Evil Captain America sure is a great schemer. Since it was revealed that Captain America is now a Hydra sleeper agent (thanks to the power of a cosmic cube essentially rewriting his past), Steve Rogers has worked nonstop to make Hydra great again, all while attempting to keep his goody-two-shoes superhero status intact.
So far he's proven to be painfully efficient at both being evil and pretending to be good. But while he's still mingling in superhero world events, evil Captain America's real goal is to dethrone Red Skull as leader of Hydra then proceed to take over. That quest takes a dramatic turn this week in the latest issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers, where Steve reveals an essential element of his master plan.
Spoilers for Captain America: Steve Rogers #7 below!
Steve and his confidant Dr. Eric Selvig are hard at work going over their Hydra takeover plans in this issue. Eric continually tells Steve that his plans are too crazy to work, only for Steve to reassure Eric that they will.
What are those plans? It essentially boils down to Steve manipulating events (as he's been doing) to have powerful leaders and opposition groups destroy themselves and make an opening for Hydra. That's pretty par for the course when it comes to Hydra, but Steve and Eric are also trying to eliminate Red Skull and control Hydra themselves.
That part is a little trickier considering Red Skull has Professor X's telepathic abilities now, which means he can read Steve and Eric's minds at any time should they be close enough.
So far the two have been able to avoid Red Skull and thus not have their plans revealed, but Eric is convinced that they need help if their plan is ever going to work. Luckily, Steve has just the answer. It's then that Steve opens a door he told Eric never to open. Inside is none other than the very much alive Baron Zemo. Surprise!
If you'll think back to earlier issues of Captain America: Steve Rogers, it appeared that Zemo had died in a plane crash. The last time he was seen was when Steve, Zemo and fellow costumed hero Jack Flag were battling it out on a plane.
Flag managed to knock Zemo out, only for Steve to then reveal his Hydra loyalties and toss Flag out of the plane. Then Steve and Selvig escaped and crashed the plane into a plane, apparently killing Zemo. Obviously that's not what happened and Steve actually rescued Zemo, and is now ready to use the villain as part of his greater plan.
Honestly, Captain America may be way better at being evil than he is being good. There's no telling how long Steve's Hydra brainwashing will stay intact, but it sure makes for an interesting change of pace for a character that has been seen as the moral center of the Marvel universe for decades.
