Baron Helmut Zemo: All you need to know about the fictional characters

Bringing such a powerful villain in the film where the Cap is already battling the Winter Soldier as well as Iron Man seems aninteresting move.

Last week the mystery surrounding Daniel Bruhl’s role in Captain America: Civil War cleared as it was officially announced that he will be playing the character of Baron Helmut Zemo, one of the more dreaded villains of Captain America comics (and also of The Avengers). Bringing such a powerful villain in the film where the Cap is already battling the Winter Soldier as well as Iron Man seems aninteresting move.(Read: ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ 5th film in history to reach USD 900 million mark)

The Cap will for sure go through a tough time in the film, and with Chris Evans stating that the film will set up the final two instalments of Avengers (Infinity War Part 1 and 2), fans are dying to get their hands on Civil War. As filming of Captain America: Civil War begins this week, we bring to you 5 facts about the unforgiving villain- Baron Helmut Zemo.

1. There are two Baron Zemos.

Yes! There are actually two of them. Baron Zemo is actually kind of a title. The first Baron was Dr. Heinrich Zemo of the Nazi party. He was a brilliant scientist but a sadist prick like his colleague Dr. Zola. Working for HYDRA, he carried out destruction and even slaughtered whole German towns. The second Baron- Helmut Zemo, is his son. He is an engineer, who is out for revenge on Captain America who he believes killed his father. He also wants the ‘Master Race’ to rule the world like his father used to.

2. Baron Zemohas to wear his mask.

The strange purple mask Baron Zemo is always shown wearing isn’t just used to intimidate enemies. In fact, both Heinrich and Helmut were forced to wear them due to horrible injuries. Heinrich was wearing the mask when Captain America attacked his base during World War II. During the fight, the patriotic hero threw his shield and struck a container of Adhesive X, a super adhesive Zemo created for the Nazis that could not be dissolved under any circumstances. The chemical fell on Zemo’s face and permanently attached the mask to his face. In Helmut’s case, he fell into a container of Adhesive X, but simply wears the purple head covering to hide his horrible disfigurement.

3. Baron Zemo tried his hand at reform

There came a time in the comics where the evil group‘Masters of Evil’ disguised themselves a hero team called The Thunderbolts and attempted to gain the world’s trust as new superheroes so they could conquer it. It was Baron Helmut Zemo who organized all this, but eventually he began to believe his own lie, thinking that the only way he could legitimately save the world was by taking it over. He started to recruit more villains to his cause and the Thunderbolts started working for the U.S. government in the aftermath of Civil War (on the request of Tony Stark!).

4. Baron and the Civil War

In the comics, it was Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier) who became Captain America after Steve Rogers was “killed” after Civil War. Helmut became enraged that the Winter Soldier(now the new Captain America) had earned forgiveness for his crimes so quickly while Zemo was still being scorned despite his good actions in recent years. He then leaked evidence of Bucky’s former identity to the media, effectively ruining his reputation. This storyline is very interesting, as Winter Soldier is set to return for Captain America: Civil War. Daniel Bruhl’s version of Zemo may pull the same stunt and attempt to stick it to Captain America by targeting his best friend in the film. If Bucky’s crimes are exposed to the public, this could also be one of the catalysts for the ‘civil war’ between Tony and Steve, as it was shown in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that Bucky killed Stark’s parents.

5. Hawk-Eye is next!

In the comics, Baron Helmut Zemo has since turned his eye towards Hawkeye. Zemo makes a deal with Hawk-Eye’s mentor Trickshot to teach him archery skills. After learning the skills, Zemo leaves Trickshot for dead and while dying in the arms of Hawk-Eye, Trickshot warns him that Zemo is coming for him! Image credit: facebook