Last year, Marvel shocked comic fans by revealing that its flagship patriotic superhero, Captain America, had become an agent of Hydra. To be clear, this is the original Cap, Steve Rogers, and not Sam Wilson, the other Captain America currently running around in the Marvel Universe. And while the story of Hydra Cap’s plans to seize control of the evil organization from the Red Skull is currently unfolding, Marvel is apparently building up towards a new Captain America centric crossover called Secret Empire.
On Friday, Marvel revealed a Secret Empire teaser image that prominently featured Cap’s most recent shield. However, it had no further information beyond that image. Presumably the current Captain America writer, Nick Spencer, will write the event and set up a battle of the Caps. This may even be the beginning of the end for Hydra Cap as Marvel will inevitably make him a hero again.
Also: Marvel Claims That Captain America Has Been a Hydra Agent All Along
On the other hand, Secret Empire‘s title implies that the threat may be more than just the rogue Captain America. What if Cap isn’t the only one who has been changed into a Hydra sleeper agent by the Red Skull’s Cosmic Cube manipulations? This is also a rare chance to use Cap as the main villain of a storyline, once his true nature is exposed to his fellow heroes.
The Secret Empire was actually one of Cap’s first terrorist threats in the ’60s, and it led to an infamous story in which the leader of the Secret Empire was eventually implied to be the President of the United States. In the aftermath of that reveal, Rogers was disillusioned and he briefly gave up the Captain America identity before adopting a different costumed persona. Within the Marvel Universe, the revelation that Cap has gone bad himself may have a similar effect on the younger heroes who look up to him.
Secret Empire will debut later this year.
What do you want to see happen in Secret Empire? Let us know in the comment section below!
