Zemo’s Backstory Retcon Creates MCU Timeline Problem

Baron Zemo finally makes his MCU return in Falcon & The Winter Soldier, but tweaks to his origin create a timeline problem, and alter his character.

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The Falcon & The Winter Soldier’s Baron Zemo return is inconsistent with the character’s MCU history. Disney+’s Falcon & The Winter Soldier has been a Captain America after-party of sorts, reintroducing familiar faces from across Steve Rogers’ trio of solo movies. Last week’s installment ended with a brief glimpse of Daniel Brühl’s Baron Zemo, glumly languishing in jail following his campaign of terror in Captain America: Civil War. As more secret super soldiers crawl out of the woodwork, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes find themselves with no choice but to probe Zemo for information, and episode 3 plays their tense reunion out in full.

Taking it upon himself to liberate the good Baron from his prison cell, Zemo adds a third wheel to the already dysfunctional pairing of Bucky and Sam, and the trio head to Madripoor in search of the super soldier serum. The trip yields more questions than answers, however, as the mysterious Power Broker becomes more prominent, and Sharon Carter makes an unexpected resurgence, but during their time together, Sam and Bucky also learn more about their new pal from Sokovia.

While a more authentic Baron Zemo in the MCU is very welcome indeed, there are some considerable deviations to the character seen previously in Captain America: Civil War. Not only is Zemo’s new backstory at odds with the MCU’s notoriously flexible timeline, but his core motivations and raison d’être are also transformed.

Falcon & The Winter Soldier Retconned Zemo’s Backstory

The son of a chief Nazi scientist, Baron Helmut Zemo doesn’t have the most wholesome start to life in the Marvel comic books. Raised on Hitler’s propaganda, Zemo is an antagonist to Captain America right from the off. For a modern day take on the comic character, Helmut Zemo was given an entirely fresh origin story when he debuted in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. Daniel Brühl’s iteration of Zemo begin as s a simple Sokovian intelligence officer and family man, loyal to his country without a shade of villainy in sight. Zemo’s Scorpion unit was deployed to fight Ultron when Tony Stark’s renegade robot landed in Sokovia, but the military outfit were drastically outgunned. Although the Avengers eventually arrived to bring down Ultron, the ensuing battle decimated the country of Sokovia, and Zemo returned home to find his family crushed in the rubble. This trauma sparked a deep, burning hatred of superheroes, and Zemo dedicated his life to destroying the Avengers.

The rough outline of this backstory is retained in Falcon & The Winter Soldier, but with major embellishments that don’t necessarily tally with what the MCU revealed previously. For starters, Baron Zemo is rich. An aristocratic background was implied when the character first appeared, but Falcon & The Winter Soldier places tons more emphasis on the “Baron” title, with a fleet of classic cars, a private jet, and a butler as Zemo’s disposal, even after years behind bars. While upper classes in the military are nothing new, Zemo describes his family as “royalty,” which contradicts his previous portrayal as a family-friendly intelligence officer. When Ultron invaded Sokovia, Zemo sent his family to his father for safety – surely if they were this wealthy, they’d have some kind of shelter? Falcon & The Winter Soldier tacitly acknowledges the retcon, as Sam is vocally stunned to see the extent of Zemo’s riches.

Zemo’s HYDRA Hunt Is A Timeline Plot Hole

As well as shifting Zemo from a humble father and soldier to a Baron who lived in luxury, Falcon & The Winter Soldier also changes his relationship with HYDRA. As regaled by Captain America: Civil War, the Ultron incident set Zemo on the path to destroying the Avengers. For this purpose, he pursued HYDRA, learned the secrets of the Winter Soldier program, and began manipulating Bucky to trigger the mother of all superhero spats. Zemo also traveled to Siberia, where he found the remaining Winter Soldier test subjects and killed them, preventing any more pesky super soldiers causing chaos and misery for people like him. The Battle of Sokovia in Avengers: Age of Ultron is supposedly set in May 2015, and Zemo’s revenge mission in Captain America: Civil War begins almost exactly a year later, with the Avengers’ airport battle taking place in June 2016. In Falcon & The Winter Soldier, however, Zemo tells Bucky and Sam “I spent years hunting people HYDRA recruited to recreate the serum.” Based on existing MCU continuity, this period of Zemo’s life could only have lasted 12 months at most.

Falcon & The Winter Soldier looks to be making a general attempt to strengthen the link between Zemo and HYDRA. The timeline retcon aside, Bucky says Zemo knows all of HYDRA’s secrets, and the Baron is described as “obsessed” with the organization, whereas before, he was obsessed with ending the Avengers, and HYDRA was just a means to that end. It’s possible that Falcon & The Winter Soldier needed to make more of Zemo’s HYDRA knowledge to justify Bucky busting him out of jail. If Zemo only spent a year tracking down the organization’s scientists, there are probably more well-informed prisoners in American custody Sam and Bucky could’ve called upon, but they needed to pick Zemo for plot purposes.

There’s definitely some odd discrepancies in Baron Zemo’s new backstory, but a plausible answer can at least be guessed at. Before the Ultron incident, Zemo’s Scorpion unit might’ve been investigating HYDRA for the Sokovian government – this could even be the reason he knew Bucky would be key to dividing the Avengers. Having a preexisting knowledge of HYDRA would at least explain Zemo’s “years” comment.

The Baron Zemo retcon isn’t the first instance of a Disney+ TV show altering the MCU. WandaVision completely rewrote the mythology behind Wanda Maximoff’s powers, switching the source from an Infinity Stone to latent magical talent. The change doesn’t directly contradict existing MCU lore, but it certainly takes Scarlet Witch in a new direction, and exactly the same can now be said of Baron Zemo thanks to Falcon & The Winter Soldier.

Zemo’s New Backstory Hurts The Character

Falcon & Winter Soldier’s Zemo rewrite serves the purpose of making him invaluable to Bucky and Sam, but arguably takes away what made the character so intriguing in Captain America: Civil War. Behind the crazy costumes and violent antics, the best comic book villains usually carry a legitimate grievance, and few MCU baddies are as justified in their anger as Zemo. His campaign of vengeance can never be justified, but it doesn’t take much to see the situation from his point of view. Zemo was an every-man (more or less) broken by the loss of his family – something most viewers can relate to or sympathize with on some level.

But the Baron Zemo of Falcon & The Winter Soldier is a very different entity – he’s MCU Batman. Zemo is a filthy rich heir to a family fortune, with a garage full of vehicles, a private jet, and a friendly old butler attending to his every need. Despite this position of privilege, Zemo has honed his investigative and combat skills, and developed a network of contacts with ties to the criminal underworld. After the loss of loved ones, Zemo begins using his wealth and influence to strike back at the root cause of his tragic circumstances, and wears a mask while doing so. The Baron is also deeply distrustful of super-powered individuals, believing them to be more a threat than a blessing. The story is eerily close to Bruce Wayne’s, especially during his anti-Superman days, and if you listen very close, you can hear the feverish sound of aggressive typing, as DC prepare a strongly-worded letter to Marvel.

Batman is great, no question, but an MCU villains perhaps shouldn’t venture so deeply into the Dark Knight’s territory. The Falcon & The Winter Soldier is rapidly turning Zemo from a sympathetic-but-still-despicable villain into an aristocratic vigilante whose biggest crime is bad dancing.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/falcon-winter-soldier-zemo-retcon-timeline-problems/