Marvel Comics

Captain America’s long-standing German adversary. No, not the Red Skull- the other one. The one with the purple sock over his head. Usually wearing some sorta gold tiara/crown-type deal and some polka-dotted fur collar and/or shoulder-pad flairs? That guy. Same love of flashy pants and boots as the Skull, though, no doubt.

While the Red Skull is Captain America’s uncontested historical arch-nemesis, that doesn’t necessarily make the Zemos also-rans in their hate for the fighting man in the spangly costume. The Skull is ideologically opposed to the things Steve Rogers embodies and in that clear black and white dichotomy lies a billion broad-stroke stories depicting good versus evil. 

The Zemos, however, are born of aristocracy and possess an innately misguided “old world” entitlement. It’s a bad base, sure, but it does make them inherently more “gray area” at times- kind of like how Doctor Doom will sometimes work with the Fantastic Four and everyone’s like: “See, now that wasn’t so hard was it, Victor??”. It can occasionally be like that with the younger Zemo as well. Once you work through the blind revenge, you can see his motivations lie more in being frustrated by how easily Rogers wields compassion- a quality he himself is unable to unlock. Truly a great character example of nature versus nurture…

The elder Zemo was a Nazi, though. So @#%& that guy. Straight up. [Read more…] about Baron Zemo Reading Order