Hydra Captain America: All in all, as I see it, a good idea (though execution falls flat a few times). Steve's character is left untainted because the evil is occurring only through cosmic cube interference (there are now two Caps) and evil Cap works as an effective symbol of toxic patriotism. "My country couldn't possibly be the bad guy." = "Cap would never steer me wrong." The belief in a symbol (Cap, but more pressingly and applicably, America) overrides everyone's common sense and conscience. Hydra!Cap himself manages to see himself as a martyr while actively oppressing minorities, becoming a great reflection of real mindsets. He sees people more extreme than himself such as Red Skull, notes that he is not Red Skull, and justifies everything else he does through that fact. “I’m not one of the bad ones.” He’s manipulative and deluded, convinces himself his intentions are good. Easily one of Marvel's most realistic villains. Alt-right references are spread throughout and Red Skull literally drops a Trump speech, making for relevant commentary on hate group recruitment. Evil Cap pulls the "this is only violent because you're all rejecting my great ideas" card because he's horrible and, again, terrifyingly realistic. Additionally, the story would probably not be offensive to Cap's creators because 1. one of them literally drew a storyline where Hitler himself mind-controlled Cap into making an actual Nazi salute, meaning this concept is nothing new and was presumably considered fair game by the Jewish OGs, 2. the theme of the story is important to the real world and true to Cap's themes (virtue > symbols; morality > patriotism, trust the values and not the man/country). Real Cap gets to come back and help beat him up. There's a lot of room for criticism of things like their promotional choices, but the choice to vilify hate groups and blind faith in a symbol this way still seems appropriate to me.
2018-19 "Hurr durr I will not fight the will of the majority, I will stand for 'Murica" Captain America: Absolute horseshit, and in bad taste especially given that in-universe this occurs immediately after Hydra's reign and their actual concentration camps, which could have been stopped if more people had gone against the goddamned law and "will of the people." Is that what he meant? We can safely assume it wasn’t, that he is in fact still against majority rule and laws when they conflict with extreme evil, but that’s what he said. No one thought this through. Gross dialogue, out-of-character, and presumably there's no cosmic cube to blame here. It’s worse because it’s not a big event and he’s not a villain, and it’s not a “big deal,” it’s just “Steve” (loosely defined) being disappointing. “It goes back to the registration act. To my days as Nomad and then the Captain. How can I claim to serve my country when I constantly oppose it? How long can I carry this shield and fight the government that entrusted me with it?” is not a set of lines I wanted to hear Cap say. It’s more than a little baffling. This isn’t exactly new or unheard of either, but it’s disappointing and quietly against everything he historically stands for unless I’m really misreading something. Thoughts/counterpoints welcome. Maybe I’m tired, but what the fuck. Is he actually saying that his stands against the government have been wrong every time? Because #patriotism or some bullshit? Because they gave him a weapon? Because he has an (excuse me while I vomit) “patriotic” image to maintain? Are we conflating the “dream” and the ~system~ now? If so, #NotMyCaptainAmerica.
