I've seen a lot of posts wondering why parts of the fandom love Zemo but hate Walker, even though Zemo did some really awful stuff, and I wanted to share my perspective.
Zemo is a villain, there's no getting around that. But the key here is that he's self aware. He knows he's a bad guy and he knows he's not the hero of any story, and he embraces that. He breaks the law and commits crimes knowingly and some might say proudly, and he doesn't try to hide it. I find morally grey characters who know exactly what they are and embrace it so entertaining and interesting, and I think a lot of other people do to. Of course, this doesn't mean that I don't think the things he's done are reprehensible and awful or that I want to brush them aside in favor of admiring him, but I do enjoy seeing him on screen.
And then there's Walker. Despite all the shitty, shitty things he's done, he genuinely believes he's a hero. He believes he's Captain America and that he's in the right. To put it honestly, he's deluded. He refuses to own up to the things he did wrong and constantly makes excuses for his actions. (Repeating the lie that Nico killed Lemar and that's why he killed him, even though we know and he knows that's not what happened.) He puts himself on a pedestal and is determined to believe that he's the good guy.
So, for me, Zemo is much more likeable than Walker because the things I mentioned above make him an interesting character that I can enjoy watching. The things I mentioned about Walker, however, make him insufferable and obnoxious and everything that comes out of his mouth just infuriates me. I'll take a bad guy who knows he's bad over a bad guy who insists he's a hero any day.
