system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[General superheroes] How liable, either criminally or through a civil suit, could someone be held accountable if their actions were what caused someone to become a supervillain?

For example, let's look at Mr Freeze - Ferris Boyle had tried to kill the cryogenically frozen Nora Fries and was directly responsible for turning Victor into the ice-monster that he is now famously known as, and he did so by ordering thugs to attack the two of them.

Or, hell - any bad guy who dumps nuclear waste that mutates either animals or people into mindless monsters who go on a killing rampage?

Would they primarily be in the kind of trouble that could get them sued for a lot of money? Or does this fall under such state of legal affairs similar to felony murder charges?
gpt
I asked a similar question once about Marvel’s J. Jonah Jameson and his bankrolling of the experiments that led to the Scorpion and Spider Slayers. This was the top comment: 

> They could, and there’s more than enough PC (probable cause) to get the matter into court; you don’t fund giant robots and a LEGITIMATE SUPERVILLAIN for no reason after all, and JJJ has never made his feelings on Spider-Man a secret.

> Conviction would be another matter entirely; as you pointed out, any civil suit or criminal charge would have to prove intent, and that’s going to be an uphill battle as in most cases these ventures went off the rails damn near immediately.  Any defense lawyer worth a damn will have ammunition for days on that proviso alone.  Further, the state would need to identify a victim, and a guy in a Spider-Man costume isn’t going to cut it.  Considering the lengths Peter went to in order to keep his identity under wraps and dangerous super-psychos being an occupational hazard of sorts, there’s zero chance that Peter Parker outs himself as Spider-Man over this.  And if there’s no victim, there’s no crime.

> Attempted murder charge is dropped.  All that property damage, however…

So basically, while they might not get charged for the direct actions of the supervillain in their role or by what happens to heroes, theres still the matter of property damage. Theoretically, John Doe here who got his car destroyed by Mr. Freeze could absolutely sue Ferris Boyle and make a decent case for it.