Registration acts
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In Marvel Comics' Marvel Universe, the Registration Acts—the Mutant Registration Act (or MRA) and Superhuman Registration Act (SRA or sometimes SHRA) —are controversial legislative bills which, when passed into law, enforce the mandatory registration of superpowered individuals with the government. 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, the Mutant Registration Act and the Superhuman Registration Act deal with the registration of mutants and of superhumans respectively. Numerous versions of each bill have been proposed at different times and in different jurisdictions in the Marvel Universe. A newly-passed into law Superhuman Registration Act is a major plot point in Marvel's 2006 crossover limited series Civil War.
The concept has been most extensively explored in comic books, though a version of them has featured in both the original X-Men animated series and the X-Men films.
The issue that the government might seek to regulate the activities of super-heroes has also been explored in other comics, such as those featuring the Justice Society of America, in Watchmen, in Astro City and in Powers, as well as in films such as The Return Of Captain Invincible (1983) and The Incredibles (2004) and in the role-playing game Brave New World (1999).
