Too bad Marvel decided to throw a wrench in all of that.
Thats right, the most recognizable superhero in the Marvel Universe is actually a supervillain.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How long has this been in development?
What inspired you to rethink such an iconic character in this way?
BREVOORT:It made something new and unexpected out of restoring Steve to youth and vigor.
I thought that sounded like too big of a story.
I drilled it down and thought, what if theres just one very valuable Hydra plant?
What if theyre looking for 100 people, but theres just one?
So I started asking, whos the worst person it could possibly be?
That was really the genesis.
It sprang pretty organically from story ideas that were already on the table.
Does this mean its been this way his whole life?
BREVOORT:Well, No.
This really is Steve Rogers, Captain America himself.
What does it mean for the Marvel Universe to have its most iconic superhero flip sides like this?
SPENCER:Captain America is not just one of the most recognizable faces in the Marvel Universe.
Hes an inspiring figure, somebody who brings people together.
Everybody here obviously gets that.
Sam Wilson is nowhere to be seen here.
What can you tease about his role in this story going forward?
SPENCER:Obviously this is going to change everybodys perception of Sams situation.
It goes without saying that this is going to have a profound impact on Sams story and Sams life.
Hes about to be put through the ringer in a way we rarely see with a character.
Hes going to be challenged in fundamental ways.
Sam is a huge part of what we have planned.
What were your influences there?
SPENCER:Thats exactly right.
Those are the two things that are being conflated here to some extent.
The Red Skull obviously has a lot of experience with fascism and Nazism and white supremacy movements.
What were seeing here is an adoption of modern-day terror tactics.
For me, those were an interesting couple of components to put together.
What do you like about keeping Captain America stories topical like that?
As such, theres a certain responsibility to keep Caps adventures metaphorically grounded in the zeitgeist of the moment.
What kind of relationship will Cap have with this new generation of Hydra?
To me, I always get really fascinated by this kind of thing.
There were some fun parallels to play with here.
Theres also a little bit ofThe Man in the High Castlehere.
You might be seeing some similar things here.
Is that something you were thinking about when planning this?
BREVOORT:Not specifically.
So we look at what we do as being the trailblazers.
Our stories of today are potentially the inspiration for the movies of tomorrow.
