them of how close they were to extinction.
In the past, the Mutant Registration Act, and other acts like it, had always been a sign of the dire future that mutants were facing. But in Civil War, the X-Men and other mutants were only one component of the larger movement. As heroes fought, the X-Men, along with a few, key moments, also chose their own path forward in the new world.
THE X-MEN
With only about 200 mutants left, the X-Men allowed the Xavier Institute to be transformed into a mutant relocation camp, where they remained cut off from the world through the Sentinels that guarded the camp. While some mutants accepted this new reality as their only means of survival, certain members of X-Force, led by Domino, made the choice to liberate their fellow mutants from this latest form of imprisonment in David Hine and Yanick Paquette's Civil War: X-Men.
Wanting to keep the government out of their affairs, Cyclops and the remaining members of the original X-Men also broke out of the camp, instead wanting to bring the mutants home. Although they were originally at odds, the X-Men worked with Pro-Registration heroes, like Iron Man and Ms. Marvel, to save the mutant children from General Lazer, the head of O*N*E (Office of National Emergency). After removing this threat, the X-Men ensured their right to leave the Xavier Institute on their own volition, with the Sentinels serving as protection, but made the formal decision to remain neutral in the overall conflict.
BISHOP'S TEAM
While the X-Men decided to avoid the conflict, Lucas Bishop, who had been raised in a world where mutants were controlled and their powers regulated, saw the need for mutants to join as supporters of the Superhuman Registration Act. This choice came from Bishop's desire to maintain some control in this new world. Working with O*N*E, which he saw as integral to the survival of mutants, Bishop worked directly under them in the race to acquire the mutant children that had escaped the camp.
Working with mutants like Sabra and Micromax, Bishop engaged with Cyclops' team of original X-Men in battle, with both sides nearly killing each other. After learning about Lazer's true intentions, Bishop worked to save the mutant children but was estranged from his former team after his choices. During the rest of the conflict, Bishop worked under the new leadership at O*N*E and used his connections to inform Tony Stark of any mutants that were aiding the underground movement.
WOLVERINE
Like many mutants, Wolverine was distrustful of the Superhuman Registration Act and saw it as another tool of oppression for his kind. Although he did work with Captain America and offer aid to his Secret Avengers, Wolverine's largest contribution to the overall conflict was his choice to hunt down and apprehend Nitro, the villain responsible for the Stamford Incident that had propelled the Act into legislation.
In Marg Guggenheim and Humberto Ramos' Wolverine, Logan hunted Nitro, who used his powers at one point to completely reduce Wolverine to his adamantium skeleton, Wolverine defeated the villain, removing one of his hands in their battle, before Nitro was taken to Atlantis on the orders of Namor for causing the death of Namorita in Stamford. From there, Wolverine stole an Iron Man armor designed for underwater exploits and challenged Atlantis for their prisoner. Eventually, he left Nitro to Atlantean justice and proceeded to hunt down the man that had provided Nitro with the Mutant Growth Hormone that had made him so deadly.
CABLE AND DEADPOOL
Working in his own way to secure a mutant future different from the one that he had seen, Cable had split from the X-Men and had become leader of Rumekistan, a nation whose revolution he had led. As Cable observed the Superhuman Registration Act become law, he offered his nation as a place of immunity to Captain America and his fellow fugitives, and would occasionally join them in their own endeavors.
Seeing a mutant as leader of his own nation, the United States government hired Deadpool to discredit Cable and the idea of a successful mutant leader. Using his own squad, Deadpool was able to inflict some damage on both Cable and his country, before he was ultimately defeated and ejected from the nation. Wade would spend the rest of the war trying to get rehired by S.H.E.I.L.D. While Cable and Deadpool have always had their differences, these sometime allies had a particularly large falling out after this.
