(overly annoying horn)
- So, in case you somehow how missed it last week,
the internet exploded and is still kind of in the process
of exploding over the reveal at the end of
Captain America: Steve Rogers #1
that Cap has been a Hydra agent this whole time.
The point of this video is not to critique
or defend this reveal, I mean,
at the time of recording this it's only one issue in.
We should wait until the story unfolds before we,
and it's already trending on Twitter
with thousands upon thousands of nasty tweets sent
to the writer of the issue, Nick Spencer.
As well as, some Captain America alums like, Ed Brubaker
for some reason and a petition
to get Marvel to change it back.
Okay, why are peoples reaction to this issue so strong?
(upbeat rock music)
If you aren't caught up with the current state
of Captain America comics let's catch you up.
A reCap, if you will, the WWII super soldier veteran
who was frozen in ice for decades
and thawed out in modern times to fight for freedom
against the forces of any and all who oppose
what's right was revealed to have been a Hydra agent,
a terrorist organization bent on world domination,
this whole time, since the beginning.
Punching Hitler, Hydra agent.
Meeting the Avengers, Hydra agent.
Opposing the Registration Act helping
to kick start the superhuman civil war, Hydra agent.
And before you start typing out your theories
on how this isn't the real Captain America,
believe I've read a few of them myself.
Nick Spencer the writer of the book has said, quote
"the one thing we can say unequivocally is:
"This is not a clone, not an imposter,
"not mind control, not someone else acting through Steve.
"This really is Steve Rogers, Captain America himself."
end quote.
And I know the next thing that you're gonna type out,
"Scott, this is comics it's only a matter of time
"before this story gets retconned away
"and we all forget it ever happened.
"There only telling people it's the real Cap
"because they don't want to give away their twist ending
"when they reveal it's not really him."
And yeah, that could very well be the case
but for the sake of this video,
let's all try really hard to imagine
if this never gets retconned,
if this is the status quo for Steve forever,
I know it's a lot to ask.
Instead of focusing on my predictions
or a simple review of the comic,
I want to instead try to figure out:
Why this story is being told in the first place?
And why the internet exploded because of it?
If you're cynical you might simply believe
that this story is being written simply
because it's a gimmick.
It's the 75th anniversary of the character after all,
they need to do something big
and this story is just here to make noise
and hopefully sell comics.
Heck, Stan Lee even said explicitly
that this twist is hopefully gonna make you curious enough
to buy the comics, which is pretty much what a gimmick is.
- It'll make you curious,
it's gonna make you want to read the books.
- And I can't imagine that this didn't have
at least a little impact on why they're telling
this story but I don't think it's the only reason.
Captain America: Steve Rogers #1
has its place in American culture
and this is where I may lose some
of our international viewers
but we're in the middle of a crazy election right now
and this is reflected in the comic.
The Red Skull in this issue gives a speech
that very closely resembles what we've been hearing
from certain Republican candidates
about refugees and immigrants.
"These so called refugees, millions of them,
"marching across the continent bringing
"their fanatical beliefs and their crime with them.
"They attack our women and bomb our cities."
- They're bringing drugs,
they're bringing crime, they're rapists.
- Both Spencer and the books editor Tom Brevoort
have talked about how this is very intentional.
Spencer is very politically active
and wants to infuse what into the comic.
Brevoort explained that they have a responsibility
to keep Captain America's grounded
in the reality of the moment,
if you don't his stories lose their power.
This is a character whose name is literally Captain America
who dresses in a costume modeled after our flag,
or the Puerto Rican flag, to be it looks a little bit closer
but to find out that someone who is supposed to fight
for the ideas of what America stands for,
secretly sharing some beliefs
with a terrorist organization is heartbreaking.
To say the least
and it can't be understated that Cap's creators,
Joe Simon and Jack Kirby were both Jewish.
They created a character whose first appearance
had him punching Hitler right in the face.
And now,
Marvel has taken this character and made him work for Hydra,
who while distinct and separate from Nazis
did at least at one point in time have a Nazi leader.
And this is something that my friend Mark D. White,
chair and professor in the Department of Philosophy
at the College of Staten Island,
thinks might be the only way to actually way
to actually hurt Steve Rodgers.
And this man knows what he is talking about,
he literally wrote the book
on the virtues of Captain America.
- [Mark] My prediction is going to be
that this is going to be the ultimate redemption tale
for Steve Rodgers.
One of the most common bits of writing advice
that fiction writers get is to torture your babies.
You developed this main character,
you really like this main character,
and you want to guide them through the story
but one of the best ways to build conflict
and show this person's character
is to do the thing
that would affect this character the most.
And I think in terms of Captain America,
what's the worst thing you could do to him?
Obviously they have killed him half a dozen times.
That didn't stick.
You could certainly hurt or kill his loved ones,
- [Scott] You could break his shield
that gets him all sad.
- [Mark] Yeah, oh my gosh.
You know obviously the original thing
that was done to him was Bucky dying in WWII, dying once.
But I mean this did affect him for decades,
so I mean it was real to him
because he didn't know the truth.
But I mean Captain America at his core,
Steve Rodgers at his core is his integrity
then obviously the worst thing you can do to him
is take that away.
- And this is the point of the story,
they want you to be upset because the only real way
that Cap could be hurt is if people start to lose faith
in him, a character who many people put on a pedestal
as an infallible symbol of moral righteousness.
Brevoort even said in an interview, quote,
"There should be a feeling of horror or unsettledness
"at the idea that somebody like this
"can secretly be a part of this organization.
"There are perfectly normal people in the world
"who you would interact with on a professional level
"or on a personal level, and they seem like
"the salt of the earth but then it turns out
"they have some horrible secret.
"Whether it's that they don't like a certain group of people
"or have bodies buried in their basement.
"You should feel uneasy about the fact
"that everything you know and love
"about Steve Rodgers can be upended."
Is it okay to be angry over this?
Absolutely, you have every right to be upset
and that's exactly the reaction that Marvel wants.
Is it okay to abuse the writers who make the decisions
that you disagree with?
No, of course not
and Cap would be the first one to tell you that.
I cannot stress enough that as of this recording
the story is just one issue in.
Just take a breath.
But as a comics fan, I have to admit
that all this outrage actually fills my with joy.
And also I'm just glad that Captain America
has caused so much noise on the internet over this issue.
It really shows how much people have started
to care about this character.
- [Mark] And how much, I think, they understand him.
I mean,
you know one of the reasons I wrote my book,
and this was just two years ago that my book came out.
One of the reasons I wrote the book was
that there seemed to be this overwhelming sense
that Captain America was just a jingoistic,
flag-waving, totey of the U.S government.
And I, obviously, wanted to show them
that's completely wrong that he emphasizes principle
over politics, that he stands up to the government
when they aren't meeting his ideals, et cetera.
And now this outrage,
that his principles seem to have been compromised,
you know I'm just glad that all this
has really brought people's understanding of Captain America
around to the way I see him.
Even though the amount of dialogue he gets in the movies
is a fraction of the dialogue that the character gets
in the comics, in any given year.
They filter it much more tightly
and they just get those profound bits of dialogue,
you know, I'll hand it to the writers you know 100%
that it nails what the character means
and Evans delivers those lines so well and so earnestly that
that has brought people's understanding
of the character around so when those aspects
of the character are apparently endangered by
this one issue of the comic book that has come out so far,
that people do get enraged.
- I think that Nick Spencer himself had a brilliant response
in the face of ignorance and resistance the fact is that,
"Everyone is talking about a comic book.",
and he refuses "to believe that's a bad thing".
I agree.
But what do you guys think about all this?
Do you like the Captain America Hydra twist?
Or do you think it's the worst thing
Marvel's ever thought of?
Let's talk about it all in the comments below.
And a huge thanks to Mark D. White
for helping out with this video,
definitely check out his new book that's out called,
A Philosopher Reads... Marvel Comics' Civil War.
And if you want to hear our whole conversation
about this and Civil War 2 and the movies and stuff.
We have a link to this weeks NerdSync Podcast.
That's just all about that it's right there
in the description.
If you've lost faith in Steve Rogers
you can click right here to watch this video
about all of the characters
who were also Captain America while Steve Rodgers was frozen
but I'll remind you that Captain America has been
more than a Hydra agent, you can click right here to watch
this video about how he was one time a werewolf.
It's a really old video probably doesn't hold up,
watch it anyway.
And if this is your first time hanging out
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that explore the history, science, art, and philosophy
behind your favorite comic book superheroes.
My name is Scott reminding you to read
between the panels and grow smarter through comics.
See ya.