There should be a feeling of horror or unsettledness at the idea that somebody like this can secretly be part of this organization. What are we supposed to think about the fact that someone literally named Captain America now supports these beliefs?Īgain, I don’t want to say anything too definitively because we’re laying out the story.

Any parallels you have seen to situations real or imagined, living or dead, is probably intentional but metaphorically not literally. That’s what gives our stories weight and meat to them. So we can talk about political issues in a metaphoric way. He’s a Capitol Hill head and following this election very closely. Nick Spencer, the writer, is very politically active. We try to write comics in 2016 that are about the world and the zeitgeist of 2016, particularly in Captain America. Obviously, this hate speech is nothing new for the organization, but it sounds like rhetoric we’ve been hearing this election. In the comic the Red Skull of Hydra talks about “criminal trespassers” who “make a mockery” of America’s borders and calls the refugees in Germany an “invading army” bringing “fanatical beliefs and crime” to Europe. That makes every interaction he has with anyone take on a second layer, a second meaning. 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. What does this mean for the Marvel Universe? It’s been in the works for more than a year.

So right around there the conversations first started about this. ( MORE Here’s What Chris Evans Thinks of That Shocking Captain America Reveal)Īlmost since the beginning of when Nick started writing the Captain America titles, which would have been the end of 2014. Abraham Riesman, “That Time Captain America Said ‘Hail Hydra’ and Geekdom Imploded,” Vulture, last modified April, 28 2019. This paper provides a new lens to examine the history of white nationalism in the United States while building on the current body of scholarship arguing for the importance of comic books as a historical source. Through a comparative analysis of these two storylines, this paper examines the ways in which the Captain America comic books have reflected the shift in white nationalist movements from a largely condemned movement to a viable political force. While Hydra and the National Force are comparable villains, the lenses through which the writers of both storylines present them reveal how views of white nationalism have changed in the United States. In 1979, Captain America was briefly brainwashed into joining the National Force, an organization which acted as a clear allegory for the various white nationalist movements gaining power in the United States at the time. However, this moment was not the first time that Captain America had joined the other side. Many claimed that by aligning Captain America with Hydra author Nick Spencer disregarded the character’s origin as an anti-Nazi propaganda piece and later history as a defender of American values, and gave fuel to the growing Alt-Right movement in the United States. The moment incited a riot not only among comic book super fans, but casual onlookers as well.

In 2016, Captain America brought comic books to the forefront of national discussion with a single phrase: “Hail Hydra.” These two words proclaimed Captain America’s allegiance to Hydra, one of Marvel Comics most recognizable villains which has historically been used as an allegory for the Nazi Party.

Marvel hydra