Hydra Cap

So, recently Marvel's comics branch put out an announcement that they were going to run a storyline for Captain America. In this storyline, they'd reveal that Cap had been a HYDRA agent all along, and was working a deep undercover con all along.

The reaction of the fan community has, of course, been ballistic. Moreso when the studio clarified that no, seriously, this was REALLY Cap, not a clone, no mind control involved, no shenanigans, this is canon. Honest. Pinky swear.

The fans are aggrieved because honestly, it's a pretty crappy thing to do with a character. If you take that statement as it appears and assume there are no shenanigans involved, it's seriously lazy storytelling. It's quite obvious that this is an idea that somebody just pitched out there a few months back, and they're running with it because they think it'd be cool.

You have to have foreshadowing, you have to have little hints, you have to seed this sort of thing in if you want to pull the reveal. How many people were blown away when they found out the true meaning of Hodor's name on Game of Thrones? Yeah, that's how you do it. Seed something in book one that goes under the radar, then reveal it five books later to a WOW. That's masterful storytelling. That's how you do it.

That's my feelings on it. I don't see how they can do this one well.

My other feelings on the matter, and the reason that I'm not getting too fussed about it, is that the studio is perfectly capable of lying to try and amp up the 'heat'. More controversy equals more sales. So in a few months, unless sales numbers go massively up and people really like the idea of Hydra Cap and the stories he enables, they're totally going to go with "It was mind control!" or "It was a clone all along! We lied!"

That's a thing they can do. Even if they mean what they say now, in a few months they have the capability to take it all back and say something different. And they know this.

It all comes back to kayfabe. Remember when Hulk Hogan turned heel? (Sheesh, I'm old.) Yeah, nobody REALLY believed that for a second, but man did it put butts in seats.

So okay, they tell me Cap's Hydra, I'll smile and nod. And I'll wait for the reviews before I buy and read this storyline, IF I do. I hope it's a good one. Always been a Marvel fan, even if they do break my heart sometimes.

Excelsior!