Who is Baron Zemo? - Marvel's Master of Evil

He's the leader of the Masters of Evil, the Thunderbolts, and he's the April season pass card for Marvel Snap. Let's look at the history of Baron Helmut Zemo.

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[mattwilson]

"You've got no strength, no powers, so why are you the leader?"
Zemo puts Abomination on the ground.
"Because I'm better than you."

[rubiconprime]

If the Avengers battle cry is “Avengers Assemble”, the battle cry of the Masters of Evil should be “Tear them Apart”

Also I love how EMH Zemo is voiced by the same guy who voices the Medic in Team Fortress 2

[alexvashus]

And just like that...my morning is made! Thx Nando

[yourstruly]

8:27 It could also be a reference to Baron Zemo’s German/Nazi origin, as the Schutzstaffel literally translates to “Protection Squad” in German and yet had secret elite evil undertones with the symbol of two bolts of lightning being their insignia.

Thanks for doing this by the way, Baron Zemo is my favorite Marvel character and my favorite Marvel villain overall. He’s very underrated and improperly represented in the MCU, he’s genuinely so cool.

P.S: the hood that the Zemo family wears has been a tradition since the German medieval ages, as they were nobles who also participated in executions. Because Zemo was a Nazi scientist and an architect of death on a mass scale, he also wore it in a similar manner to an executioner. So, melting the hood onto the original Zemo was a way of symbolizing his atrocities being permanently bound to his identity. The man beneath it, never to be seen again. Moreover: that concept of binding atrocity and death to the flesh is another means of symbolizing how Helmut willfully adopts this monicker of death and atrocity, whereas his predecessor (whom thought himself to be righteous royalty) unwillingly had it forced upon him which also plays upon what once brought him power (death and war) and now brings him shame. It comes from the idea that a Nazi could always take his uniform off and you could never truly tell what he's responsible for or condemn him. But for the OG Zemo, the consequences of his actions became totally inseparable from him and his family.

[bil]

His mask in the concept art feels like the chain mail mesh that the danish special forces wear. I would have totally loved that as a look.

[davidjay]

I got Thunderbolts number 1 when I was a kid mostly because it was the 90s and getting number 1s was just what you did, and I will never be able to replicate the equal parts of shock, betrayal, and mischievous glee I felt after reading that final page twist.

[Derekivery]

Baron Zemo has been my favorite supervillain since first issue of Thunderbolts, he is like a cross between Cobra Commander (GI Joe) and Doctor Doom. They did him dirty in the MCU because he is a super fun character, he is not a "magneto" doing evil for the better good, he is an egomaniac who thinks he is better than everyone else. His plans often fail because of his ego.

[ATKLk]

Good video, but a few points to add/note (Helmut Zemo os one of my favorite Marvel comics villains):

- The EMH version was Heinrich Zemo; in his flashback, he had his classic design but when the Adhesive X spilled on him, it fused his entire costume to his body, with it shrinking & clinging so much that it became Helmut’s design. Helmut never appears in EMH, seemingly not existing.

- The original Citizen V was killed by Heinrich Zemo.

- While largely different, MCU Zemo is a more faithful adaptation than you’d think because…

- Comics Helmut has been a well-intentioned extremist/honourable (in his view anyway) villain for a long time now. Helmut has never been a generic villain, his narcissistic personality has always been matched by an inner inferiority complex due to a childhood if abuse under his Nazi father. As the years went on, Zemo went through stark character growth, confronting his childhood & his father’s hateful ideology - fully rejecting prejudice & any form of superiority dogma and recognizing that his father was an awful man who deserved death, forsaking his revenge crusade against Cap. He’s remained a villain due to his extreme methods (and who’s to say his world would be better) through it all but his motivations are a legit desire to guard & better all people, end corruption & improve the world.

[retrospectrum]

Worth mentioning that Osborn’s Thunderbolts were Marvel’s Suicide Squad before Red Hulk.

[Rage_Templar]

I was today old, when I learned Thunderbolts was not a ego trip for Red Hulk.

[OtakuJuanma]

I've reached rank 89 in so little time thanks to people using Zemo and pulling Howard the duck, or Zabu or Renslayer, thinning my Living Tribunal combo deck.

[DonWeaselYeehawEdition]

Zemo is a goddamn G in Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. I love that he’s pretty much unapologetically adapted from the comics. He’s like the Slade of that show

[scbii]

This series has single-handedly influenced me to try out Marvel Snap. I used to play the other Marvel card game (I forget what it was called) and have been skeptical about Snap since. Thanks Nando!

[rubiconprime]

I don’t know if calling the Red Hulk Thunderbolts the Suicide squad version of the team is accurate. If I remember correctly that version of the team was mostly just heroes that were willing to kill (Deadpool, Punisher, Agent Venom, etc.). For the Suicide Squad Thunderbolts I would parallel Luke Cage’s Thunderbolts from right after Dark reign ended since that was based around using villains who were still villains for government sanctioned missions while having a device that could take the villain out if they got out of line (granted it was a non-lethal shock collar and not a head bomb, but the same spirit)

[Axeloy]

your love for Eath's Mightiest Heroes makes me so happy

[vampiric]

I love the series, and find it really interesting to get this condensed backstory of these characters, but I do have to chime in and say, "Baron" is not "Lord for Germans." A Lord/Lady is a granted title, usually by a monarch, but are mostly honorific, like a Knighthood with Sir/Dame. Whereas Barons/Baronesses, Dukes/Duchesses and Counts/Countesses are Landed Titles, for a Barony, a Duchy, or a County.

[DmanDmythDlegend]

I actually got a marvel masterworks volume as a kid that had the first ten issues of the avengers and Zemo was the most prominent villain in those issues, I think appearing 4 times total. He was also a pretty big villain in Earth’s mightiest heroes. I won’t act like I’m one of the biggest comic fans, but Zemo is definitely in my top 10 marvel villains.

[alexandrefrauches]

Even though the MCU version is more interesting antagonist, I do like the personal aspect of Cap and Hemult's rivalry in the comics, with Zemo's father being the one who killed Bucky and now Hemult wants revenge against Cap for the death of his father, creating this "circle" in their dynamic.

The fact that Zemo is the son of nazi scientist also shows the importance of Captain America in the modern day, bc, while most of his enemies from the war may be gone (with few exceptions like Red Skull), their ideals were passed to a new generation of villains, hence why the world needs a hero like Cap, to give people a better exemple to look up to and oppose those like Hemult.

[tehnbdude]

Started playing marvel snap because of you

[Monest]

I just subscribed to your channel and I’m genuinely impressed with the quality of your content. Keep up the good work man.