Home Comics & Toys Fans are livid over that big Captain America reveal

Fans are livid over that big Captain America reveal

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Steve Rogers, sentinel of liberty! One of the most beloved heroes in the Marvel comics library has been through some tough times lately. After spending a decade trapped in a homebrew dimension run by Arnim Zola, Captain America faced his greatest challenge yet: Old age. Sapped of the super soldier serum that made him a nightmare for Nazis in World War two, Rogers was forced to fight from the sidelines as his mortality crept up on him.

That all changed of course. Repowered and back to peak physical condition after the events of Pleasant Hill. And Captain America is doing what he does best, fighting terrorists and protecting America. Business as usual then, right? Not quite as this week revealed a twist that was totes shocking, yo. Spoilers after the image.

Captain America (1)

Right, so what’s the big reveal that has everyone so angry? Well thanks to the raging jackasses at publications such as EW, the AP and Time who decided to ruin the twist without warnings in pursuit of clicks, it looks like Captain America has secretely been an agent of HYDRA all this time. Yup:

Captain America (3)

That’s the final page from Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, which sets up the patriotastic pugilist as having been a member of HYDRA since the days of the Great Depression. All of this is punctuated by Cap throwing former sidekick Rick Flagg to his apparent death from a jet after they attempt to see what the Red Skull is up to with his new grassroots version of HYDRA that is recruiting disenfranchised American citizens into its ranks.

All of this, set to an origin story where Steve’s mom joined HYDRA back in 1926 and Rogers apparently followed in her footsteps as he pulled off a con-job worthy of an alternate ending on a DVD of the Usual Suspects, having faked being the greatest patriot in the Marvel Universe for almost a century. Well alright then.

Naturally, fans are livid. Like, properly angry if you frequent any forum or read the comments, as they rant and rave about this being anything from a mere shock value twist with no actual substance to Marvel attempting to sway some press to their side away from DC’s red-hot Rebirth event. Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort says that this was all part of a plan, that will totally make sense. Because of course it will.

“Issue 2 kind of winds the clock back a little bit and lays out exactly how and why things are the way they are,” Brevoort said to TIME.

Captain America (2)

And it lays out a roadmap for where things are headed in the future. At this point, I don’t want to say too much definitively because I want people to read the comic books. But people will be able to connect the dots and follow the trail of breadcrumbs. It means on the most fundamental level that the most trusted hero in the Marvel universe is now secretly a deep-cover Hydra operative, a fact that’s really only known to the readers and to him. That makes every interaction he has with anyone take on a second layer, a second meaning.

It still reeks of pure gimmickry at this point, even if work began on this storyline back in 2014 already. “Every single month whether it’s a run of the mill month for Captain America or an extraordinary month, our job is to put him in situations that place that character under some degree of pressure and see how he reacts to that,” Brevoort said when asked if the new angle was in fact a sales-pushing gimmick.

Captain America (5)

And hopefully our readers are surprised, shocked, elated, see something of themselves, learn something about themselves. To say it’s a gimmick implies that it’s done heedlessly just to shock. The proof is always going to be in the execution. So you’ll have to read the rest of the story to see.

But I certainly believe it’s not a gimmick. It’s a story that we spent a long time on, that’s compelling and captures the zeitgeist of the world. It will make readers wonder how the heck we’ll get out of this.

Like everything else in comics where controversial storylines are ushered in, expect this to probably be done away with in a dozen issues so far. Besides, Captain America: Agent of HYDRA action figures aren’t going to fly off shelves when Christmas rolls around.

 

Last Updated: May 26, 2016

52 Comments

  1. Saw this earlier. And I totally don’t buy it. If he really is a Hydra agent, then Marvel, wtf are you thinking. But if it’s revealed that he’s playing Hydra, making them believe he’s theirs, then that to me will be much more believable.

    Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    May 26, 2016 at 13:34

    Is this a retcon, or the mother of all retCONS? huehuehue

    Reply

  3. Mistake Not...

    May 26, 2016 at 13:41

    Issue #1: “Hail Hydra.”

    Issue #2: “Lol. Jk.”
    “But Steve! You killed Rick!”
    “It was just a prank, bro!”

    Reply

    • The D

      May 26, 2016 at 13:42

      He’s merely pining for the Fjords.

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief Protector

      May 26, 2016 at 13:45

      xD

      Reply

    • VampyreSquirrel

      May 26, 2016 at 14:02

      Haha…. Rick rolled…

      Reply

      • Dutch Matrix

        May 26, 2016 at 14:07

        Rick would have parachuted to safety. Or he was saved by… Who is the Marvel equivalent of Wonder Woman now again?

        Reply

        • Captain JJ bound

          May 26, 2016 at 14:23

          Rick just never would’ve given it up.

          Reply

        • miaau

          May 26, 2016 at 14:47

          Thor

          Reply

          • Dutch Matrix

            May 26, 2016 at 14:48

            Well… I guess you are right…

        • Foreseer

          May 26, 2016 at 14:59

          Ms Marvel?

          Reply

  4. Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

    May 26, 2016 at 13:46

    So is Red Skull gonna become the red,white and blue skull?

    Reply

    • Strawman Jim

      May 26, 2016 at 15:31

      The Mexican Skull? Los Muertos?

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

        May 26, 2016 at 15:35

        LOL

        Reply

  5. Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

    May 26, 2016 at 13:47

    Maybe Marvel doesn’t want to associate their purest patriotic character with Donald Trump?

    Reply

    • Kikmi

      May 26, 2016 at 13:47

      gold

      Reply

    • Kromas GG

      May 26, 2016 at 13:47

      #MakeCptnAmericaGreatAgain!

      Reply

  6. Kromas GG

    May 26, 2016 at 13:47

    And Uncle Ben killed Batmans Parents. TWIST!

    Reply

    • Strawman Jim

      May 26, 2016 at 15:31

      Uncle Ben is revealed to be the villain after all!

      Reply

  7. Ghost In The Rift

    May 26, 2016 at 13:48

    Stark be like I TOLD YOU SO!!!

    Reply

  8. HairyEwok

    May 26, 2016 at 14:10

    In the movie CA actually foiled hydra’s plans, costing them billions upon billions…. Was that merely a cover up, if so, it was one expensive cover up.

    Reply

  9. For the Emperor!

    May 26, 2016 at 14:20

    I call body-swop or he is playing them. One of those. Don’t really like CA but he is not Hydra.

    Reply

  10. Captain JJ bound

    May 26, 2016 at 14:22

    People so damn easily get upset these days

    Reply

  11. Darren Peach

    May 26, 2016 at 14:26

    Hardly news worthy. Now if you had done a article about how folks wants ol Cap and Bucky to be a item…… That would have been a hoot. While I tend to agree with the general view that Hollywood lacks real representation in this area, I would have love to seen the flame wars and countless YouTube videos plus game articles debating and arguing this to no real avail. The comic book film genre is comparable to reading your sisters Heat magazine while have a number two on the old throne.

    Reply

    • Captain JJ bound

      May 26, 2016 at 14:29

      People love the rant, and that’s all that this is about. It’s there to create an uproar between those a bit more gullible.

      Reply

      • Darren Peach

        May 26, 2016 at 14:31

        Yep. flaming over inconsequential things is a waist of your one life or this green rock.

        Reply

    • Captain JJ bound

      May 26, 2016 at 14:32

      I don’t mind a different approach to something that they’ve adapted from the comic books to film, if it keeps things creative. But then you need to do something like Ledger’s Joker. Leto’s Joker isn’t it.

      Reply

      • Darren Peach

        May 26, 2016 at 14:35

        What have you heard about Leto’s Joker ?

        Reply

        • Captain JJ bound

          May 26, 2016 at 14:37

          Only what I’ve seen, what everyone else has.
          I don’t think he’s going to play the role incorrectly, but the people who designed that look should be ashamed of themselves. Going on the look alone I won’t take his character seriously.

          Reply

          • Darren Peach

            May 26, 2016 at 14:38

            I must admit, I thought it was a relatively sound choice after his performance in Dallas Buyers Club.

          • Captain JJ bound

            May 26, 2016 at 14:41

            Like I say, as an actor, yes. I’ve always thought Leto was a decent actor. But that thing that they’ve shown, that’s not the Joker.
            Ledger’s was different (very) and it was a ballsy move, but they kept that one thing right…he was still classy and not your typical thug…something that the new look has now gone and undone.

          • Darren Peach

            May 26, 2016 at 14:42

            I often wonder if Christopher Nolan secretly thinks that trilogy was cursed. Never thought much of Heath Ledger until I saw his version of the Joker. Gives me shivers.

          • Captain JJ bound

            May 26, 2016 at 14:44

            Just a pity about the last movie. The Dark Knight Rises is one of those movies I just like to pretend never happened. It was just so terrible. The first movie I nearly walked out of the cinema over.

          • For the Emperor!

            May 26, 2016 at 14:46

            My “first” was Alexander…

          • Darren Peach

            May 26, 2016 at 14:47

            After the stellar first season of True Detective, Casting Colin Farrell in season two proved to be a mistake.

          • For the Emperor!

            May 26, 2016 at 14:48

            My problem with Alexander was that I was expecting something akin to Troy, but got Days of our Lives: War edition 🙂

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            May 26, 2016 at 15:07

            My problem with it was that Irish muppet.

          • Darren Peach

            May 26, 2016 at 14:46

            But, One thing that bothered me was the mock seriousness of a PG rated film.

          • Captain JJ bound

            May 26, 2016 at 14:47

            I could make a 100 point list of everything that was terrible about that movie. It’s hard to think they could get something so wrong after The Dark Knight.

    • The D

      May 26, 2016 at 14:37

      Remember, just because you don’t find it newsworthy, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have value for other people. Especially people who are big fans of Cap.

      Reply

      • Captain JJ bound

        May 26, 2016 at 14:39

        I’m a huge Cap Fan myself. I won’t go yelling at every corner of the internet over this, but I’m glad they’re at least keeping things a bit fresh.

        Reply

      • Darren Peach

        May 26, 2016 at 14:40

        My comment was less about the article, But more about the other topic. I actually expected to see something about that here today.

        Reply

      • Darren Peach

        May 26, 2016 at 15:48

        Hey Dude. I thought about it. I am sorry if what I said undermined you in any way.

        Reply

  12. Foreseer

    May 26, 2016 at 14:57

    What if The Sinister Six kidnapped captain america years ago and they’ve had The Chameleon pretend to play as a double captain all along?

    Reply

    • Captain JJ bound

      May 26, 2016 at 15:04

      Hmmm.
      On that note, I would still love to see the Sinister Six in a movie…and I’d especially like to see the Vulture and Shocker.

      Reply

  13. Strawman Jim

    May 26, 2016 at 15:28

    lol, Captain America? A Hydra agent? Next you’re going to tell me Thor is a woman.

    Reply

  14. Strawman Jim

    May 26, 2016 at 15:33

    Sam Wilson will bring balance to the Shield!

    Reply

  15. Strawman Jim

    May 26, 2016 at 15:34

    SO guys what’s up with all this Jane Bond talk? If there’s really going to be a Jane Bond… let her be… KATE BEKINSALE!!!

    Reply

  16. BakedBagel

    May 26, 2016 at 18:49

    60+ years of character development lost. LUL

    Reply

  17. mason

    May 26, 2016 at 19:29

    Gimmickry,stupidity, arrogance and a lack of respect. That is what this is, they can spin it however they want. But the reality is they don’t know what to do with the character. So they ruin it. By the way, I am not paying money for this trash.

    Reply

  18. Strawman Jim

    May 27, 2016 at 12:14

    Personally, I think Marvel has jumped the shark.

    Reply

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