It’s not news that the Marvel Studios films have not handled their villains well. Outside of Loki, there hasn’t been a bad guy in the MCU that has stayed around for more than one movie, let alone resonated enough with the audience to remain relevant.
However, Captain America: Civil War has finally broken the streak of forgettable villains.
While it helps that the crux of the film is superheroes facing off against each other, the person behind the scenes pulling the strings takes Civil War beyond just friends punching each other in the face.
SPOILER ALERT! The following contents spoil the events of Civil War . If you haven’t seen the film yet, don’t proceed. You have been warned.
If you’ve seen Civil War , you now know that Zemo (played by Daniel Bruhl) is the force behind the breakup of the Avengers. Through a series of well thought out and planned events, from the creation of the Sokovia Accords to the gut-wrenching finale, Zemo saw an opportunity to strike the Avengers and did so without a bat of an eye.
After the casualties in Africa in the beginning of the movie, Zemo pounced to take down the “empire.” Knowing full well that Bucky and Cap were linked forever, he impersonated Bucky and took it upon himself to frame the Winter Soldier to get the pro-registration side to go after him.
And, of course, Cap would go and protect his friend, even if it meant going against his former teammates.
This led to some in-fighting between the Avengers, as they were split in two before the final fight in Russia. While the audience thought Zemo was using the infighting to get to the army of Winter Soldiers in stasis, he was actually luring Cap and Iron Man to the facility to reveal the final piece of his plan: to show Tony Stark that Bucky was the one who killed his parents.
The revelation reversed Iron Man’s change of heart and he went to kill Bucky, with Cap stepping in to stop him. This elaborate plot was to get revenge on Cap for the events of Age of Ultron, where Zemo’s wife and child were killed in Sokovia.
Now, the Zemo in Civil War is very different from the purple-clad villain of the comics. This Zemo is a product of the Avengers’ shortcomings, which makes him a more intriguing character to start with. Civil War explores the limits of superpowers and the consequences of superheroes’ actions, and Zemo provides a lasting reminder to Iron Man and Captain America that they failed a lot of people, demonstrating how the people they are dedicated to protecting can turn against them.
It wasn’t made clear if Zemo was a part of Hydra before he went on his personal vendetta quest, but the way he went about and tore up Hydra to get to the Winter Soldier and complete his plan was brilliant. It didn’t matter if he was aligned with Hydra or not beforehand, no one was going to stop him from achieving his goal.
And unlike past Marvel villains, Zemo’s motives are clear and rational. He’s not trying to take over the galaxy or get revenge on a race of aliens for vaguely defined political reasons, he’s getting revenge on the people who he believes are directly responsible for the death of his family.
Is Zemo right to place blame on the Avengers for their death after trying to save the world? What would you do if the people who swore to protect you were the reason your loved ones were gone?
That’s the tricky part, Zemo is working solely on his emotions and his grief makes his motives and thinking logical in his own mind, which makes him an especially dangerous and sympathetic villain. And once he felt his work was done, he tried to commit suicide because he wanted to be with his family again.
Thankfully, T’Challa was there to stop him, but as we saw by the end of the film, Zemo’s story is not done. Comic book readers know that Zemo is one of Cap’s most enduring and recognizable villains, but in the film he isn’t anywhere near who he is (or will become?) in the comics. It’s going to be exciting to see what Marvel Studios does with him down the line.
The seeds are planted for Zemo to torment Cap and the rest of the MCU for years to come, and I can’t wait to see what they do with him.
