![]() ![]() Bradley's trauma has already been very heavily hinted at in the episode, as he referenced being locked up and experimented on and his blood being taken, which could well be the true source of the super soldiers within the Flag-Smashers. Specifically, Bradley's treatment and imprisonment is pulled directly out of Truth: Red, White & Black, the story revealing the dark secrets of Project Rebirth that drew real-world parallels with the plight of the Tuskegee Airmen. ![]() While Isaiah Bradley's part in episode 2 was only very brief, what he said hinted at a far bigger revelation from the comics. Part of that could be the secret hidden past of the Captain America project. Though Zemo is initially identified as a potential HYDRA informant, he could actually reveal more information that is equally revelatory. In short, he knows too much and his precise knowledge of the history of super soldier programs in the MCU makes him uniquely qualified to help Sam and Bucky provided the source traces back to HYDRA. Zemo's access to HYDRA's secrets - and thus those they stole from SHIELD when they infiltrated Nick Fury's organization prior to Captain America's discovery of the corruption - could also explain why he's been locked away and forgotten about. An alternative theory suggests that Zemo himself is the Power Broker, pulling strings from within his cell like a true Kingpin-like figure. The wrinkle in that particular timeline is the presence of Power Broker, as mentioned in episode 2, but there remains a chance that he could be HYDRA-affiliated. They're following the logic that HYDRA was the last known source of super soldier serum in the run-up to Civil War, and thus that Zemo would be aware of the organization's dealings with the serum that might have paved the way for them to get into the hands of the Flag-Smashers. In Sam and Bucky's perception at least, Zemo is important to understanding who the Flag-Smashers are because he's the key to HYDRA. It was, after all, his machinations that broke up the Avengers and led to their fractured state at the beginning of Infinity War as he planted the seeds that tore the team apart from the inside. Civil War's ending seemed to suggest that he was deflated, still emotionally raw enough after the death of his family to be suicidal, but ultimately that he was successful in his plan. The question now is what part Zemo can play in the rest of the show and whose side he will be on. Related: The MCU Just Reversed The Dark Knight Rises Ending The return of Zemo in a new position fits that embrace of grey areas. It is both timeless and a timely answer to both modern society and the fallout from Avengers: Endgame and has proved itself more than willing to expand typical moral boundaries. Taking a lead from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the show is channeling 1970s espionage stories with distinctly modern subtexts of racial identity issues and class conflict. While the first two episodes of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier have featured major action sequences that make it far more like traditional MCU fare than WandaVision, the longer-form structure offers a greater opportunity for narrative depth. ![]()
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