Novi Grad
Novi Grad (Sokovian Cyrillic: Нови Град) was the capital city of Sokovia, until its destruction during the Battle of Sokovia.
History[]
Novi Grad Bombings[]
In 1999, the United States Air Force conducted a bombing of the city using mortar shells supplied to them by Stark Industries. Two of these shells landed on the Maximoff family's apartment building, with the first detonating instantly and killing Olek and Iryna Maximoff. The second shell failed to detonate after Wanda Maximoff unknowingly used Chaos Magic to prevent its explosion. After two days, both Wanda and her brother Pietro were rescued from the rubble.[1]
The bombing of Novi Grad prompted intense anger from the city's residents, with many organizing protests against the United States, Stark Industries, and the Sokovian government. This unrest eventually led to a civil war within the country, prompting even more American intervention. The protests continued for years, in which Pietro and Wanda Maximoff used to take part. As a result, many of Novi Grad's citizens, including the Maximoffs, volunteered themselves as test subjects for HYDRA, hoping to gain the powers necessary to drive the foreigners away.[2]
Attack on the HYDRA Research Base[]
In 2015, after Phil Coulson revealed the location of Baron Strucker and his illegal experiments to Maria Hill, the Avengers went to attack the HYDRA Research Base located in Sokovia. During the battle Strucker ordered his soldiers to attack the city in order to distract the Avengers. Tony Stark, realizing the attack, sent the Iron Legion to help the people, however, the people rejected them and began to attack them. The incidents were reported by different media.[2]
Battle of Sokovia[]
Part of Sokovia as a meteor, with Novi Grad in the center
Ultron chose the city as the starting point for his new world order. Using vibranium purchased from Ulysses Klaue, he planned to construct a Doomsday Trigger to lift a massive part of the city skyward and send it plummeting back to Earth, creating an extinction-level event similar to the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. Fortunately, the Avengers arrived and defeated Ultron before he could do so, but Ultron's actions forced the Avengers to detonate Novi Grad in the air to destroy it to protect Earth.[2]
Aftermath[]
Despite the Avengers' best efforts, 177 people died during the battle and destruction of Novi Grad, including Pietro Maximoff[2], Charlie Spencer, and Helmut Zemo's family. In 2016, in response to the frequent collateral damage brought on by the Avengers, the United Nations ratified the Sokovia Accords, a series of documents forbidding the Avengers to operate without government oversight.[3]
The destruction of Novi Grad brought an end to Sokovia's formal existence, as its territory was forcibly partitioned between its neighboring nations. In order to honor the lives lost, a Sokovian Memorial was erected, and is the only official remaining landmark of Sokovia.[4]
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Novi Grad is one of the few fully fictional cities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Novi Grad literally means "New City" in several Slavic languages.
- There are multiple real-world cities, municipalities, districts and neighborhoods named Novi Grad, such as the proper city of Novi Grad in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a municipality in the city of Sarajevo also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a district in the city of Osijek in Croatia, a neighborhood in the city of Belgrade in Serbia, and a settlement in the municipality of Sevnica in Slovenia.
