Since its inception back in the late 2000s, the MCU has had a villain problem, with one example being Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian. While Iron Man 3 is arguably one of the top pre-Infinity War MCU entries, Killian is undoubtedly one of its weakest parts. Apart from being forgettable, the motivations that fueled his revenge quest against Tony Stark were quite bland.
On the contrary, Zemo, who was also fueled by Tony’s shortcomings, was more fleshed out and had strong motivations to pursue the Avengers and was also successful in his quest for revenge. However, following his treatment post-Civil War, fans feel that the MCU dropped the ball massively with him.
MCU Didn’t Explore the Full Potential of Zemo
While Killian’s road to villainy was paved because of being ignored by Tony Stark, Baron Zemo had a legitimate reason to hate the Avengers. Even though the MCU is infamous for being contemptuous of the idea of holding its superheroes responsible for their actions, the Civil War was an exception, at least for the most part.
Being a citizen of Sokovia, Zemo lost his family in its destruction at the hands of Ultron, a creation of Tony Stark. So, fans could resonate with Zemo’s quest to enact vengeance on the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. However, unlike most MCU villains, he accomplished his goals by turning Tony and Steve Rogers against each other, and its impact even made Thanos‘ job easier in Infinity War.
Moreover, considering that the Avengers do end up defeating Thanos in the sequel, Zemo remains one of the lone MCU villains, who truly won. But considering Civil War was the last of what we see of him until his return as the quirky side character in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, fans feel the MCU fumbled the ball when it came to his true potential.
As for his future in the MCU, Daniel Brühl, who has been excelling outside of the realm of superheroes, didn’t shut the door on potentially revisiting the character once again.
Daniel Brühl Is Open To Returning as Zemo
Opposed to being the scheming antagonist with sympathetic motivations in Civil War, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier didn’t shy away from embracing the character’s quirky aspects. Reflecting on it, Brühl shared that he had a blast exploring this side of Zemo, and if the right opportunity calls for it, he’d have no problem returning.
I guess it was nice with that Zemo guy because he was so surprising and different. Also, the second time around I was invited to explore the sense of humor in that character, which I relish and enjoy so much. So again, it was a surprise, I was invited to surprise the people. So I guess that if he shows up again, you really need to carefully think what is this crazy little guy up to this time around? So if the right opportunity would come, I wouldn’t say no, obviously.
It’ll be interesting to see how Zemo’s future in the MCU unfolds, and hopefully, we will see him once again breaking some slick moves on the dance floor.
Captain America: Civil War is available to stream on Disney Plus.
